The October Zombie-Thon 2009 - Day 26: Poultrygeist

Posted by Trevor Snyder on 10.26.2009

At long last, Lloyd Kaufman enters the zombie fray.

POULTRYGEIST: NIGHT OF THE CHICKEN DEAD (2006)




Directed by: Lloyd Kaufman
Written by: Lloyd Kaufman, Gabe Friedman, & Daniel Bova
Country: USA


Having distributed movies like Redneck Zombies, Zombiegeddon, Wiseguys vs. Zombies and Pot Zombies, the rebellious independent studio Troma is certainly no stranger to the living dead genre. But until today's movie, they were surprisingly zombie-less when it came to their own in-house productions – which was obviously a shame to Troma fans, most of whom have probably noticed that the films Troma President Lloyd Kaufman actually directs are by-far the best element of the company. It's a good thing, therefore, that Poultrygeist is well worth the wait. Not just for those waiting for a Kaufman-directed zombie film, mind you, but also for anyone who has been waiting for a satirical, gross-out musical about chicken zombies with an anti fast-food message. I gotta imagine that's a pretty large group.

The story takes place, not surprisingly, in the city of Tromaville, where young lovers Arbie (Jason Yachanin) and Wendy (Kate Graham) like to spend their time indulging in some hot and heavy dry-humping at the local Indian Burial Ground. Ahhh, young love. Unfortunately, great things rarely last forever – Wendy decides to go off to college, while Arbie is forced to stay back home to care for his parents ("my mother is a retard and my father's blind!"). One semester later, Arbie discovers that Wendy has now decided she is a lesbian, and has left him for militant protester Micki (Allyson Sereboff) What's more, the Indian burial ground has been plowed over, and is now the site of brand new American Chicken Bunker, one of the country's biggest fast food franchises.

In order to get back at Wendy and her new girlfriend, who are protesting the new ACB as part of their membership in CLAM (Collegiate Lesbians against Mega-Conglomerates), Arbie eagerly applies for a job at the establishment. Hired on the spot by manager Denny (Joshua Olatunde), Arbie is introduced to the rest of the crew – gay Mexican Paco Bell (Khalid Rivera), redneck bestiality fan Carl Jr. (Die You Zombie Bastards! director Caleb Emerson), and Muslim woman Humas (Rose Ghavami). They all have their quirks (this might be a slight understatement), but overall it seems like it might actually be a decent job…

…at least until a customer experiences explosive (literally) diarrhea, Paco Bell is pushed into a meat grinder (don't worry – he is reincarnated as a talking sloppy Joe sandwich), Arbie is visited by his future self, and the rest of the customers start turning into flesh-hungry zombie chickens. Oh, and this is all happening on the day that American Chicken Bunker founder General Lee Roy (Robin Watkins) is coming to visit!

Kaufman's films have always had a demented glee to them, but while ‘80s efforts like The Toxic Avnger, Class of Nuke ‘Em High and Troma's War were all great fun but somewhat interchangeable, his work has been getting increasingly better and better since 1996's Tromeo & Juliet. Oh sure, there is still the occasional clunker, like the disappointing Tales from the Crapper. But, for the most part, the in-house Troma movies have been getting consistently crazier and funnier over the last decade or so. Poultrygeist continues this tradition – it is easily the company's biggest, bloodiest, and naughtiest film yet. It is also easily the most hilarious. And that it would win over the Troma faithful is no surprise; but Poultrygeist even managed to reel in unexpected praise from more established types, earning some of the best reviews the company has ever seen – maybe even better than they ever expected to see. "Possibly the best reviewed independent film since Blood Simple," the film's DVD case proudly exclaims. While I'd question the factuality of that particular piece of hyperbole, there's no doubt that Poultrygeist was far more critically acclaimed than many might have guessed.

Well, here's another positive review to throw onto the pile of chicken guts, because I'm here to continue singing the film's praises. Poultrygeist delivers everything you would expect and want from a Troma film – and maybe even a little more, given the film's musical numbers. There's something undeniably admirable about Kaufman and company's unwavering "we don't care who we offend, as long as we do offend" sense of humor, which is on full display here with all manner of racist, sexist, and just plain low-brow jokes. Of course, there's no actual malice intended – it's all about pushing boundaries and going as over-the-top as possible. And when they're on, like they are here, nobody does it better than Troma.

Of course, anyone can be crude and disgusting, but what makes a film like Poultrygeist work is that the jokes are actually witty. And, in this case, delivered by a talented cast. Sure, this kind of mugging probably shouldn't be considered "great acting," but it's perfectly appropriate for a movie of this type, and it's always a plus when you can tell the actors are into the spirit of the movie (not always the case with films like these). Jason Yachanin and Kate Graham are two of the most likeable leads Troma has ever seen, and Yachanin in particular displays a great knack for comedic timing. Meanwhile, Robin Watkins just about steals the show with his exaggerated Southerner act as General Lee Roy – it's a rather obvious riff on Colonel Sanders, but Watkins is just so earnest in his love of fast-food fried chicken that you can't help but kinda like the guy…even if you're not supposed to.

The only minor knock I might have against Poultrygeist is that the anti-fast-food message is perhaps a little too easy of a target – although that doesn't necessarily mean it's a message that doesn't need to be delivered. Still, that particular bit of the film's satire is nothing special. But when the rest of the movie is as chicken-shit insane as this one is, it's easy to forgive. In a way, I imagine reviewing this movie is a somewhat pointless exercise – if you're thinking of watching a Lloyd Kaufman-directed movie called Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, you probably know exactly what you're getting into. The good news is, it delivers. Poultrygeist is the most unabashedly demented and disgusting movie in Troma's history, chock-full of unrelenting gore gags, offensive humor, and surprisingly well-crafted and catchy musical numbers. It's as stupid as stupid gets, but nobody makes stupidity into a high art form quite like Troma.

FINAL SCORE: 3.5 out of 4 Bubs (Highly Recommended)