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Attack of the Tromaggot
Germany 2008
produced by Leslie Teah
directed by Leslie Teah
starring Leslie Teah, Dante Vegas, Solo, Haggie Schramm, Dominique Agnah, Alexander Rothert, André Wentzel, p. Skalli da Senhora, Cem Özcakir, Lars Fokken, Michael Beret, Andreas Mietzner, Oleg "Harlem" Fomenko, Alejandor John O'Hara, Moritz Auster-Anstalt, Manta Snellius, Kittyhawk, Sebastian Gutsche, Sonar, der Sandynel, Oliver Müller, Lloyd Kaufman, Debbie Rochon
written by Leslie Teah, music by Michael Donner, Felix Wollner, 79'ers, Bengtrock, Savian, Galaxy Soundtrack, special effects by Leslie Teah
Toxic Avenger (cameo)
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Maggotown houses both a maggot research center and the company Mucus, a
company producing fortune cookies first and foremost, but totally not
averse to mixing some toxic waste into their recipe, just to save on
ingredients. But their last delivery was so toxic not even they would use
it - so they just dispose of it into the sewage system. Bad idea as such,
but even worse because the maggot research company has just dropped a
corpse they used for experimental purposes into the sewage system as well.
And a maggot infested body and toxic waste of course results in - a deadly
flesh-eating super maggot that attacks and kills the population of
Maggotown, starting with the incompetent chief of police. Eventually,
the maggot makes it back to the maggot lab - where the scientists should
theoretically be able to take care of it ... but quite the contrary, they
feed it with some maggot mutation serum so the deadly maggot gets even
deadlier - and much larger, too ... Attack of the Tromaggot
is basically a party movie, done the trash-as-trash-can-way, meaning of
it's full of broad jokes, plenty of which will probably be the funnier the
more beer has preceded them, so there's plenty of fart- and gross-our
humour, obvious sight gags and the like. I'm afraid though, even for a
party movie, this film aims a tad too low, basically because it has no
higher aspirations than being a Troma-fanfilm
(it even calls itself that in the opening credits, and has a Toxic
Avenger-cameo as well as Lloyd Kaufman and Debbie Rochon
showing their faces). Now don't get me wrong, at least in my book, there's
absolutely nothing wrong with Troma,
but Attack of the Tromaggot only tries to duplicates the company's
sick humour and cheapness, totally ignoring Troma's
originality, its aspiration to tell stories and create characters beneath
all the slime and blood and guts and sickness and filth. Troma-films
(at least the best of them) work because of their story-arcs and character
development beneath the trashy surface, Attack of the Tromaggot ...
well, at least it has a few good jokes, but they almost get lost beneath
the film's celebration of cheapness and too obvious intention to be funny
(I'd call it the "funny hat syndrome", but I'm pretty sure I
just made the expression up and nobody will understand it ...).
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