UNFINSHED BLOG FROM 2010
The cutoff is somewhere in the mid-eighties.
The Nineteen Eighties that is.
You know, the decade that has been reduced to Ronald Reagan, Michael Jackson, and Bad Hair thanks to VH1 and the nostalgia=LOL phenomenon of the Aughts? Â The decade we have mined, and mined, and mined, and mined for half-assed blockbusters, toy retreads, and ironic T-shirts?
Well, if you were born before the aforementioned “cutoff”- sometime before the release of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?- you may remember two very important elements of that decade that hugely affected both film and pop culture… the local video store and the fledging cable network.
It was in both of these unlikely places that genre film was given a new hope. Â Before their existence, movies that fit into a certain… “off-center” categorization were destined for either one of two places… the dust bin or The Deuce… and by the late 80s, 42nd Street was mostly of the adult fare (partially due to the invent of home video, ironically) leaving it a rapidly dying option for these films. Â Cult films, B-movies, low budget Indies and the like, were finally given some much needed exposure to the masses… mostly to insomniacs and easily fooled film ignoramuses, but exposure none-the-less.
You see, before huge video chains like Blockbuster came into play, there was no guarantee of a certain video to be in stock.  So on a busy Saturday night in 1985, your chances of getting your hands on a copy of Gremlins were probably pretty slim.  You would, however, be able to score a copy of Ghoulies! …conveniently located nearby with awesome box art that was enticing (and similar) enough to rent instead (of course the box art was usually better than the movies, which were, admittedly, pretty crappy)… thus introducing independent and genre films to a new mass audience.
Similarly, cable upstarts (like USA Network), couldn’t afford the rights to bigtime mainstream blockbusters, so they were forced to air these cheaper, less polished films… especially late night, where it wasn’t worth airing the higher priced movies in their arsenal to slackers and schizoids awake at 3am.
But a funny thing happened… some of the incidental viewers enjoyed those craptastic rentals… and the stoners and schizos really took to the bad acting in those late night airings. Â Next thing you knew, word about these wacky gems spread… and spread… and spread… and spread… and with the accessibility of the cassettes in local rental stores around the country, the Video Cult Classic was born.
For years, Troma Entertainment has survived in this niche. Â 35 years to be exact… an accomplishment which gives it the distinction of Longest Running Independent Film Company. Â “Troma” has contributed countless titles to the Cult Classic Hall of Infamy (if such a thing actually existed) and surely, genre fan or not, you’ve come into contact with something they’ve produced at some point in your life… especially in those video aisle days where movies like “Class of Nuke’m High”, “Beware! Children at Play”, and “Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD” were mainstays on the shelves.
And of course there’s “The Toxic Avenger”… Troma’s #1 legacy.
Famous for it’s controversial “head crushing scene” in which a teenager’s (quite literal) melon explodes under the tires of a car driven by a gang of bullies, “The Toxic Avenger” stars Toxie, a nerdy janitor turned radioactive superhero who’s sole mission is to exact revenge in gruesome and over-the-top form. Â It’s Troma’s most successful and recognizable franchise, spawning multiple sequels and (unbelievably) an early 90s children’s cartoon complete with action figure line from Playmates Toys!
“The Toxic Avenger”, like the majority of Troma films, is set in the fictitious town of Tromaville, NJ, which according to the recent “Toxic Avenger: The Musical”, is located somewhere off of Exit 13B of the New Jersey Turnpike. Â With it’s power plants and smog the Jersey distinction may seem a bit backhanded and cliched, but as a Hell’s Kitchen based company with an affinity for low art, it’s more likely an homage.
It’s for this reason that Troma abandoned it’s usual venue in the cold and pretentious mountains of Utah, and hosted it’s annual Tromadance Film Festival right here in Asbury Park!
POST ABANDONED…Â womp womp wommmmmmp!
