PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Murder hornets, protests, riots, gender reveal parties sparking wildfires… 2020 is like nothing we’ve ever seen. National lockdowns and a global pandemic are preventing all human interaction. Stocks and 401Ks plummet while duel hurricanes threaten to tag-team Florida … and not in a fun way. Yes, this apocalyptic year we call 2020 has been one shitstorm after another. It seems only fitting that Troma Entertainment’s founder, Lloyd Kaufman, should release his craziest comedy horror to date appropriately titled #Shakespeare’s Shitstorm. Though it was in production a couple years prior to the chaos gracing today’s headlines, it’s certainly one wild ride that won’t soon be forgotten in these times.
Celebrating their continued success of monopoli— err… dominating the market, conglomerate pharmaceutical giant Avonbard Pharma embarks on an ocean cruise. The party begins as Avonbard CEO Big Al (Abraham Sparrow: My Super Ex-Girlfriend) introduces the event’s entertainment: Hippolyta (Julie Anne Prescott – read our interview with her here), Cordelia (Dai Green: Kill Dolly Kill), Gonerill (Nadia White – read our interview with her here), Titania (Elizabeth D’Ambrosio: Troma’s Monster Kill), Puck (Vada Callisto) and Avonbard’s diversity hire, a wheelchair-bound junkie flunky named Ariel (Amanda Flowers: Heart of Fartness: Troma’s First VR Experience). As the company’s owners, investors, associates, and interns break out into a booze- and cocaine-fueled frenzy, William Shakespeare, hilariously portrayed by Frazer Brown (The Toxic Avenger: The Musical), snorts a line of blow before breaking into narration introducing characters and setting the stage for what’s to come.
Among those mentioned by Shakespeare are snowflake influencers Steph (Zoe Geltman) and Trini (Dylan Greenberg: ReAgitator: Revenge of the Parody), who piss off the renowned playwright for getting famous Shakespearean works banned due to “offensive content.” Other key players include the well-meaning, straight-edged son of Big Al, Ferdinand (Erin Patrick Miller: Cash Only), who is a constant failure by the moral compass of his greedy, fun-loving father. Antoinette Duke (Lloyd Kaufman in drag) and Senator Sebastian (Debbie Rochon: Exhumed) are also introduced in a manner that foreshadows their own sinister plot and what’s to come. Last, but not least, the Bard of Avon, hence Avonbard Pharma, introduces international powers Chien Wu Beng (Teresa Hui: Seven Seconds) and Mbuth D’Fur (Ahkai Franklin: Barry), who sold out their respective country and people for personal gain. And, to watch desperate Avonbard interns play Russian Roulette. Literally. I know, there’s quite a bit going on in this tantalizing Troma piece, and this makes the production’s balance and plot flow that much more impressive! Not once do they drop the ball!
As this maiden voyage finds itself surrounded by a pod of shitting orcas, events take a traumatic turn of Titanic proportions. While the prissy influencers stand in admiration of such a sight of nature, one whale jumps over the cruise ship Free Willy style (the movie, not the hip hop album), covering Steph and Trini in liquified feces. As multiple tornadoes begin to form, an epic shitstorm manifests sending this party to our beloved town of Tromaville, New Jersey, home of Prospero (Lloyd Kaufman not in drag) and his blind daughter, Miranda (Kate McGarrigle: Queering series).
What unfolds is a plethora of WTF moments involving mutated animals—including a cock with an actual cock protruding from its belly—an army of social justice warriors, and two sinister plots for a hostile takeover. All of this climaxes to a grotesque transformation full of obscenities: melting skin, vomiting, exploding heads, phallic and vaginal mutations. The works. All while punk rock music jams in the background.
This splatter-fest ending, without a doubt, exceeds the ridiculous, over-the-top conclusion to fan-favorite Troma classic Poultrygeist (read our review here). Of course, this insane ending is all done by way of practical effects. And Troma fans wouldn’t have it any other way.
Fashioned as a Tromastic adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, #Shakespeare’s Shitstorm is what The Wolf of Wall Street would have been had Mel Brooks directed the Oscar-nominated feature on an indie budget while hitting the crack pipe. Though the musical numbers aren’t quite as hysterical and catchy as we saw in Poultrygeist, there are some fun tunes that will stick in your head for days. One in particular showcases a solo from Flowers as she sings about Ariel’s love for ayahuasca, heroin and rock … and I’m not talking about the music genre.
Another highlight is Tromette veteran Monique Dupree, who’s an absolute badass as Caliban attempting to maintain some semblance of order amidst the shitstorm while in service to Prospero. Upon catching wind of what this servitude means, Steph and Trini activate the snowflake signal, a giant snowflake like light in the sky, summoning a mob of social justice warriors to come out to play (a reference to ’79 classic film The Warriors). As they gather from every corner of their safe-space, they vow to take down an old foe from the dark ages of the blogging era.
These outrageous, controversial themes and elements are nothing close to an unintentional accident. In an interview with Krypton Radio (read my interview here), Lloyd Kaufman highlights that #Shakespeare’s Shitstorm has two major themes: conglomerate pharmaceuticals corporations who care about nothing other than greed and cancel culture comprised of influencers pursuing fame and fortune at the expense of other people’s careers regardless of truth and context. Mission accomplished.
This provocative, over-the-top satire does exactly that wrapped up in Shakespearean lines and references, and countless nods to the Troma universe all stamped with Troma’s brand of comedy horror. Destined to become a classic, #Shakespeare’s Shitstorm is the perfect shitstorm for this shit year we’re calling 2020.
