If you don’t know about the Long Island-based B-movie studio Troma, it’s time you learned. Founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974, Troma began its life producing raunchy sex comedies like “The First Turn-On!,” “Squeeze Play!,” and “Waitress!” Kaufman and Herz would hit the big time in 1984 with the release of their film “The Toxic Avenger,” which marked a turning point for the company. After the success of “Toxic Avenger,” a twisted, low-budget superhero movie (with a soon-to-be-released remake!), the studio would skew more heavily toward horror-comedies, gore films, and splatstick humor. Troma would continue to make and/or distribute notable schlock staples for years, including “Class of Nuke ‘Em High,” “Surf Nazis Must Die,” “Troma’s War,” “Rabid Grannies,” “A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell,” “Sgt. Kabukiman, NYPD,” and the James Gunn-penned “Tromeo and Juliet,” a riff on “Romeo & Juliet.” They even distributed “Cannibal! The Musical,” the first film from “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
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For brave explorers of 1980s-era video stores, Troma was vital. They produced low-budget, eye-grabbing horror movies that offered adventurous renters a little more surrealism in their lives. Through it all, Lloyd Kaufman, the face of the company, had remained chipper and upbeat, happy to make goofy crap for the weird-ass masses.
Troma also oversaw several subsidiary distribution houses and would oversee the release of multiple films outside of their usual stable. For instance, Troma released “Breakin’ in the U.S.A.: Break Dancing and Electric Boogie as Taught By the Pros,” an instructional breakdancing video, in 1984. That video may be best known these days for including a teenage Vin Diesel. Troma also released “The Puppetoon Movie,” a 1987 animated anthology film that featured shorts like “Tubby the Tuba” (1947) and “Tulips Shall Grow” (1942).
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Perhaps surprisingly, one of Troma’s subsidiaries, 50th Street Films, briefly held the theatrical distribution rights to Hayao Miyazaki’s 1988 children’s fantasy “My Neighbor Totoro.” Yes, the same outlet handling “I Spit on Your Corpse” put out one of the best, gentlest children’s films of all time.
