‘Humans… the other white meat’
Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead is a 2006 musical comedy horror film from Troma Entertainment, directed by Lloyd Kaufman from a screenplay by Gabriel Friedman and Daniel Bova.
Written as a satire of the American fast food industry, Poultrygeist follows a group of people trapped inside a New Jersey fried chicken fast food restaurant – the American Chicken Bunker – which is being attacked by Indians chicken-possessed zombie demons after building an establishment on top of sacred Indian burial ground.
At the center of the film is Arbie (Jason Yachanin), an ACB employee trying to win back the heart of his ex-girlfriend Wendy (Kate Graham), an activist protesting against the restaurant who has left Arbie for another woman.
Taking six years from script to screen, Poultrygeist was officially released on DVD in 2008 following a limited theatrical run, met with the highest critical acclaim of any film in Troma’s thirty-five year history. It was released on Blu-ray in February 2010.
Reviews:
“Blood, slime, semen, and shit sprays everywhere, painting the walls every ten minutes or so. Heads, eyeballs, arms, legs, cocks, balls, and breasts all get ripped off and eaten and/or deep fried. Sure, I could tell you all of this but the only way you’d believe me is if you actually check the film out for yourself (which I highly recommend you do).” Mitch Lovell, The Video Vacuum
“Die hard Troma fans will find much to love in Poultrygeist. It fits in with the past Kaufman catalog and dare I say… shows an improvement in over all quality. Mind you, you need to be a fan to get the full enjoyment out of this; otherwise you will find it too over the top and silly to be taken silly. Do give it a shot though because it’s the most enjoyable and polished flick to come out of Troma to date.” Casey Criswell, Cinema Fromage
Special features:
– Att-hen-sion getting commentary by director Lloyd Kaufman and writer/editor Gabe Friedman
– Commentary by stars Jason Yachanin and Kate Graham
– Introduction by Troma co-founder Michael Herz
– Interview with Troma star Joe Fleishaker
– Sexy rooftop re-shoot
– Explosion effect featurette
– Ron Jeremy’s “alternate happy ending”
– Troma’s first egg-a-morphic widescreen presentation
– Music videos, deleted scenes, trailers, thighs the limit
“The last half hour of this film is pure unadulterated dementia! Craziness and cartoon gore are amped up to their maximum expression! The gags you’ll see are too numerous for me to number here, so rest assured you will not be bored for a second! If you like movies that don’t take themselves seriously at all and indulge in irreverence and social critique then this is the movie for you!” The Film Connoisseur
“The sight gags and bad puns are matched with fart jokes and gratuitous bodily harm, yet he manages to include sly references to modern day classics including a nice riff on a key monologue from Jaws. The script is smarter than some may give credit, but upon repeat viewing the complexity of delivering an anti-corporate message within a love story surrounded by absurdity is quite impressive.” Horror Talk
” …it’s even a little bit clever in its social satire of consumer culture—you know, in an obvious sort of way. But is that really why you’re watching a film about zombie chickens that come to life in a KFC-style restaurant built on an ancient Native American burial ground? I didn’t think so. Watching a Troma movie is about embracing the gore, scatological humor and low-production values and simply appreciating some mindless storytelling.” Jim Vorel, Paste magazine
