Farts of Darkness: The Making of 'Terror Firmer'
January. 01,2001Lloyd Kaufman and the Troma Team struggle against incompetence, conflict and "the man" in order to complete their latest piece of art, Terror Firmer. The documentarians hold nothing back in the fight for truly independent cinema.
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Undescribable Perfection
Fantastic!
Don't listen to the negative reviews
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
this 99 minute documentary on the Troma film "Terror Firmer", can be found on the second disc of the two disc set of the aforementioned movie. It features a surprising level of honesty and candor that is refreshing when one is accustomed to bigger studio documentaries which mostly are back-patting love fests and are a chore to sit through because of it. Not so here, you get to see the tension, the boobies, the bushes, the asses,the gore. You know, basically all the good stuff and while it's not as good as the documentary on "Citizen Toxie", in my mind. It's still very interesting and pretty cool to watch (well aside from the really disgusting parts). It's never dull and I liked it a good deal better then I like the movie it's on.My Grade: B
"Farts of Darkness" is, in some ways, more entertaining than the movie it documents ("Terror Firmer"). It's like walking into the pages of Director Lloyd Kaufman's book "All I Need to Know About Film-making I Learned from the Toxic Avenger" (more so than "Terror Firmer," which was inspired by the same book).Here you see Troma at its best and worst--for example, making a rooftop into a "street" to get around a lack of a permit to film a scene on the ground, or showing an actor actually vomiting into a toilet after doing multiple retakes of a scene where he's forced to eat fake feces (which look disturbingly realistic). This same actor is later forced to run around Times Square buck naked, all for the sake of film.It's a funny, disturbing, essential, disgusting look at low-budget movie making, and it's especially entertaining after reading Kaufman's book.
Anyone with a strong stomach who is interested in filmmaking and/or who is considering taking part in a Troma film should view this movie, which can be found on the Terror Firmer DVD.This film pulls no punches on the rigours of making a Troma movie, showing it to be a job that you have to really want to be a part of to take part in. Director Lloyd Kaufman is not always portrayed in the most positive light, often yelling at people on both sides of the camera. It really shows that Troma may make comedic movies, but it takes the filmmaking process very seriously.As with Terror Firmer itself, the documentary has male and female frontal nudity, fake excrement, etc. so it is not for the faint of heart. But if you can handle strong material, you'll be rewarded with an honest look at the world of filmmaking, Troma style.
Forget "Hearts of Darkness", "Farts of Darkness" is the real thing! Watch this movie, and be truly inspired. Lloyd Kaufman really does make movies of the future... but people are finally getting hip to him today. This is the must-see indie moviemaking doc. Get an appointment, "Farts of Darkness" rocks like anarchy bubbling under Hollywood. Revolutionary and Fun. Nothing can beat that. Way ta' go Lloyd!