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| Tromeo and Juliet (1996) |
| Directed by Lloyd Kaufman and Micheal Herz. Starring Jane Jensen, Will Keenan, Valentine Meile, Maxemillian Shaun , Sean Gunn, and Debbie Rochon. |
| Entertainment : 4 out of 4 |
| Watchability : 4 out of 4 |
| Overall : 4 out of 4 |
| Reviewed by Blake. |
| This was Tromas update of Romeo and Juliet, and the result is really Shakespeare on acid. The story follows pretty much the same pattern as the original play, but throws in gangfights, body piercing, inbreeding, s&m , and copious amounts of bad taste. This was probably Tromas most professional film ever at the time it was released , and was made for an incredible $350 000 budget. The movie revolves around two families, the Que's , and the Capulets. |
| They are involved in a bitter fued that all |
| started when Cappy Capulet ( played by Liberace lookalike, Max Shaun) scammed his business partner Monty Que out of their film company. These two characters seem to be based on Troma founders Lloyd Kaufman, and Micheal Herz. The two families are always fighting, and things really get out of control when the fairly dopey Tromeo Que falls for Juliet Capulet. |
| This is a highly entertaining , and genuinly good Troma film. Somehow they were able to take extremely boring subject matter, and turn it into an extremely eclectic exploitation flick. It constantly changes between serious filmmaking, and total slapstick, which keeps things energetic, and interesting. The cast is also a very strong ensemble, and Jane Jensen ( Juliet) , Will Keenan ( Tromeo), Valentine Meile (Murray), and Sean Gunn ( Sammy Capulet) are all particularly good. A lot of the gore scenes although done on a shoestring fx budget are pretty effective too. |
| This movie is full of scenes that you're either gonna love , or find in extremely poor taste. I got a lot of laughs out of the scene where a preist tells Juliet that he knows her pain, and that he also once cared deeply for someone. He then has a flashback scene where we see him dancing around a park with a young boy! Probably the most memorable scene has Sammy Capulet scooping up his brains from the concrete after being flung from a car, and trying to stuff them back in. You find yourself laughing at first, but then as he starts whimpering you feel really sorry for him. Definitely a great scene. This will be a time capsule for the nineties, much like Easy Rider was for the sixties. Lloyd Kaufman has often said that his version of the bards tale is the best ever, and his statement is correct. |
| UPDATE!!! PUSHING ALMOST TEN YEARS LATER, THIS ONE STILL PACKS A PUNCH TO THE EYE. FINALLY A GOOD LOCAL DVD RELEASE IS AVAILABLE FROM STOMP. |