Troma
Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them play on 1950s horror with elements of farce, parody, gore and splatter. In 2012, the company officially released many of its films on YouTube. However, their YouTube channel was eventually terminated for not meeting community standards. Troma has produced, acquired and distributed over 1,000 independent films since its creation. Its slogan in 2014 was "40 years of Disrupting Media". Another slogan the company has used is "Movies of the Future." The company also has its own streaming service called Troma Now. Company information Troma films are B-movies known for their surrealistic or automatistic nature, along with their use of shocking imagery; some would categorize them as "shock exploitation films". They typically contain overt sexuali ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lloyd Kaufman
Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz (producer), Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their feature films, such as ''The Toxic Avenger (1984 film), The Toxic Avenger'' and ''Tromeo and Juliet''. Many of the strategies employed by him at Troma Entertainment, Troma have been credited with making the film industry significantly more accessible and decentralized. Early life Kaufman was born to a Jewish family in New York City, the son of Ruth (''née'' Fried) and Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Sr., a lawyer. Career Early career Kaufman graduated from Yale University with the class of 1968, where he majored in Chinese studies. His fellow Yale classmates included Oliver Stone and George W. Bush. Originally intending to become a social worker, he became fast friends with student filmmaker Robert Edelstein and Eric Sherman (s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Toxic Avenger (1984 Film)
''The Toxic Avenger'' is a 1984 American superhero black comedy splatter film directed by Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman (credited as Samuel Weil) and written by Kaufman and Joe Ritter. It is the first installment of ''The Toxic Avenger'' franchise. The film was released by Troma Entertainment, known for producing low budget B-movies with campy concepts and gruesome violence. Virtually ignored upon its first release, ''The Toxic Avenger'' caught on with filmgoers after a long and successful midnight movie engagement at the Bleecker Street Cinema in Greenwich Village in late 1985. It is now regarded as a cult following, cult classic. The film has generated a The Toxic Avenger (franchise), media franchise including three film sequels, a The Toxic Avenger (musical), stage musical production, a video game and a Toxic Crusaders, children's TV cartoon. In 2019, it was announced that Legendary Entertainment would be producing a reboot of the film, with original creators Lloyd Kaufman an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Toxic Avenger Part II
''The Toxic Avenger Part II'' is a 1989 American superhero black comedy film released by Troma Entertainment. It is the second installment of ''The Toxic Avenger'' franchise. It was directed by Lloyd Kaufman and features The Toxic Avenger in an adventure to Japan to meet his father. Devilman and Cutie Honey creator Go Nagai makes a cameo appearance. The film is also the debut of actor/martial artist Michael Jai White and musician/composer/performance artist Phoebe Legere. Plot Melvin Junko has been transformed into the superhero known as the Toxic Avenger. He has made Tromaville a safe place again. His blind girlfriend Claire gets him a job at the Tromaville Center for the Blind. Apocalypse Inc., a New York-based chemical company, finds Tromaville to be the perfect home for its new takeover site, and has an employee disguised as a PUS deliveryman deliver a bomb into the center. Claire escapes upon learning of the bomb, but everyone else is killed. When the deliveryman and an Apoc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michael Herz (producer)
Michael Herz (born May 9, 1949) is an American film producer, director and screenwriter. With the director and actor Lloyd Kaufman, the two are the co-founders of Troma Entertainment, the world's longest running independent film studio, known for their comedic horror films, including the cult favorite '' Toxic Avenger'' series and ''Tromeo and Juliet''. Life and career Herz and Kaufman first met when both of them were attending Yale University. Initially, the two didn't get along; Kaufman has stated that the only reason the two hung out with each other was that Herz owned a pinball machine and Kaufman was the only person in their dormitory who owned a television. Regardless, he was cast in a small part in Kaufman's first feature film, ''The Girl Who Returned''. After graduating from Yale, Herz went on to study law at New York University. Although he was quite adept at the subject, he secretly harbored a desire to become a screenwriter. His girlfriend Maris, who was a friend of L ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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B Movie
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature (akin to B-sides for recorded music). However, the U.S. production of films intended as second features largely ceased by the end of the 1950s. With the emergence of commercial television at that time, film studio B movie production departments changed into television film production divisions. They created much of the same type of content in low budget films and series. The term ''B movie'' continues to be used in its broader sense to this day. In its post-Golden Age usage, B movies can range from lurid exploitation films to independent arthouse films. In either usage, most B movies represent a particular genre—the Western was a Golden Age B movie staple, while low-budget science-fiction and horror films became more popular in the 19 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chopper Chicks In Zombietown
