''Terror Firmer'' is a 1999 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 featur ...

, written by Douglas Buck, Patrick Cassidy, Kaufman, and

James Gunn James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker and executive. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1997). He then began working as a directo ...

, and starring Will Keenan, Alyce LaTourelle, and Kaufman. The film was produced by the

Troma Entertainment Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them pl ...

company, known for distributing

campy Camp is an aesthetic style and sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its bad taste and ironic value. Camp aesthetics disrupt many of modernism's notions of what art is and what can be classified as high art by inverting ae ...

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

s. 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 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 is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

. Among the large poorly paid film crew, the movie centers mostly on production assistant Jennifer, who 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 increasingly 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 Trent Haaga (born 1971) is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for his work on independent horror films, such as '' Deadgirl'' (2008), '' Cheap Thrills'' (2013), and '' 68 Kill'' (2017). Career Haaga came t ...

as Jerry * Debbie Rochon as Christine *

Ron Jeremy Ronald Jeremy Hyatt (born March 12, 1953) is an American former pornographic actor. Nicknamed "The Hedgehog", Jeremy was ranked by AVN at No. 1 in their "50 Top Porn Stars of All Time" list. Jeremy has also made a number of non-pornographic m ...

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 Mario Rafael Díaz Torres (born January 10, 1962, in Humacao, Puerto Rico) is a former Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. M ...

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 Kerri Kenney-Silver (born January 20, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and musician. She is best known for starring as Trudy Wiegel on the mockumentary series '' Reno 911!'' and previously for her sketch comedy work on MT ...

as Woman with Eyeball in Her Cleavage *

Theo Kogan Theo Kogan (born December 23, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, model, and actress. She is best known as the vocalist of the all-girl punk band Lunachicks. She also sang in the dance/electronic band Theo & the Skyscrapers. She also has ...

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, having directed the films '' Cabin Fever'' (2003) and ''Hoste ...

as a Shocked Onlooker * Lemmy as Himself * Joe Lynch as Clothespin Boy *

Édouard Baer Édouard Baer (born 1 December 1966) is a French actor, director, screenwriter, film producer and radio personality. In 2009, he participated in the French television programme ''Rendez-vous en terre inconnue''. On 5 March 2015 he appeared with S ...

as French Cool Cat *

Joseph Malerba Joseph Malerba (born 5 October 1962) is a French actor known for his role as police detective Walter Morlighem in the French TV series '' Braquo''. He has appeared in numerous films, television productions, and theatre plays since 1992. Sele ...

as French Cool Cat *

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Matt Stone. ...

and

Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Trey Parker. Stone was interes ...

(''uncredited'') as 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 Morton Downey Jr. Show'' is a syndicated American talk show presented by Morton Downey Jr. that ran from 1987 to 1989. The show and its host pioneered the concept of "trash TV" format. Starting as a local program on New York-New Jersey su ...

. The end credits states, "A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO: The

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

, for their unstinting cooperation and invaluable help throughout every part of this production." The documentary ''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 (Stranger than Fishin'), the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

(Idea for a Movie),

Bouncing Souls The Bouncing Souls are an American punk band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 1989. By the time of their acknowledgment by the national punk rock scene, they had reignited a "pogo" element to New Jersey punk rock by playing fast light-he ...

(Argyle), Blood for Blood (My Time is Yet to Come), Anti-Flag (Someone's Gonna Die Tonight), and

The Melvins ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

(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 horror films 1990s comedy horror films 1999 LGBT-related films American comedy horror films American LGBT-related films 1990s English-language films Films directed by Lloyd Kaufman American independent films American serial killer films Troma Entertainment films American splatter films LGBT-related comedy horror films 1999 films Films about filmmaking 1999 independent films 1999 comedy films 1990s American films