POULTRYGEIST! (Troma {like you had to ask} 2008)
When Lloyd Kaufman decides to sink his TALONS into some new, fresh WHITE MEAT, he absolutely pulls out every conceivable stop -even those stops more, shall we say, tasteful directors would otherwise leave in tact- and that, good folks, is what makes this CLUCKIN'-good masterpiece so damn much fun to watch! Troma has stuck it's NECK out to allow you, the viewer, the ability to GOBBLE up the FLAVOR! Ok, no more puns (unless they're part of the review) I promise. I'll stop being a PECKER. Ok, now I mean it...
Realize right away that each of the main characters names are based in and around restaurant chains, so, once you see said names, you'll go, "Oh, yeah, now I see!" Ok? Cool. So Arbie and Wendy (Jason Yachamin and Kate Graham, respectively) are celebrating their graduation from high school smack in the middle of the Tromaville Indian Burial ground when, suddenly, hands from Hell are all over them. Literally. Unfortunately, though they promise to remain true once in college and even run off together after witnessing the groping possessed limbs and a crazy pervert handling himself to Arbie's undies, the future holds new lifestyles for at least one of them.
A semester later, we find Wendy in full-fledged protest of the newest local fast-food franchise to saunter into town and trample all over the consecrated ground that was, quite recently, the very burial ground from the intro. American Chicken Bunker is merely the most recent in the long line of blamed quickie eat joints for their questionable food preparation and ethics. Oh, and much to the chagrin of Arbie, who hasn't changed an iota, Wendy has done a complete 180 and become a lesbian. Arbie still remembers that fateful night from a few months ago and holds to the promise that Wendy swore to: always being the same. Well, Arbie lapses quite hilariously into the funniest of the handful of show tunes called "Revenge is a Dish Best Served Fried", and decides to pay back his ex by getting employed at the very restaurant she's picketing against. Well, once within the ranks of the ACB, along with fellow employees Carl Jr. (Caleb Emerson), boss Denny (Joshua Olatunde), fry cook, Paco Bell (Khalid Rivera), and mysterious mid-eastern, Humus (Rose Ghauami), strange things begin to happen with and to the chicken thanks, in part, to the Poltergeist-esqe placement of the eatery atop the grave yard. Oops! Right off the bat we are treated to a hysterical Ron Jeremy appearance as he busts in the door and warns everyone of their impending doom just before ordering, quite calmly and all Jeremy-ly, some food.
Well, all begins to slowly erode into splat-stick Troma debauchery as folks begin to drop like, well, dead chickens. Lloyd Kaufman shows up, absolutely perfectly, as a what-could-be glimpse into someone's future (sorry, no spoilers here) and performs a beautiful jig with Arbie. The Lloyd can sing ad (unfortunately, trust me) dance! Not since the beautifully ridiculous and blood-drenched lawn mower scene in Dead Alive have I seen something even remotely as messy as the chicken demon zombies meeting the human populous within the confines of the building! Thanks to the resident Colonel-type character, General Lee Roy (Robin L. Watkins) serving buckets of his tainted product to the mass of angry town's folk, we get a scene featuring every conceivable way a person might use and cook a chicken done to those very humans. Outstanding with a capital 'OW!'
The story remains solid, the ultra-gory effects remain perverse and yucky throughout, and the true beauty of a Troma film has been meticulously and lovingly maintained. This is a fun, funny movie that really pulls you in with both great characterization, hysterically impossible story, and a gore-lovers feast of spilled, sprayed, and splattered blood. Get this flick and you'll see EGG-sactly what I mean. I'm so sorry. Ha!
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