Category: Comedy

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By the early 1970s, Lloyd Kaufman was only a few years away from co-founding Troma Entertainment with Michael Herz. Kaufman had two directing credits under his belt, The Girl Who Returned and The Battle of Love’s Return. Around this time, producer Ami Artzi had his first film, The Dreamer, premiere at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. Artzi convinced Kaufman and Herz that making a G-rated family comedy in Israel would be easy money. Not only would it be a hit in Israel, but the film could also play at American synagogues. Unfortunately, the trouble started when the original script Kaufman and Herz turned in was drastically rewritten by the Israeli producers. In the end, Kaufman and Herz lost money when the film flopped upon release due to war breaking out. In 1973, Schwartz: The Brave Detective, aka Big Gus, What’s The Fuss? came and went.

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Synopsis

Detective Schwartz (Bomba Tzur) is a former cop turned private investigator who works alongside his partner Simcha (Yosef Shiloach). A wealthy man has hired them to spy on his wife, who he fears is cheating on him. The wife has an affair with her doctor, so the detectives decide to take on the case. While they manage to get photographic evidence, they accidentally lose the footage, and the doctor finds out what they’re doing. In retaliation, he hires a mob boss to send his goons after Schwartz and Simcha to hide the truth. A series of “wacky” hijinks follow as our heroes try to outrun the mob and expose the wife. Thankfully, Schwartz and Simcha have friends in high places who can help them out of this jam. Will our heroes succeed, what will happen to the wife, and just who is Gus?

Review

Over the years, Lloyd Kaufman said Big Gus, What’s The Fuss? “did more damage to the Jews than Mein Kempf.” While Lloyd’s statement might be hyperbolic, it’s not like Big Gus, What’s The Fuss? is some misunderstood masterpiece. Perhaps it’s a case of culture clash since I’m not Israeli, but I can’t imagine enjoying this if I was. Cultural issues aside, this is one of the most confusing and disjointed films I’ve seen since starting this site. What’s strange is that, at first, it begins simply enough as a goofy comedy about two bumbling detectives. The plot goes off the rails into pure chaos at some point as it devolves into a string of gags. They make no sense in context and come out of nowhere, including one involving a random couple rehearsing a scene. It doesn’t help that almost none of these gags aren’t the least bit funny.

From what I understand, many of the cast members were famous in their native land and considered superstars. Admittedly, I’ve never heard of these actors, let alone seen their previous work, so I can’t say for sure. Most of them resort to simply mugging for the camera and making silly noises thinking that’s funny. It seems like they’re trying to capture the madcap energy of Benny Hill without understanding what made him work. It doesn’t help that this film is G-rated, meaning we don’t get the sexy shenanigans Benny Hill was known for. The soundtrack comprises only two songs repeatedly played throughout, which adds to the painful viewing experience. While not as bad as It’s Pat or Freddy Got Fingered, this is still a terrible comedy. Overall, unless you’re a Troma completionist, Big Gus, What’s The Fuss? is best left forgotten.

Download Big Gus, What’s The Fuss? from Troma Direct: https://bit.ly/3qsWAZM.

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After graduating from Yale University, Lloyd Kaufman started working for Cannon Films, where he met up-and-coming filmmaker John G. Avildsen. The two first collaborated on the 1970 film Joe, starring Peter Boyle and a then-unknown Susan Sarandon. Soon after, they worked on the 1971 film Cry Uncle, which Kaufman distributed under his then newly formed Troma Entertainment. Around this time, future Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone returned from Vietnam and earned a film degree from New York University. He attended Yale with Kaufman, so Stone decided to co-produce a few movies in the early 1970s. Kaufman also knew producer Frank Vitale, who would collaborate on Kaufman’s first major motion picture after The Girl Who Returned. With an $8,000 budget, Lloyd Kaufman assembled his team to helm a quirky comedy about life in 1970s New York. In June 1971, The Battle of Love’s Return made its way onto the big screen.

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Synopsis

Abacrombie (Lloyd Kaufman) is a down-on-his-luck loser who can’t seem to catch a break no matter how hard he tries. After failing a big job from his boss Mr. Crumb (Stanley Kaufman), Abacrombie is fired and left wandering the streets. He passes by a coffee shop and sees his Dream Girl (Lynn Lowry), but he’s too shy to go inside. While trying to find himself, he meets a loafer (Andy Kay), who constantly hounds him for being a square. He even tries to help an old lady (Ida Goodcutt) cross the street but gets beaten by her. At one point, he tries joining a hippie commune only to get laughed at by them and the cops. Despite being scorned by his Dream Girl, Abacrombie is determined to make a name for himself at any cost. Will he succeed and win the battle of love’s return?

Review

Compared to Lloyd’s first film, The Battle of Love’s Return is more engaging and not as tedious to watch. While the film is a comedy, don’t expect a joke every five minutes as it veers closer to arthouse territory. There are these odd black-and-white vignettes between the narrative segments where some actors give improvised interviews. I’m not sure what their purpose is other than to paint a picture of people in the early 1970s. Admittedly, the only one I was mildly interested in was where Lynn Lowry plays a Southern belle looking for love. Speaking of, just like in Sugar Cookies, Lowry is positively stunning and is having fun saying some exaggerated lines. Also, look out for an early appearance from Oliver Stone, who has a bit part as Cliff, Abacrombie’s co-worker. He only has one scene, but it’s cool to see him at such a young age.

Lloyd Kaufman is a mixture of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and even some Mel Brooks in terms of acting. Most of the humor is rooted in old-school slapstick, so if you’re not a fan, you probably won’t enjoy this. He moves with exaggerated body movements and gives the same cartoonish faces you’d see in his later films. As far as filmmaking goes, he shoots this in an arthouse style with occasional black-and-white, extreme close-ups, and long takes. While there is a plot, there isn’t any particular structure or complete sequence of events. Things just happen without much of an explanation, like going from hanging with hippies to suddenly fighting in Vietnam. It might be somewhat confusing, but it’s a brisk watch at slightly under 90 minutes, and it’s an intriguing experience. Overall, The Battle of Love’s Return is a fascinating if disjointed early look at Kaufman’s long career.

Buy The Battle of Love’s Return from Amazon: https://amzn.to/4nX26i0.

Disclosure: The above link is an affiliate link, which means that, at no additional cost, I will earn a commission if you click through the link and make a purchase.

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Where to watch The Battle of Love’s Return (1971)

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Long before he brought us The Toxic Avenger, Lloyd Kaufman was a student at Yale University majoring in Chinese studies. In 1966, Kaufman took a break from college to work in the Peace Corps as a pathfinder in Chad. After returning home, he worked as a producer on the film Rappaccini by director Robert Edelstein. Towards the end of his college career, Kaufman decided to try his hand at filmmaking, working with a $2,000 budget. Kaufman could only afford a Bolex camera that didn’t have sound sync and could only record up to 40 seconds. Most of the cast was unknown actors who haven’t appeared in anything since, though future producer Michael Herz appeared. Once filming wrapped, various east coast universities, including Yale and Harvard, screened the film for an eager audience. Now, let’s go back to 1969 and look at Kaufman’s directorial debut, The Girl Who Returned.

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Synopsis

In an alternate reality, the only nations left on Earth are Luxembourg, comprised of women, and Mongolia, ruled by men. Each country competes in an Olympics competition every four years to determine who controls the world. Lucy (Gretchen Herman) trains with her strict coach Geneva (Beverly Galley) to become the best runner in Luxembourg. However, Lucy feels drained and controlled by her domineering coach, so she breaks free from home. She makes her way to Mongolia, where she meets a man (Tim McClean) and instantly falls in love. While the two of them grow as a couple, the Olympics in Luxembourg is in full swing. Soon, Lucy has to decide between her newfound lover and her devotion to her home country. At least, that’s what I think is supposed to be happening in this otherwise jumbled mess of shots.

Review

Usually, I can write a review of just about any movie with relatively no trouble, even if they’re incomprehensible. However, I was utterly baffled by The Girl Who Returned and didn’t know what I could say. On the one hand, it’s a fascinating piece of Troma and Lloyd Kaufman’s career history. On the other hand, it’s one of the most confusing and indecipherable movies I’ve ever seen. Of course, not every filmmaker’s first feature will be as good as Citizen Kane or Reservoir Dogs. That said, this feels like the stereotypical student film: black and white photography, no dialogue, and non-traditional storytelling. Also, like many student films, this comes off somewhat pretentious and too ambitious for its own good. It says a lot when even Lloyd Kaufman, the film’s director, refers to the movie as “boring.”

Since this is a silent film, judging the acting is challenging since there’s no audible dialogue. Going off of body language, much of the cast feels stiff and uninterested, like the actors have no direction. They lack the emotional expression of silent film stars like Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, or Lon Chaney. It doesn’t help that there aren’t any dialogue cards to show us what the characters are saying. The only information given to us comes from a pair of narrators who sound like they’re making things up. At 66 minutes, the film drags on and on until it abruptly ends with no clear resolution. Like I said earlier in the review, Troma completionists will probably enjoy watching this as a curiosity, but that’s it. Overall, The Girl Who Returned has its place, but I wouldn’t recommend this to Troma newcomers.

Watch The Girl Who Returned on Troma Now: https://bit.ly/3qTL8XI.

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In 1975, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws became an instant pop culture phenomenon and ushered in the Hollywood blockbuster. Over the years, the film influenced numerous filmmakers and spawned several spoofs and knock-offs trying to capitalize on its success. One person inspired by the Spielberg classic was up-and-coming producer John Finegan, who was looking into making low-budget horror films. The son of a pro golfer, he spent much of his childhood on a golf course with a giant lawnmower. Seeing this gave Finegan the idea to make a spoof of the Spielberg classic with a lawnmower replacing the shark. During a presentation at NYU, Finegan recruited aspiring filmmakers Thomas Rondinella and Bill Pace to work on Girl School Screamers. Once they wrapped filming, Finegan assigned them to work on the Jaws parody film. In 1989, Troma Entertainment distributed the killer lawnmower movie Blades.

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Synopsis

At the Tall Grass Country Club, owner Norman Osgood (William Towner) is preparing for the annual golf tournament. He hires former golfer Roy Kent (Robert North) to organize the event, much to Kelly Lange’s (Victoria Scott) chagrin. Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worst when several people are found dead all over the golf course. Kelly wants to cancel the tournament until they find the killer, but Norman insists the event will stay on. Norman organizes a local search party to search for whoever is responsible as the killings continue. They accuse local groundskeeper Deke Slade (Jeremy Whelan), but he insists that a rogue lawnmower is running amok. After proving to Norman what’s going on, Roy and Kelly team up with Deke to destroy the lawnmower. Just when you thought it was safe to putt, you’ll wish you stayed at the country club.

Review

Blades isn’t quite as good as Joe Dante’s Piranha as a Jaws parody, but it’s still enjoyable. People who have practically studied the 1975 film top to bottom will recognize all the scenes copied here. What helps this film stand out is that, instead of an animal attacking people, it’s a machine this time around. The idea of an ordinary lawnmower becoming sentient and killing people is a darkly comedic spin on something so familiar. Like the killer shark movie, this one uses plenty of POV shots before revealing the lawnmower in the climax. When we finally see the lawnmower, it has a monstrous yet straightforward design that’s appropriately ridiculous and threatening. There are some reasonably gruesome death scenes, though most of them consist of people getting their legs chewed off. Even still, this is arguably the best movie about a killer lawnmower for what it’s worth.

For a low-budget horror-comedy, the cast does a primarily above-average job delivering their lines, though there aren’t many stand-outs. Perhaps the only real stand-out is Jeremy Whelan, who gives a performance that’s almost too good for this type of movie. He plays the part as if he were Robert Shaw rather than just an imitation of his Quint character. While he’s no Roy Schieder, Robert North makes a decent lead and has some interesting character flaws. In addition to filling in the Richard Dreyfuss role, Victoria Scott has some good back-and-forths with North. William Towner fills in for the Amity Island mayor, but he doesn’t have the charisma Murray Hamilton had. At slightly over 90 minutes, the film does take a while to get going, but it goes by quickly. Overall, Blades is a decent parody with above-average acting and a unique concept that B-movie fans can enjoy.

Buy Blades from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3zMKNsQ.

Disclosure: The above link is an affiliate link, which means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

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As kids, we were fearful of monsters lurking in our bedrooms, whether under the bed or in the closet. We realize just how dumb this fear is as we get older, eventually getting over it. In 2001, Pixar tried showing us what the monsters living in our closets were doing when we weren’t sleeping. That movie was Monsters, Inc., and it showed us that not all monsters are nasty. However, years before Sully and Mike Wazowski warmed our hearts, writer/director Bob Dahlin tapped into that fear. Dahlin started the industry with the 1973 short film Norman Nurdelpick’s Suspension: A Tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. After that, he worked as an assistant director on movies like Damien: Omen II, And Justice For All, and Popeye. In 1983, Dahlin directed his only feature film, Monster In The Closet, though it wouldn’t see a release until 1986.

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Synopsis

In a quiet college town near San Francisco, a series of murders has the townsfolk in hysterics. Obituary writer Richard Clark (Donald Grant) is assigned to report on the recent deaths and figure out what’s happening. He meets local science teacher Diane Bennett (Denise DuBarry) and her intelligent son nicknamed ‘Professor’ (Paul Walker). Soon enough, they discover what’s responsible for the murders: a hideous monster (Kevin Peter Hall) who lives in people’s closets. Local eccentric Dr. Pennyworth (Henry Gibson) tries reasoning with the beast and gets clawed to death. General Turnbull (Donald Moffat) and his forces try to destroy the monster, but none of their weapons are successful. With seemingly no options left, our heroes have to fend for themselves against the closet-dwelling monster. But is the monster murderous, or is he misunderstood and possibly looking for love?

Review

Monster in the Closet is one of those movies whose idea is more entertaining than the movie itself. This movie isn’t what I’d call a lost Troma classic, but that’s not to say it’s all terrible. The filmmakers wanted to make a spoof of 50s monster movies, though not many jokes land. It doesn’t help either that there are several dead spots, and it takes a while for things to get going. A few gags were pretty funny, particularly a montage of people from all over the world trashing their closets. Another memorable one involves the love interest Diane in a trance whenever Richard’s glasses fall off. One thing that makes this film stand out is the cast of notable character actors, which is staggering. You’ve got appearances from Henry Gibson, Claude Akins, Stella Stevens, Howard Duff, Donald Moffat, Paul Dooley, and John Carradine.

Another positive I can give this movie is the titular monster, which has a uniquely goofy design. Not only is its mouth constantly open, but it lets out a scream that repeats every time it’s on-screen. It even has a more petite mouth inside of its mouth, similar to the Xenomorph from Alien. I also like how there’s no explanation for what the monster is or where it came from. As I said before, tons of filler scenes drag the movie down until the monster shows up. It’s very similar to 1982’s Nightbeast, though that at least made up for it with tons of blood and gore. I’d recommend the former between the two, though this would still make for a fun bad movie night. Overall, Monster in the Closet doesn’t entirely deliver on the laughs and scares, but it has its moments.

Rent Monster in the Closet on Amazon Prime: https://amzn.to/3D92tyw

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