Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead: Special Egg-dition (2006) (NTSC) |
|
Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead: Special Egg-dition (2006) (NTSC) |
|
|
| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Horror |
Audio Commentary-with director Lloyd Kaufman and co-writer Gabe Friedman Theatrical Trailer Music Video-x 2 Featurette-Making Of-Poulty in Motion: Truth is Stranger than Chicken Deleted Scenes-x 4 Featurette-Troma featurettes x 10 (all sorts of cool stuff) Trailer-for other Troma titles Easter Egg-x 4 |
|
| Rating |
|
||
| Year Of Production | 2006 | ||
| Running Time | 102:50 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
RSDL (75:11) Dual Disc Set |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | Lloyd Kaufman |
|
Studio
Distributor |
Troma Team Gryphon Entertainment |
Starring |
Jason Yachanin Kate Graham Allyson Sereboff Robin L. Watkins Joshua Olatunde Caleb Emerson Rose Ghavami Khalid Rivera Joe Fleishaker |
| Case | Amaray-Opaque | ||
| RPI | $24.95 | Music | Duggie Banas |
| Video (NTSC) | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 2.0  (448Kb/s)English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s) |
|
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
 |
||
| Video Format | 480i (NTSC) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | None | Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | Yes, end titles | ||
In true Troma style, Poultrygeist starts with a sex scene in a graveyard before launching into its first gross out moment. Arbie (Jason Yachanin) and Wendy (Kate Graham) vow undying love and are making out in an old Native American burial site before Wendy is due to leave to go to college. They are watched by a peeper who, shall we say, comes to a gruesome end. Then the story really starts. One semester later things have changed. A new fast food chicken restaurant, the American Chicken Bunker (ACB), has been built on the Indian burial ground and is about to open. Protesters fill the street outside, including Arbie. He is stunned when he sees Wendy also protesting; but she has changed and joined C.L.A.M. (College Lesbians Against Mega-Conglomerations) and has a heavy relationship going with Micki (Allyson Sereboff). In a fit of pique and to get revenge Arbie takes a job at the ACB, joining a motley crew including a gay Mexican (Khalid Rivera), a racist red neck hill-billy (Caleb Emerson) and the red burka clad cook Humus (Rose Ghavami).
But the ghosts of the dead chickens, not to mention the spirits of the desecrated Indians, are not at peace. Grotesque and bloody incidents escalate even when the press and the CEO of the company, General Lee Roy (Robin Watkins), ex-Ku Klux Clan founding member, arrive for the grand opening of the franchise. Amid projectile vomiting, diarrhoea and general disorder, the dead arise and become humanoid chicken zombies attacking the ACB, its staff and customers. Can Arbie save the day, put the souls of the chickens and Indians to rest, and win back his lost love? .
Poultrygeist is certainly gross, with as much projective vomiting, explosive diarrhoea, farts, severed body parts and blood gushes as one could ever desire. Even pleasuring oneself with a dead chicken can be fraught with danger! There are also numerous topless women, sex scenes and the famous p**** monster from Tromeo & Juliet has a cameo. Amid all the mayhem the film interjects some great songs (Slow Fast Food Love is my favourite, the lyrics are great fun) and dance routines, plus copious helpings of humour. The film targets religion, young love, ethnic minorities, lesbians, gays, corporate greed and of course the fast food industry. In usual Troma style the jokes are diverse, often extremely non-PC, and hit and miss, but a lot connect beautifully and are very funny. Throw in an attack by Indian chicken zombies, automatic weapons, a steal from Aliens and the sight of Troma founder and director of Poultrygeist Lloyd Kaufman dancing in a thong, and you could say that Poultrygeist has something for everyone. But a warning: don’t watch the film with a take-away from your local friendly fast food chicken franchise.
Troma films can be an acquired taste and polarise opinion but there is no denying that with sex, nudity, bodily functions, violence, singing, dancing, blood, bad jokes and an animal rights and anti-corporate greed message, Poultrygeist is an absolute hoot and may just be the best Troma film ever made.
