Tales from the Crapper

"Tales from the Crapper" is gory, disgusting, tasteless, offensive, lowbrow and scatological. But that's OK, I was prepared for all that from my previous Troma experiences. What I WASN'T prepared for is that it's also witless, unfunny and boring. Very little of the genuine anarchic spirit of films like "Class of Nuke'em High" has remained intact; in its place, we get ENDLESS fart jokes (to the point where you start wondering if Lloyd Kaufman is going senile, thinking that adults find loud farting so darn hilarious!) and a cynical, shameless exploitation of the viewer, who is essentially investing time and money to see a "film" that even Kaufman himself seems to know should never have been released in the first place. Oh yes, there is plenty of female nudity on display, but let's face it: the average porn film probably offers a better storyline, higher production values, funnier humor, and above all more RESPECT for its intended viewer than this atrocity.

P.S: Kelly Powers AKA Suzi Lorraine (the blonde lesbian student in the "How to make your own movie" segment) is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen.

As a fan of Troma, I thought this would be better. However, like Billy Bob Thorton's character in Bad Santa says, "They can't all be winners". The first film in this two film anthology series is unwatchable and stupid, even by the standards of Troma. The second film is better. It definitely is campy garbage, but amusing campy garbage that has cool cameos and makes fun of Hollywood's pretentiousness. Both of these films are short and the rest of the movie has Troma's Grand Poobah Lloyd Kaufman chewing up the scenery, making bad jokes and acting like an imbecile. Which would have been fine, but he does it for way too long and wears out his welcome quick. Tales From The Crapper does have plenty of boobage, gore, as well as an overdose of camp and super lowbrow humor. Most of what is contained here is not funny, or entertaining like a good bad film should be. It is just bad. There are plenty of other titles from Troma that are much better viewing choices. For example, in their own way films like The Toxic Avenger and Redneck Zombies are brilliant. I can only recommend this pile of crap to Troma's most die-hard of fans, who probably watched this 12 times already.

These were two video shot movies that Troama decided were horrible so in a desperate move turned into this one movie. Perhaps the bitterness on Troama's side helped spark the comedy, but for whatever reason this is very funny stuff with an inspired bit with "Oliver Stone" doing commentary during the movie. Lots of cameos, lots of use of the Lesbian Cannibal HoeDown song add to the fun. Trey Parker, Ted Raimi, Julie Strain etc etc....

One of the best of recent Troama releases. Yes it's all over the place, know that going in, the production quality, or lack of, becomes one of the many running jokes. Go with it and you'll be in for a good time.

The behind the scenes, frequently the best things about Troama releases are also above average this time around. I really think the anger they felt over these two lousy films helped drive them to, well not greatness, but drove them to "fix" this film in a way that's better than either of the films would have been as they were originally planned.

I've reviewed many films in many genres (But a lot of horror, because there is so many levels). This is flat out trash that made me angry that it ever fouled my eyes and ears. I've seen a ton of low budget films, but this is by far the worst. Acting, music, directing, script, and voice acting is just awful. It is what happens when you give a stoned teenager a camera... Perhaps someone will mention that I don't understand that this is satire, but I'm not mentally ill. Films Like Scary Movie 1 or Don't be a Menace while Drinking Juice in the Hood are solid examples of satire and spoof movies. This is just abusive to human senses. The jokes are less than Sophomoric. They are pre-school. How many times can a fart sound be used in one film? The visuals and audio are worse than the projects I made in school. Lastly, it has the cardinal sin of pretending to spoof or have any connection to Tales From the Crypt. The EC Comics are wonderful parts of our culture. The type of fun horror that can connect generations of people. Creepshow 1&2, as well as the TV show, Tales from the Crypt TV shows, and it's films are American staples. Many other films have followed in the EC Comics tradition with dignity like Cat's Eye, Tales From the Darkside movie, Trick R Treat, or even the ABC's of Death... Even if the makers want to spoof the anthology EC style, they could've reached for more quality like Tales from the Hood... The saving grace for this POS is supposed to be all the naked girls, but most of them are gross, have obvious plastic surgery, and probably are strippers in the poor sections of California. Why make your "hot girls" keep farting over and over? It wasn't funny the 1st time, and down right anger inducing the 500th time. I've never been so unimpressed. Might actually be the worst film I've ever seen. I probably spent more time and energy critiquing it than they did making it.

I'm not sure what to think of this movie. I did enjoy it's low-budget crudeness. I liked the over-dubbed voices. I liked the chintzy special effects. And I liked Lloyd's Crapkeeper costume. But I felt that this movie was at times a strain on the brain to watch. It was a definite step down from Citizen Toxie and Terror Firmer. Yet it was better than The Killer Condom or any of those boring Witchcraft movies Troma is re-releasing. I liked the many cameos and the insipid story lines and the non-stop rude attitude the film portrayed, but at the same time I felt it was hard to watch because of the muddy filming, crappy editing and the sloppy way the stories were brought together. When I talked to Lloyd a year ago, he was quite excited about getting this released. Sorry to say, I was expecting more. But I guess I shouldn't complain. I know I could sit through it again. Two and a half stars.