The Greatest Films #12: Terror Firmer

I consider Llyod Kaufman one of my heroes (if I was to name any). What he lacks in true, raw, filmmaking talent he makes up for with a bubbling, macabre aesthetic of the grotesque – but never without an element of subversion or political commentary.

What many fans of Kaufman have always failed to do when trying to replicate the spirit or aesthetic of a Troma movie is they forget Troma’s movies are made by a genius and graduate of Yale. These movies are not stupid – they’re masochistic reflections of a world which (and I truly believe this) exists in Llyod Kaufman’s subversive mind.

His satire, commentary, and symbolism is as stark as Bergman’s and he has a trash aesthetic that cannot be equaled by anyone operating in mainstream or independent cinema…maybe Takashi Miike. (And maybe Peter Jackson when he was still active as a splatter director.)

What it is about:

Terror Firmer should never be someone’s first experience with a Troma film – there are required viewings first. It is a celebration of a film company, maybe even a film genre, that celebrates the bizarre, absurd, and esoteric.

It is also a minor love letter to the madness of making an independent film. Fancois Truffaut once demanded that, “a film express either the joy of making cinema or the agony of making cinema.” I think that idea might apply more here than anywhere in Hollywood. Most people think of making movies as a grand adventure with David Lean staring off into the sunset – it is, in reality, a mad circus.

Firmer is a fun little movie-within-a-movie where a killer is murdering members of the crew and it puts the production in a panic.

Why it is a great film:

It celebrates things I love: The absurd, the campy, the macabre, and the grotesque – to name a few.

The movie is filmmaking anarchy that tends towards the bizarre. It celebrates what made me fall in love with Troma as a kid. The Toxic Avenger films, Troma’s War, Class of Nuke Em High, and Poultrygeist are all fantastic efforts, but Terror Firmer always remains my favorite.

For some reason it seems the most shameless and introspective. It shouts that even schlock is art and that it is about time we go out and make some!

The killer’s identity is slowly revealed to the audience through weird murders (such as a bong to the dick or escalator push) and we finally find out who the killer is and we are treated to a Ron Jeremy cameo – if this scene doesn’t make you a life-long Troma fan, than get the fuck out.

-Collin