Poultrygeist is presented in an NTSC print in an aspect ratio of 1.78.1, close to the original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1, AND it is 16x9 enhanced (a first from Troma). The DVD cover indicates the film is only 4x3, but this is wrong.
While not perfect, this is a good looking print, with none of the usual Troma artefacts; in fact a few small dirt marks were the only issues I saw. The picture is sharp and detailed, blacks and shadow detail fine. The colours are vibrant, with the blood spurting everywhere in satisfying streams of red, and green (don’t ask). Brightness varied occasionally, but overall this is the best Troma print I have reviewed, by far!
There are no subtitles.
The layer change at 75:11 resulted in a slight pause.
| Sharpness |  |
| Shadow Detail |  |
| Colour | |
| Grain/Pixelization | |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
Audio is a Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded track at a solid 448 Kbps which works very well.
Dialogue was clear, except for the odd song line. The surrounds were utilised constantly for music and effects giving a nice enveloping feel. The sub was not utilised, even during the explosion.
Lip synchronisation was occasionally out, and was more noticeable during some of the songs.
The original score is by Duggie Banas supported by a diverse range of rock and pop songs plus snatches from classical music, such as Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King. The score is an excellent and effective support for the film.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
| Surround Channel Use | |
| Subwoofer |  |
| Overall | |
This two disc special egg-dition (a typical Troma joke) contains a wonderful range of extras. The commentary and the feature length “making of” are both excellent and enhance the value of the package.
Playing when you select the film, Kaufman provides an entertaining anti-bootlegging message as only he can.
Kaufman and writer / editor Friedman talk non-stop and have a fun time together making jokes and talking about the film, including locations, cast, self censorship and the songs. Perhaps surprisingly, there is not as much in the commentary about the difficulties of the shoot as I had expected, but as this is covered extensively in the Poultry in Motion documentary on the DVD this is not too much of a loss. I did, however, feel that the film audio track that plays behind the commentary track was at too high a level and did prove distracting.
Billed as some “wholesome family entertainment” this is an extended trailer featuring many of the most gruesome gory bits from the film. I don’t think Bergman would have approved!
Music video of the theme from Poultrygeist.
Music video of more music from the film. Very funny!
Two pages of silent text.
Mostly trailers for Troma films. Included are: The Toxic Avenger (3:11),Terror Firmer (2:13),Citizen Toxie (3:39),Class of Nuke ‘Em High (2:57), and Tromeo and Juliet (1:50) plus that all time Troma favourite, The Radiation March (0:55).
There are three Easter eggs accessible from the main menu, with special announcements and interviews (2:08), (3:58) and (5:22) respectively.
A fabulous extra, a candid look at the joys, perils, dramas, arguments and disasters of making a low budget Troma film, including equipment that doesn’t work, disasters on set, fights, effects that are not gross enough, effects that are too gross, the director losing his cool and sex scenes with non-professional actors. The wonder is that the film got made at all! Anyone considering independent low budget filmmaking should have a look at this feature. Written and edited by Andy Deemer and Jason Foulke (who were also producers of the film), the fact that some of this candid footage is allowed to be shown is certainly a credit to those involved.
A wide collection of things Troma:
From the Disc 2 menu. Disgusting.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Australian release is NTSC Region 0 coded and is exactly the same as the Region 0 US release. In the US there is also a 3 disc edition, the third disc containing a karaoke version of the songs from the film. Hardly essential.
For the first time for a Troma release, as far as I know, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead is also released on Blu-ray in Australia. Extras are the same.
With sex, nudity, bodily functions, violence, singing, dancing, blood, bad jokes and an animal rights and anti-corporate greed message Poultrygeist is an absolute hoot. It may just be the best Troma film ever made.
The video is good, and it is 16x9 enhanced, the sound is fine. The extras are wonderful and enhance the value of the package: diverse, informative and mostly related to the film. The making of is a fabulous look at the perils of independent filmmaking on no budget.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras | |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Sony BDP-S350, using HDMI output |
| Display | LG 42inch Hi-Def LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | NAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated. |
| Amplification | NAD T737 |
| Speakers | Studio Acoustics 5.1 |