Hey everyone… Jonathan Moody back here. Sorry its been a while. Things have been off the hook crazy with everything IFC and the network has been doing. So I finally got the chance to just sit down here and write up this episode. Which was a bit of a fun one. Back last year Paul and myself went out to Scarefest in Lexington KY and met Uncle Lloyd Kaufman of Tromaville. Lloyd was gracious enough to do an interview with us which you can find on our site. Anyhoo, we also got to meet in person Jessa Flux who was our guest host for a few episodes and will most likely be returning for Season 7. And we decided to do SGT. Kabukiman, NYPD since she had never seen it and it has been by far my favorite Lloyd Kaufman directed Troma movies.
Now don’t get me wrong… I love me some Toxic Avenger, Tromeo and Juliet, and even Class of Nuke Em High. Paul is very partial to Poultrygeist which I am sure will come on this show as well but I am 100 percent a fan of Kabukiman, It is so ridiculous and off the wall but honestly has. A great heart to it which I feel lacks a lot of the Troma movies that got put out. I think a lot of that has to do with multiple directions it took. This is a hard R movie but has some PG-13 style qualities to it. Mainly since the Japanese investors originally wanted to market it toward kids and Lloyd really had no interest in doing that. So Lloyd made this weird ass flick instead. Even though it is co directed by Michael Herz you know a lot of it is the brain child of Lloyd.
The story is about a streetwise New York Police Officer who transforms in to the world’s most unusual superhero… KABUKIMAN. He starts taking down the thugs and bad people in New York while also trying to do his regular job as a Sergeant in the NYPD. There’s a lot of gore and a lot of wackiness that ensues in this flick. Also very offensive and very politically incorrect. Not surprising for all of this considering that pretty much describes Troma to a tee.
Troma back in the early 90s were really starting to hit their stride. They were becoming more and more popular. Mainly due USA playing, “Toxic Avenger” all the time right next to Revenge of the Nerds (oh man another movie you could not really make these days) and because of the early 90’s cartoon, “The Toxic Crusaders” which I use to see as a kid on the Morning cartoons. I never liked it because I found it too weird when I was a kid. That was because I was in to shows like GI Joe, Thundercats, The Real Ghostbusters, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Which is what the Japanese investors wanted SGT. Kabukiman to end up being.
The Japanese investors were more interested in (In the words of Mel Brooks…) “Moichendizing”… they wanted Kabukiman dolls, lunch boxes, back packs, and whatever other merchandise they could sell to little 9 year old kids like me at the time. However like I said earlier that just wasn’t Troma. Troma had no interest in making basically a commercial product for kids. They were an adult studio. They wanted to market to late teens and adults that were interested In guts, gore, nudity and all that. And boy did they do that. I’m pretty sure the investors were not pleased.
As a 40 year old adult I’m pleased as punch though. This is exactly the type of superhero movie I feel like the world needs. I know Jessa really enjoyed it for her first time watching it and Paul well he loves the wackiness of Troma and on the show he was a plethora of knowledge about that time period. And if you are looking for more information on SGT. Kabukiman I’d say to check out the book, “Everything I know About FILMMAKING I learned from The Toxic Avenger” by Lloyd Kaufman. They have a whole chapter devoted to the making of SGT. Kabukiman, and it is worth the read.
And the scores are in… And of course I had to give it the lowest score on here cause yes it is my favorite. I gave it a 2 on the Stinkometer. If this is your first time reading this a 2 is low on the stink: I really enjoyed it and loved its wackiness. Paul gave it a 4.5 which I’m still a bit surprised about – I mean that’s low, but not as low as I expected from him. And Jessa gave it a 4, which for her first time watching this flick she really did enjoy it. Obviously there were problems but I overlooked a lot of them because, well, Troma is one of the companies that just makes things silly. That makes the total of 10.5 which puts it between For Y’ur Height Only, Lunatics a Love Story, and Tromeo and Juliet… and a Stinky average of 3.5. Wow… two Troma movies tied by the same score. That’s incredibly awesome.
Well that’s it for this write up! I’ll be doing the next two as well and they should be out soon. I know we have been slacking but a lot of that just has to do with fitting it in to the schedule. Anyway… more to come… but until then listen to Paul tell you how to find the film and how to buy the Merch for it…. Take it away The Moo-Cow Avenger….
Well cats and kitties, here is your TRAILER – I think it pretty mooch says it all… ;=8) You can find it for free on Youtube, and also Tubi, but we should all try to support indie companies like Troma, so try to buy yerselves a copy! Uncle Amazon has the DVD, Blu Ray, AND VHS version of this film, so there is no excuse! And its on PRIME too. You can also find it at Wallyworld, BreastBuys, Barnes & Nobles, Oldies.com, and Grindhouse Video, but the best way is to go through TROMA DIRECT itself so that Uncle Lloyd gets all the cashola! You can also get it used through the resale market in places like Ebay and DeCluttr.
Redbubble has a kewl Kabukiman poster for sale, and Cinematerial.com has the traditional poster in digital form; original posters come up for sale now and then on Ebay and Posteritati. There are a butt-load of places to get the Tee-shirt, including TeePublic, Redbubble, Chief T-shirt.com, Artistshot, Printerval.com, and AliExpress, although Twisted Merch might have the best one, IMO. Get the coffee mug at TeePublic, GoMugYourself, and The Sticker Space. ETSY has a kewl Kabukiman patch too! AND you can pick up the blue vinyl soundtrack there as well. Ebay also has enamel pins and udder stuff too, so check it out! And if yer votin’ for Kabukiman for president, and who isn’t, then you need this Vote for Kabukiman Button!
DVDTalk has a pretty good discussion about the film and its origins, and, of course, it is on the Tromaville WIKI. AND, if that isn’t all, will there be a Kabukiman return???
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