The people who brought you The Toxic Avenger have unleashed a new film upon the unsuspecting populace. Terror Firmer, for better or worse, can honestly be described as the "ultimate Troma movie".
The plot of Terror Firmer revolves around the low-budget Troma Team film crew who are shooting the latest Toxic Avenger movie, helmed by the fearless blind director Larry Benjamin (Lloyd Kaufman, president of Troma Entertainment, who also directed Terror Firmer). While there is an average amount of chaos to be expected on any movie set, this is, of course, a Troma movie set, so things are much, MUCH more out of hand.
When not needed on the set, a love triangle develops between boom guy Casey (Will Keenan -- Tromeo from Tromeo and Juliet), beleaguered P.A. Jennifer (Alyce LaTourelle), and special effects “maestro”, Jerry (newcomer Trent Haaga). Then there’s the bitchy lead actress, Christine (played with almost psychotic glee by always wonderful Troma reg, Debbie (American Nightmare) Rochon, who cannot NOT screw every male crew member (no pun intended). 
The entire crew is overworked to the point of exhaustion (at one point, Christine wails to the director: “Larry, my contract stipulates a 15-hour day, and I’ve been here 22!”). The sound guy quits right before Sgt. Kabukiman’s big scene delivering the Gettysburg Address (don’t ask). And certain other actors haven’t been out of costume all day.
And if that weren’t enough, there would seem to be a sexy serial killer stalking the set, killing people in, er, inventive ways -- death by escalator is one over-the-top highlight, as is a bludgeoning death by one’s own severed leg.
Add to all that a subplot involving hermaphrodites and the director’s daughter, still traumatized (or is that “Tromatized”) from witnessing her mother stomped to death by a talk-show audience, and you’ve got a relatively full plate here. Insanity reigns supreme in Terror Firmer, with the gore and gross-out gags, blood, vomit, breasts, and feces, coming one after the other, leaving the viewer no time at all to breathe.
It isn’t until later, after the film has ended, that some of the film’s messages become apparent. Most blatant is the nobility of the independent film crew, battling the slings and arrows of mega-corporate Hollywood blockbusters. Less obvious is the idea that art is created, no matter how purile, if you believe in a project with all your heart. A theory that is conveyed by Kaufman’s character’s battle-cry of “Let’s make some art!” (which goes hand in hand with his constant threat of “you finish this scene or I’m gonna blow my fucking brains out!”)
The acting is all top-notch, almost without exception, particularly Keenan and Haaga. And all involved have latched onto their respective roles with teeth and claws. Which makes it that much sadder that the film itself is such a muddled mess. Shrill and incoherent, and almost too mean-spirited at times, Terror Firmer just forges ahead, not caring that one scene is in no way connected to the one before it. The gags are hit or miss, depending on your tolerance for shit jokes, many of which seem to have been written by giggling eight-year-olds. Terror Firmer is an homage to arrested development.
However, the central theme of the film is clear – and hammered into the audience over and over again. It’s not about convention, it’s about making art, and it’s up to the audience as to whether or not Terror Firmer is art, pretensions aside. If the movie’s theme is to be believed, that art is created through the hard work of the person or persons involved, then the answer is, “Yes, Terror Firmer is art.” (Put that in your Louvre and smoke it.)
The impending release of The Toxic Avenger IV, coupled with Terror Firmer, may prove to be the apex of Troma’s career, so soon after celebrating their 25th Anniversary, for where can they go from here? They began their history with the gross-out violence of the original Toxic Avenger, and continued to increase the shock value until reaching the pinnacle with Terror Firmer. Shock humor only works until the shock wears off. After that, it’s just the same beat, without much variation. After one-upping the “Mr. Creosote” sequence from “Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life”, what can the next step finally be? Where will Troma be once the fans demand that next piece of “art”? If politicians are to believed, we’re already a pretty jaded society. What will the Troma Team do when they run out of ways to shock?
More information about Terror Firmer can be found at Troma Entertainment.