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Nov 2019
Well no I'm not asking whose movies you prefer but I just thought it was cool as title. As a big HG Lewis fanboy I can understand that people see Kaufman and the Troma movies as a follow-up. HGL created the gore and splatter movie while others such as Kaufman continued when HGL left the movie business for a period of about 30 years.
There is indeed a lot of similarities between HGL and Troma flicks:

* low budget
* independent cinema
* no top cast, mostly amateurs
* acting is average at best
* no complex storylines
* not to be taken very seriously

Now one would expect I ought to love Troma movies but I'm yet to find one I actually like. I have heard there was a lot of mutual respect between the 2 directors so I almost feel obliged to find that Troma gem. However if the more popular Troma stuff like Toxic Avenger, Terror Firmer and Poultrygeist were quite a burden to sit through I'm afraid me and the Troma movies don't make a good match. Frustrating as I really want to appreciate all kinds of trash.
It's not that I have many points of critique on the few Troma flicks I have seen. The main thing that puts me of is definitely the humor. I find it infantile, the shit and sex jokes they grow stale on me quickly.

Maybe I understand fans of Halloween (1978) now. Love or hate it, it did indeed set a new standard in the slasher genre and every other movie in this genre afterwards will be compared to it. I understand when people say it has not been matched or bettered.

HG Lewis set a standard in gore and splatter (well it hardly existed before BLood Feast) and I'm yet to find someone who presented it in the enjoyable way the godfather of gore did.


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Johan_WoW says:
#4, Reply to #1

Nov 2019
There is a few good points you raise. Tromaville seems like a real community where every layer of society and ages are represented with the difference that everyone is a bit wacko and impossible situations happen. While that sounds in theory more interesting than the small world of HGL, somehow the Troma universe does not click with me.

I have nothing against people who like to be funny or act silly. I have since childhood a good friend who acts silly and those were usually the moments a serious guy like me ran along with the silliness. We need such people. But if someone would be like Jim Carey all the time hardly being serious that would really annoy me as it becomes forced. That's how I experience a movie like Poultrygeist or Terror Firmer, everyone is just silly and gets on my nerves. Gosh I sounds like a sourpuss now emoticon


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Johan_WoW says:
#11, Reply to #10

Nov 2019
You hit the nail on the head in your last paragraph. Blood Feast 2 has the perfect balance between gore and humor. Neither of the 2 is over the top. I would call it a trademark of Lewis that he has people who can stay in character. In The Gruesome Twosome the old lady who remains calm and polite even if a bomb would explode, Jeffrey Allen as mayor Bucknum being an ever enthusiast host, the self-assured Montag the magnificent. Blood Feast has at least 4 memorable characters with Fuad despite his acts remains charming and playful. I love how he is fooling with the cops. Okay this duo is very funny and an enlightment to the comedy capers from Last House on the Left who were only thrown in for the comedy (and not really being funny). Yeah I know that was just like the upbeat country tunes to tone down the cruelty but it ruined the things pretty much for me. Last but not least the bride's mother making Cruella DeVille look nice.


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Johan_WoW says:
#3, Reply to #2

Nov 2019
Toxic Avenger is basically a comical superhero movie, not really horror. If you like that it's the perfect flick I guess. Both comedy and superhero are not my cup of tea in general. Terror firmer is pretty cheap humor and I find it way too long. HGL made once a movie of almost 2 hours: A Taste of Blood. It's one of the most boring movies ever. Still I plan to revisit it for the Turkey challenge, I'll need some mental preparation for it.


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Johan_WoW says:
#6, Reply to #5

Nov 2019
How would you describe it then?


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Johan_WoW says:
#8, Reply to #7

Nov 2019 *
Gore comedy exploitation trash superhero flick


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Johan_WoW says:
#12, Reply to #9

Nov 2019
Yeah I know it's satire, critique on society etc but it didn't entertain me as much as I hoped it would. I'm hard to please when it comes down to humor.


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Johan_WoW says:
#14, Reply to #13

Nov 2019 *
I have the feeling I might have seen a version that seriously toned down the gore and nudity as I hardly remember there was much of that in it. In that case yeah I should see a uncut version and re-evaluate.
I guess in this case it would help. As for Terror Firmer I did see the uncut version for sure. While the nudity was ok I really dislike that kind of humor. It seems to go on forever. Still it wasn't as unbearable as Poultrygeist.


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Johan_WoW says:
#18, Reply to #16

Jan 2020
Well I still love HGL even though I know you are spot on about him seeing making movies a means of making profit and not because movies were his passion. Otherwise he would not have retired after only 12-13 years in the business. Low costs, not too many big names anything to keep it as cheap as possible. He is proud of Two thousand Maniacs and I think rightly so. He is also proud of A Taste of Blood but I found it odd that he seemed unaware of how little love that movie gets from his die hard fans or did he like to ignore that?

Again he will always be one of my faves I guess. But there is others I adore: William Castle, Roger Corman, Stuart Gordon, Mario Bava.


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Johan_WoW says:
#19, Reply to #17

Jan 2020
Which are the ones you have seen and how would you rate them? Just curious which I could recommend ;)


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Johan_WoW says:
#22, Reply to #21

Jan 2020
That means you have seen:

Blood Feast (1963)
Two Thousand Maniacs (1964)
Color me Blood Red (1965)

Must see IMO

The Gruesome Twosome
The Wizard of Gore
Blood Feast 2

The Gore Gore Girls is a popular one that is if you can stomach the detective lead. I re-watched it some months ago and that guy irked me a lot. I actually found a review where I could relate to mocking the protagonist too and it appeared to be one of Tromafreak's reviews (on imdb) emoticon


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Johan_WoW says:
#24, Reply to #23

Jan 2020
I'm surprised you would rate it so low if you liked it overall emoticon Did you mean 3 out of 5?

The hyper jump cut editing during the gore scenes.


Well he hypnotizes the audience, he is an illusionist. He gives a monologue even about it at the start what is real, are you sure it is really happening etc. That also might explain the twist.

I find it brilliant as you can make up yourself in the end what is real and what not or you just don't make a decision and enjoy the ride emoticon

The Gruesome Twosome and Blood Feast 2 are really straightforward. I would be surprised if you wouldn't like the latter.


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Johan_WoW says:
#26, Reply to #25

Jan 2020 *
Well as one fan once said you can't say this is a good HGL movie and this is a bad HGL movie. The line between brilliance and awfulness is very thin. I think he was spot on. emoticon

Oh and HGL usually filmed in real locations, he rarely used film sets.


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Johan_WoW says:
#28, Reply to #27

Jan 2020
I see what you mean I loved the locations too. I think it's the movie with the most diverse and colorful locations in the HGL universe. The Gruesome Twosome also has quite a variety of locations.

Montag was played by Ray Sager, he was a HGL regular, part of the crew and playing small roles. He wasn't supposed to play Montag, the actor who was considered actually blew it off so they had to seek a quick replacement. I think Sager did a great job and no he wasn't one of the cops.

If you liked Montag I'm sure you'll love Mrs Pringle from The Gruesome Twosome. Just like Montag she always stays in character no matter what happens. Another reason I love HGL, memorable villains, charming but also pretty wicked. I also love the Mayor from Two Thousand Maniacs.



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