It's fair to say I didn't exactly get off to a great start when it came to my introduction to the 'Troma' movie universe. I started out with 'Class of Nuke 'Em High' and my response to that was less than favorable, only resulting in confusion and overall disappointment based on how well-loved this sub-genre of horror is by so many fans. So when it came to me giving this outlandish production company another chance, my expectations were already pretty low. Did I pick badly the first time around? Or, is my understanding of these films going to make this time around a more digestible experience?
The dark satirical humor resonated with me on a level I never expected from a film titled 'Killer Condom'. Somehow, this film manages to find a balance between a somewhat grounded in reality sense of storytelling, and contrastingly, being absurdly off the wall. Unlike my first 'Troma' experience, this one managed to keep me invested in its basic storyline and the more palatable direction it takes with some of its side plots. One thing that was most fascinating to me is how this film manages to inject an array of wildly exaggerated and self-aware elements, that I couldn't help but find myself in awe of its overall poor production quality. This overall meta experience made me feel like the low standard of film making was almost intentional in some way.
This wouldn't be a 'Troma' movie without the inclusion of low quality B-movie grade effects. And as someone who is a huge fan of this standard of visual work, I'm glad to see that 'Killer Condom' delivered on that front. With some mildly creative use of puppetry and at one point what I can only assume was a giant animatronic condom with teeth like a piranha, it's nothing short of hilariously entertaining. I'm only disappointed we didn't see more of this stuff throughout. Considering the almost 2 hour runtime, I expected this to be more of a forefront feature. Sadly, this is sidelined more in favour of its character relationships and storytelling.
Overall, 'Killer Condom' is as insane as one might imagine from a film based on a genetically modified latex contraceptive, and then some. The acting is less than desirable, the direction and cinematography is abysmal and there are a lot of derogatory terms used throughout this film that are wildly dated and inappropriate by todays standards. However, even taking all of that into consideration, I would be lying if I said I didn't really enjoy my experience with this film. I will certainly be in no rush to watch this again and likely never will. Yet, it will be a film I will continue to discuss and recommend to fellow like-minded people as one of the most insane films I have experienced in recent years. I implore you to watch this film for yourself and make up your own mind, but be warned you are either going to love it or hate it. This has no middle ground.
💀💀💀1/2
Read Marc's entire review here
You Run Podcast episode of Class of Nukem High
You Run Podcast episode of Killer Condom
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