''Chopper Chicks In Zombietown, (formerly known as Chrome Hearts)'' is a 1989 American comedy horror film written and directed by Dan Hoskins. It was released by Troma and features early roles by Billy Bob Thornton and Hal Sparks before they became famous. Former MTV veejay Martha Quinn also appears. Plot The film is about an all-female motorcycle gang named the "Cycle Sluts", who cruise into the isolated town of Zariah looking for a good time. Here, an evil scientist-turned-mortician has been killing local townspeople with the aid of his long-suffering dwarf assistant and turning them into zombies to use as labor at an abandoned mine. The mine is too radioactive after underground nuclear testing to be mined by living people. Although the scientist later admits that the real reason he has been doing it is not the money, but because he is just plain mean. The zombies escape after a curious little boy removes the lock to explore the mine, becoming the zombies' first victim. Aro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nightbeast
''Nightbeast'' is a 1982 science fiction horror film directed by cult director Don Dohler. It is a remake and sequel of sorts to Dohler's first film ''The Alien Factor''. The story concerns a small town sheriff who must stop a rampaging alien from killing the residents of Perry Hall, Maryland. Plot A small alien spaceship is cruising around the Solar System. When it reaches the vicinity of Earth, it is struck by an asteroid and crashes at night in the small town of Perry Hall. Some hunters hear the impact and alert the county sheriff, Cinder. When they go investigating on their own, however, the pilot emerges and kills them with a disintegrator ray. The beast also attacks a couple in their home, and a family out for a drive. Cinder confronts the beast with his men and some armed residents including a man named Jamie. However, the beast appears invulnerable to bullets and they lose many men to the disintegrator. The next morning, they enlist the help of an expert marksman who shoo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Def By Temptation
''Def by Temptation'' is a 1990 American horror film that was written, produced, and directed by James Bond III; and stars Cynthia Bond, Kadeem Hardison, Samuel L. Jackson, and Bill Nunn. The film takes place in New York City in 1990. Plot The story is set in New York City and revolves around the relationship between two childhood best friends: Joel (James Bond III), who is raised by his religious grandmother after both of his parents were killed in a car accident, and K (Kadeem Hardison), who abandons his religious upbringing and moves to New York to become an actor. Joel, a minister like his deceased father (Samuel L. Jackson), becomes disillusioned with Christianity and decides to take a trip to New York to visit his friend, K. While awaiting Joel's arrival, K visits a bar and meets an attractive woman (Cynthia Bond), who is known by the bar patrons and bartenders as a weird "Temptress" brings a lot of men home with her, but unbeknownst to them. she kills the men after they e ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Graduation Day (film)
''Graduation Day'' is a 1981 American slasher film co-written, co-produced and directed by Herb Freed, and starring Christopher George, Patch Mackenzie, Michael Pataki, and E. Danny Murphy in his film debut. The plot follows a high school track team who are stalked and murdered by a masked assailant days before their graduation. Linnea Quigley, Vanna White, and Karen Abbott appear in supporting performances. Filmed in Los Angeles, ''Graduation Day'' was released in the spring of 1981, grossing nearly $24 million on a budget of $250,000, far exceeding the genre's usual box office at the time. Though it received a largely negative reception, the film has since developed a cult following among fans of the genre. ''Fatal Games'', another slasher film with a similar plot, was released in 1984. Plot Laura Ramstead, a senior athlete at a small-town Southern California high school, collapses during a track meet, dying unexpectedly of a Arterial embolism, cardiac embolism. Two months lat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Samuel L
Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him the third highest-grossing actor of all time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave him an Academy Honorary Award in 2022 as "A cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide". Jackson started his career on stage making his professional theatre debut in ''Mother Courage and her Children'' in 1980 at The Public Theatre. From 1981 to 1983 he originated the role of Private Louis Henderson in '' A Soldier's Story'' Off-Broadway. He also originated the role of Boy Willie in August Wilson's ''The Piano Lesson'' in 1987 at the Yale Repertory Theatre. He returned to the play in the 2022 Broadway revival playing Doaker Charles. Jackson early film roles include ''Coming to Americ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Costner starred in ''Fandango'', ''American Flyers'', '' Silverado'' and many other films. He rose to prominence with his starring roles in ''The Untouchables'' and '' No Way Out'' (1987). He then starred in ''Bull Durham'' (1988), ''Field of Dreams'' (1989), ''Dances with Wolves'' (1990), for which he won two Academy Awards, ''JFK'' (1991), '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' (1991), '' The Bodyguard'' (1992), ''A Perfect World'' (1993), and ''Wyatt Earp'' (1994). In 1995, Costner starred in and co-produced ''Waterworld''. His second directorial feature, ''The Postman'', was released in 1997. He later starred in ''Message in a Bottle'' (1999), '' For Love of the Game'' (1999), '' Thirteen Days'' (2000), ''3000 Miles to G ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |