Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006)

n

nTitle: Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006)

n

nDirector: Lloyd Kaufman

n

nCast: Jason Yachanin, Kate Graham, Lloyd Kaufman

n

nReview:

n

nSo I’m quickly gaining lots of respect for Producer/Director/ActornLloyd Kaufman. Why you may ask? Well, I’ve been seeing a lot of Troma filmsnlately and I have to admit I’m having a blast checking them out. They arentrashy, they are cheap and gross to the max, but they are also fun. This is mynmantra when I watch Troma films. But other then that, Lloyd Kaufman is to menthe embodiment of true independent cinema, the kind you make simply because younwant to, without all the restrictions, bureaucracy, bullshit and snobbishnessnthat comes from making a studio production. Kaufman just makes his movies. Hengathers his friends; he gathers a crew, and shoots the damn thing! Most of thenpeople that work on this film do it for free, just because they want to be in anTroma film, the extras, all worked for free! Of course situations andncomplications always arise in a low budget production like this one, but at thenend of the day, everyone has a grand old time and the result is a film thatnsimply emanates pure fun. I recently had a chance of checking out Kaufman’snPoultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead. Was it as fun as the rest of Troma’s repertoire of films?

n

n

nHell to the yeah my friends! Poultrygeist: Night of thenChicken Dead is every bit as zany and crazy as you might expect a Lloyd Kaufmannfilm to be with an added bonus: the film has a message! And it’s dead on! Thenfilm is all about this chain of fast food restaurants called ‘American ChickennBunker’ and they’ve just opened a new restaurant in Tromaville! Complicationsnarise when we learn that the restaurant was built on an ancient Tromahawk Indiannburial ground! The shit really hits the fan when we learn that the chickens (andnthose who eat them) are being possessed by the spirits of angry Indians hellnbent on revenge! It isn’t long before we have a restaurant full of zombienchicken people! You have to see this to believe it.  

n

n

nTroma films have always had a subversive angle and a messagenin the midst of all their projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhea. Yeah thenfilms are juvenile and repugnant in many ways, but deep in the heart of it all,nthey always have something to say, a critique on society. Take for example thenToxic Avenger movies, the villain in those movies is a gigantic corporationnhell bent on world domination. This evil corporation is looking to privatizeneverything and kill small businesses, its name? Apocalypse Inc. How about Classnof Nuke ‘Em High (1986)? A film that speaks about the dilapidated state of educationnin the United Statesnschool system. And all of these films I’ve mentioned also speak about a fear peoplensuffered from during the 80’s: the fear of nuclear meltdown, of nuclear power. Sonit comes as no surprise that Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead also has anmessage attached to it. What did surprise me is how clear and resonant thatnmessage was! Fast Food is Poison! 

n

n

nSo yeah, Kaufman aims his guns this time at the fast food industrynand my hats down to the man for that because I agree with him 100%; fast foodnis poison! It’s not the kind of food that might be detrimental to your healthnin a small way, no, the crap they sell you at Mc Donald’s, Burger King or KFCn(and other fast food restaurants) is pure poison for your body. I havenpersonally stopped going to these kinds of places because every time I went, mynbody would react in negative ways. In Kaufman’s film we see people gettingnexplosive diarrhea and vomiting violently after eating at the American ChickennBunker, which in my book is not that big of an exaggeration of what can happennto you if you eat at these places. Of course, this being a Lloyd Kaufman film,nhe cranks the volume to 11 and so we get a restaurant full of people vomitingngreen slime! Be ready for some extremely gross images on this film, if you can’tntake that sort of thing, well then don’t bother! But this one gets reallyngraphic with its depictions of bodily fluids! In my book it’s all justifiednconsidering the subject matter. American Chicken Bunker is an obvious allusion tonKFC, the worst of all the fast food joints in my opinion! In my book, it is thenmost poisonous of all, so hurray to Kaufman for aiming his guns at thesenmerchants of death.

n

n

nKaufman not only attacks the idea of eating in these fastnfood places, but he also attacks the idea of working in them. The film focusesnon this young kid who decides to work in the American Chicken Bunker because henwants to get back at his girlfriend, who dumped him for a lesbian. Kaufmannhimself plays an aging employee who’s worked his whole life at the AmericannChicken Bunker and ends up realizing he’s led a terrible life because hendecided to go career with American Chicken Bunker. They even have a wholenmusical number on the subject of wasting your life working for places such asnthese.

n

n

nBut don’t be fooled by the films message my friends, thisnfilm will be one of the most offensive, gross out films you will ever see! I’venseen a lot of weird films, but damn, this one really went far! We get gay Mexicannemployees who die shredded by a meat grinder; another employee who enjoysnmaking love to dead chickens! One of the employees is a terrorist! I mean, these guys went all out crazy with thisnmovie! We get possessed chickens! Talking hamburgers! A restaurant full ofnpeople vomiting! The walls of the restaurant get splattered and sprayed with diarrhea,nvomit and blood! And last but not least, we get chicken zombie people! Don’t ask!nJust rent or buy this b-movie masterpiece! The last half hour of this film isnpure unadulterated dementia! Craziness and cartoon gore are amped up to theirnmaximum expression! The gags you’ll see are too numerous for me to number here,nso rest assured you will not be bored for a second! If you like movies that don’tntake themselves seriously at all and indulge in irreverence and social critiquenthen this is the movie for you! Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead is innmy opinion Lloyd Kaufman’s finest film to date, kudos to the man for that.

n

nRating: 3 ½ out of 5 

n

n