TROMA ENTERTAINMENT: A History of Insanity

Sep 4
4 min read

I love Troma Entertainment. Always have, always will. They’re this great, insane, loud, messy, beautiful, vulgar American independent film production and distribution company founded by Michael Herz and the great Lloyd Kaufman way back in 1974.

And here’s the thing: they are the longest running independent film studio in the world. Fifty years. Let that sink in. Fifty years of chaos, fifty years of low budgets, fifty years of gore, nudity, fart jokes, severed limbs, exploding cars, and jokes that would make your grandmother faint.

And Lloyd Kaufman is still standing, still screaming, still making movies in Tromaville. That, my friends, is a miracle.

They’ve released over a thousand independent movies. A thousand. Produced them. Acquired them. Distributed them. It’s insane. And the thing I love about Troma, one of the many things I love, is their aesthetic.

Their unapologetic embrace of the bottom of the barrel, the cheesy, the offensive, the disgusting, the brilliant. They make B movies, sometimes Z movies, loaded with gore, splatter, nudity, bad language, acting so bad it’s mesmerizing, makeup effects that look like Play-Doh slapped on with Elmer’s glue.

But that’s the point. That’s the fun. The flaws are the features. They make art out of cheapness, authenticity out of chaos. Trash into treasure.

And it’s not just that they’re outrageous. Troma has an actual history. Officially: they’ve produced and distributed over 1,000 films since their birth.

The heavy hitters? The Toxic Avenger (1984) and its sequels, Class of Nuke ’Em High (1986), Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. (1990), Tromeo and Juliet (1996), Terror Firmer (1999), and Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006).

They even threw their whole catalog on YouTube back in 2012, which of course got them banned for “community standards” violations. Too much gore. Too much fun. But they came back with Troma Now, their own streaming service, and they’re still going strong.

Their slogan today is “50 Years of Disrupting Media.” Before that, “40 Years of Disrupting Media.” Before that, “30 Years of Reel Independent Cinema.” Before that, “Movies of the Future.” Whatever the slogan, the attitude has stayed the same: chaos forever.

And Lloyd Kaufman, I can’t say enough about this guy. I’ve met him a bunch of times. Interviewed him on my radio show. Moderated Q&As with him at horror conventions. He’s larger than life, hilarious, incredibly smart, and completely unfiltered. The man is the definition of independent cinema.

He’s the carnival barker, the rebel, the class clown, and the teacher all rolled into one. He writes books with titles like Make Your Own Damn Movie! and Direct Your Own Damn Movie! and actually lives by them. He believes anyone can make a movie, no matter how much or how little money they have. And he’s been proving that since 1974.

You know who else started with Troma? Just some names you might’ve heard of: Oliver Stone, Paul Sorvino, Kevin Costner, Vincent D’Onofrio, Michael Jai White, Billy Bob Thornton, Samuel L. Jackson, Trey Parker, J.J. Abrams, James Gunn.

That’s right. James Gunn, the guy who gave us Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad, cut his teeth on Tromeo and Juliet. Say what you want about Troma, but their fingerprints are all over Hollywood.

They’re like the punk rock version of Roger Corman’s American International Pictures or New World Pictures. The Corman connection is obvious: discover new talent, make movies cheap, and don’t apologize for anything.

And the movies themselves? They’re outrageous. They break every rule. They don’t care about taste or censorship or studio notes. Their films are grotesque, surreal, often offensive, but always alive.

You watch something like Mother’s Day (1980) and you can’t believe what you’re seeing. The Toxic Avenger gave us a mutated, mop-wielding superhero that became a cult icon and even had a Saturday morning cartoon. A Saturday morning cartoon! From Troma!

And then you get Poultrygeist, which is a musical about zombie chickens taking over a fast food joint. Where else are you going to see that?

Yes, not every Troma movie is a gem. Far from it. A lot of them are unwatchable. But even the disasters have heart. Even the movies that feel stitched together with duct tape and fake blood have a kind of integrity.

They’re not cynical. They’re not committee-driven. They’re made with love, insanity, and a willingness to go places no mainstream movie would dare go. And when you stumble onto a great one? It’s magic. Pure cinematic punk rock.

Troma has influenced a ton of people. Charles Band and his Full Moon Features (the Puppet Master guy) basically followed Kaufman’s playbook. Countless independent filmmakers learned from Troma, whether they admit it or not.

And the fans, oh, the fans. Troma has one of the most devoted, passionate cult followings in cinema. They show up at conventions, they scream “Toxie!” at the top of their lungs, they tattoo Tromaville logos on their arms. Troma is a family, a weird, dysfunctional, blood-soaked family, and I’m proud to be part of it.

Now, here’s the reality: Troma is not for everyone. If you can’t handle gore, nudity, bad taste, or exploding chickens, stay away. But if you want to see the wild side of cinema, the gutter, the grind, the joy of movies made with spit, blood, and duct tape, then welcome to Tromaville.

So, in honor of the new Toxic Avenger reboot (which I liked, surprisingly, quite a bit... Peter Dinklage as Toxie? Who knew?), I’ve decided to put together my own ranking.

Here are the ten essential Troma Entertainment movies. Some they produced, some they distributed, all of them pure Tromaville.

This is my personal ranking, my order of preference. No explanations, no essays, just the titles, the years, and a clip or trailer. But first, now that you’ve got the history, the legacy, the lunacy of Troma Entertainment and the genius of Lloyd Kaufman… let’s dive in.