Tromeo & Juliet

Austin Chronicle

DIRECTED BY: Lloyd Kaufman

REVIEWED: 08-04-97

Jane Jensen, Will Keenan, Valentine Miele.

Shakespeare, an old letch who routinely parodied himself, would have loved this latest Troma Team spoof that is so much more than mere bare bodkins and fart jokes. Granted, this flick does stick to the Troma format, made popular by classics like Toxic Avenger and Teenage Catgirls in Heat, and is replete with gratuitous everything and tubs o' fake pus, but it does move this independent studio's work up a notch by including an actual plot, amazingly good actors, and a surprising amount of substance. Lemmy from Motorhead makes a great Chorus while Jensen and Keenan reek chemistry and a knack for iambic pentameter. Miele's death scene is, believe it or not, heartwarming. But there is still plenty for the sleaze lover in us all, including dead urban critters, a three-foot penis monster, a decapitation, and a "real-time" nipple piercing. Plus, this video version includes interviews with Kaufman, as well as a vomit-inducing out-take.

Now, if they could just find a way to put this on-stage....

--Adrienne Martini

Film Vault Suggested Links
Spike & Mike's '97 Festival of Animation
Gray's Anatomy
Party Girl

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