''Terror Firmer'' is a 1998 American comedy horror film directed by

Lloyd Kaufman Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their featu ...

, written by Douglas Buck, Patrick Cassidy, and Kaufman, and starring Will Keenan, Alyce LaTourelle, and Kaufman. The film was produced by the Troma Entertainment company, known for distributing campy exploitation films. The film features several direct references to the previous Troma films, such as '' The Toxic Avenger'', and includes famous Troma props, like the 'Penis Monster' (referred to in the film as "Thor, the God of Love") and a severed leg. It was loosely based, in that respect, on Kaufman and James Gunn's book '' All I Need to Know About Filmmaking I Learned from The Toxic Avenger''.

Plot

The film is the story of a New York low-budget film crew, led by their insane and egotistical blind film director, Larry Benjamin, who is trying to create a work of art. In addition to the typical trials and travails of a Troma set, the crew is preyed upon by a sexually conflicted, bomb-toting

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

. Among the large and poorly-paid film crew, the movie centers mostly on production assistant Jennifer. She struggles to do her job while deciding between the two men in her life; the strait-laced boom operator Casey, and the rebellious special effects operator Jerry. The love triangle intensifies as the dead bodies mount with increasing brutality. At the climax, the entire film crew bands together (both physically and sexually) against the mortal threat in their midst.

Cast

* Will Keenan as Casey * Alyce LaTourelle as Jennifer *

as Larry Benjamin * Trent Haaga as Jerry * Debbie Rochon as Christine * Ron Jeremy as Casey's Father * Charlotte Kaufman as Audrey Benjamin * Sheri Wenden as The Mysterious Woman * Darko Malesh as Nikolai * Yaniv Sharon as Yeager, The P.A. * Gary Hrbek as Toddster * Greg 'G-Spot' Siebel as Ward * Mario Díaz as D.J. * Joe Fleishaker as Jacob Gelman * Mo Fischer as Andy * Reverend Jen Miller as Tina, The Script Girl * Trace Burroughs as Edgar Allan * Sean Pierce as "Moose" * Barry Brisco as Stephen * Kerri Kenney as Woman With Eyeball In Her Cleavage * Theo Kogan as Theodora *

Eli Roth Eli Raphael Roth (born April 18, 1972) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. As a director and producer, he is most closely associated with the horror genre, namely splatter films, having directed the films ''Cabin Fev ...

as a Shocked Onlooker * Lemmy Kilmister as Himself * Joe Lynch as Clothespin Boy * Edouard Baer and Joseph Malerba as French Cool Cats * Trey Parker and Matt Stone as The Hermaphrodites

Production

''Terror Firmer'' is the first Troma release to be edited digitally on Avid. The 'Morton Springer Show' sequence was based on the experience Lloyd Kaufman had on the Morton Downey Jr. Show. The end credits states, "A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO: The New York City Police Department, for their unstinting cooperation and invaluable help throughout every part of this production." The

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

''The Making of Terror Firmer'' shows the police clashing with the production on several instances (one of which involved the police revoking the crew's filming permit). The movie includes songs from notable punk bands, including

NOFX NOFX () was an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. Bassist/lead vocalist Fat Mike, rhythm guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin were original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every ...

(Stranger than Fishin'), the Vandals (Idea for a Movie), Bouncing Souls (Argyle), Blood for Blood (My Time is Yet to Come), Anti-Flag (Someone's Gonna Die Tonight), and The Melvins (Horn Bearer). A soundtrack for the movie was released by Go Kart records in October 2000.

Alternate versions

* The 2-Disc Special Edition gives the viewer a choice to watch the Director's Unrated Cut or to watch the Director's Unrated Cut with even more deleted scenes put back into the film. This makes the film's running time 123 minutes. * The 98-minute release R-rated version features several boxes that contain the words "CENSORED", covering various body parts (whether nude or dismembered). Additionally, for the heavier cut scenes, the movie freezes and a window appears on the screen with Kaufman explaining or comically re-enacting what was supposed to go on in the scene. The voices of characters uttering profanity at some moments are replaced by an obviously mismatched voice that says the accepted version of the word. Finally, some body parts are replaced by images of animals (e.g. a pussy cat). * The unrated director's cut runs 114 minutes. The heavily edited R-rated version runs 98 min.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Terror Firmer 1999 comedy films 1999 comedy horror films 1999 films 1999 horror films 1999 independent films 1999 LGBTQ-related films 1990s American films 1990s English-language films 1990s serial killer films American comedy horror films American independent films American LGBTQ-related films American serial killer films American splatter films Films about blind people in the United States Films about filmmaking Films directed by Lloyd Kaufman Films produced by Lloyd Kaufman Films set in New York (state) Films with screenplays by Lloyd Kaufman LGBTQ-related comedy horror films Troma Entertainment films Films scored by Nobuhiko Morino English-language comedy horror films English-language independent films English-language crime films