Foreword by Stan Lee

Lloyd Kaufman and I have known each other since Lloyd was at Yale in the 1960s and sought me out. He was one of the many bril- liant young students for whom Marvel Comics had become a sort of shrine, but Lloyd stood out among the others. He seemed driven by some kind of strong intellectual force combined with a monoma- niacal passion for pop culture. That is why in 1970 I chose him to write a screenplay with me based on “Night of the Witch,” one of my stories. Lloyd had never written a movie script, but I could tell that his incredibly original ideas and incredibly “unique” persona- lity could be wrapped up in one incredibly charged enchilada of hor- ror! I was right. Our script was immediately optioned by Cannon, the premiere indie movie studio of its day, from whose loins sprung stars like Susan Sarandon and Peter Boyle. A lot has changed since 1970; Lloyd and his Yale buddy have established Troma, the longest running independent movie studio of all time. Lloyd has put a new face on the cinematic super- hero with Toxie, as well as with my personal favorite, Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. Lloyd’s body of work has now proven to be a seminal infl u- ence on worldwide fi lm today. Just look at any fi lm created by the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Takashi Miike, Peter Jackson, Eli Roth, Gaspar Noé, and , to name a few, and you are likely watching a fi lm infl uenced by Class of Nuke ’Em High , Tromeo & Juliet , or Citizen Toxie . Come to think of it, perhaps Lloyd and I should’ve continued working together; the only problem was that during our intense brainstorming sessions, whenever he wanted to confuse me, he’d speak in Mandarin Chinese, one of his many off- beat talents! When Lloyd and Michael created , Inc., 35-plus years ago, nobody expected that Troma would still be around today. So many movie companies have come and gone, along with billions of dollars in production funds, yet Troma, with ultra low- budget, totally nonmainstream movies, is still here. Indeed, as Lloyd likes to say, he is the herpes of the movie industry—he won’t go away!

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x v i lesbians, Indian zombie chickens, hideously deformed creatures of lesbians, Indianzombie chickens, creaturesof hideouslydeformed Shakespearean pound menexpellingexplosivediarrhea, hard-bodied your owndamnmovie.Remember, ifLloydcansellmovieswith600- asuperheroicamountaboutselling most important,youwilllearn a greatride—thisbookwillentertainyouandmake youlaugh,but Believer, candowhatLloydandTroma day!So,getreadyfor doevery This bookwillteachyouLloyd’smethodsandsecrets soyou,True Troma tocompetesuccessfullywiththehugemediaconglomerates. techniques—techniques developedbyLloyd—which haveallowed movie. Ittakes alotmorethanhardwork!Ittakes uniquesales the factthatittakes alotmorethantalenttosellone’sowndamn cessfully sellhismoviesthesepast36years.Thisisatestamentto Vader. alongsidesuchcharacters asSpidey,history Lewis,andDarth Jerry example, theToxic Avenger hasfoundhisrightfulplaceincinematic realize Lloyd’sfi and tolookbeneaththesurface and violence,audienceshavelearned though somemightsuggestthatTroma sellstasteless,mindlesssex nology wouldaffectthesaleofartandsale.And ial idealism.Hewasoneofthefi worshiping attheshrineofindependentcinemaandentrepreneur- personal arttoawideaudiencewhileeternally of gettinghisvery newway has createdabrand.Healsopioneeredrevolutionary of-a-kind tome! Lloyd, notme.)You willdiscovertheanswerinthisincredible,one- the wayLloydhas?(Well, Iguess comics,actionfi television cartoonshows,Marvel dent fi way? Whoamonguscansaywehavecreatedcompletelyindepen- movies foralmost40yearswithouthavingtocompromiseinany fromoutsidesources?HowdidLloydmanagetomake interference out ofhiswarped,derangedmind,orwhatpassesforone,withno so long?Howhashebeenabletokeep makingmoviesthatemanate 1 1 and theAmericanCinemathequeas oneofthe“mostsignificant moviesofthe1980s.” The Toxic Avenger Toxic The Regardless ofcontent,Lloydhassomehowfoundawaytosuc- All of the above has been made possible because Lloyd Kaufman AlloftheabovehasbeenmadepossiblebecauseLloydKaufman So,howhasLloydbeenabletoremainanauteurfi lms thathavebranchedoffintoBroadwaymusicals,children’s

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