Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead Blu-ray offers solid video and poor audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
When a fast food chicken restaurant is built on the site of an ancient Native American burial ground, the
displaced spirits unite with ghosts of exterminated chickens and transform into Indian Chicken zombies seeking
revenge! Now, it's up to a dim-witted counter boy, his lesbian ex-girlfriend, and a burqa-wearing fry cook to put
an end to the foul-feathered menace once and for all.
Considering Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead is the first Blu-ray release from Troma Entertainment, I thought I'd begin this review with a brief history lesson on the eclectic studio. Originally founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz back in 1974, Troma set its sights on the independent art-house style of cinema, acquiring U.S. release rights to over 1,000 films and television productions over the past 36 years. During that period, they also produced a wide variety of low-budget feature films that weren't shackled by the usual politics of the big-budget studio system. In most cases, the Troma style is indicative of the grindhouse exploitation flicks of the 1970's, which pushed the limits of what most would consider tasteful cinema. As a result, films such as Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead possess a tendency to appeal only to a small segment of the normal viewing public, but usually generate a rabid core fan base. From a personal standpoint, I don't count myself among the ranks of die-hard exploitation fanatics, but I still hold an appreciation for the overlooked genre.
Anybody interested in a hard-boiled egg?
With their high school years coming to a close, Arbie (Jason Yachanin) and Wendy (Kate Graham) decide it's time to move their relationship to the next level by having sex in the graveyard of a sacred Indian burial ground. The night doesn't exactly go as they planned, and the two lovebirds end up leaving for college shortly after. Following his first year of higher education, Arbie winds up back at the same cemetery from a year prior, and discovers a fast food franchise sitting atop the sacred land (named American Chicken Bunker). Outside the establishment, Arbie inadvertently joins a group of protestors condemning the mistreatment of chickens. Within the group of chicken-loving radicals, he finds Wendy locking lips with a buff lesbian (Allyson Sereboff) who appears to be leading the protest. Angry with Wendy for betraying their love, Arbie decides to take a job as the counter attendant of the chicken franchise, where he meets a host of colorful characters with a myriad of issues. Everything appears normal for the first few hours of his shift, but the appearance of several sickly chicken eggs touches off a series of events that nobody saw coming. In a fitting bout of revenge, the Indian spirits have empowered the chicken carcasses with the ability to turn feasting customers into flesh-eating chicken zombies. With time running out, it's up to the remaining humans to end the chicken zombie massacre, and restore peace to the Tromahawk Indian burial ground.
As outlandish as the synopsis sounds, it doesn't even come close to conveying the true nature of the film. One of the difficult attributes in writing a review of a film such as Poultrygeist is keeping the discussion within PG territory. After all, some of the depictions are so grotesque and outrageously perverted, that the mere mention of them would quickly turn this into adult-only material. Therefore, keeping in mind the boundaries I'm trying to operate within, potential viewers should expect 100 minutes of abundant topless nudity, several instances of masturbation, lewd sexual behavior, and enough blood and guts to fill a swimming pool. This is most definitely not a film for everyone, and will remain offensive to a large segment of the population. If you're still with me at this point, I'll assume Poultrygeist is the type of production that's right up your alley.
The tone of the film requires an adjustment period of around 15 minutes, which is the exact amount of time it takes to lose your inhibitions and tap into the id within you (any psychology students in the crowd?). Between the randomly placed musical renditions (cleverly laced with political satire), wild caricatures of certain ethnic groups, and outrageously disgusting scenes of spraying body fluids, this is not your typical film structure. As a result, we have a production that defies classification by normal Hollywood standards, but feels right at home in the indie world of exploitation.
As a complete package, I enjoyed Poultrygeist for what it is. The acting is serviceable, the production values are well above average for this type of film (especially the gore effects), and I found the humor refreshing. Kaufman is a true master when it comes to films of this nature, and his expertise can be witnessed in every element of the production. One could easily argue that films in the exploitation genre are merely juvenile displays of tasteless cinema, but how is that any different from the constant wave of awful romantic comedies we're bombarded with. I would much rather watch a labor of love such as Poultrygeist (off-putting gore and all) instead of falling asleep through the same recycled plot over and over again.
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 13Mbps), Poutrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead sports a high-quality reproduction of original grindhouse-style material. Those looking for a pristine presentation may feel a little underwhelmed, but given the intentional visual style chosen by director Lloyd Kaufman and cinematographer Brendan Flynt, I'm convinced this is the best the film could possibly look. Fine object detail remains consistently average from shot to shot, lending a marginal boost in clarity over a typical standard definition release. Thankfully, there's never a question of aggressive digital noise reduction in the creation of the transfer, as there's always a fine layer of visible film grain. From a color standpoint, the palette maintains a bold spectrum, bringing out the diarrhea browns on the wall of the bathroom, the reds of arterial spray, and the deep green of chicken ooze. Likewise, black levels never demonstrate a loss of depth, allowing a wide variance between the dark and light aspects of the image. In closing, the transfer never suffers from edge-enhancement, artifacting, or other digital anomalies, but be prepared for several scenes with an intentionally roughed up master. Burn marks, scratches, and dust blobs are a customary element in grindhouse cinema, but the normal viewing population won't expect these intentionally-placed elements.
Overall, this is a decent representation of marginal source material, which is sure to please any fan of prior Troma productions.
Sadly, the audio presentation left plenty to be desired. Considering this is Troma's first Blu-ray offering, I'm willing to forgive the lack of a lossless audio mix. However, despite cutting the studio some slack, it doesn't change the fact that the lossy 2.0 mix is underwhelming in almost every way. Given the outlandish nature of the subject matter, there are plenty of opportunities for the sound design to ratchet up the gore effects on display and provide viewers with an elevated sense of immersion. Instead, every attribute in the mix is delivered solely from the front sound field, creating a one-dimensional experience. Adding to the deficiencies, there's a distinct lack of robust clarity leading to muffled dialog and underwhelming musical numbers. A perfect example would be the theme song played during the "Thriller" inspired credit sequence at the end of the film. The musical entry sounds extremely weak regardless of how high you turn up the volume.
Perhaps Troma felt there wouldn't be enough of a benefit in upgrading the audio track to lossless compression (given the low-budget roots of the feature), but home theater enthusiasts have come to expect the best presentation possible, and I don't believe that's what we're given here. I know I'm merely speculating on the improvements possible with a lossless mix, but in the absence of a side-by-side comparison (lossless versus lossy), I'm left to base my judgment on an assessment of this track and my prior experience with upgraded audio presentations.
Poultry in Motion (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 1:21:58 min): If you're a fan of Troma, this is a must-see supplement, capturing the modern master of exploitation in his element (Lloyd Kaufman). Shot in the background during the filming of each scene, members of the cast and crew add their perceptions of how the shoot is going, and outline troubles they inevitably run into. The primary entertaining aspect of the feature is the ability to witness everyone's reaction to the conflicts that arise, and the arguments that ensue. If you possess even a slight interest in someday working on a film, watch this lengthy documentary first (there's a good chance you'll change your mind).
Chewing the Fat with Joe Fleishaker (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 2:49 min): Dubbed "Heiress to the Troma Throne", Fleishaker expresses his desire to eventually never leave his chair, and how he's adapted his living space to accommodate his inactivity and large size.
Poultrygeist NYC Premiere (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 9:33 min): The footage during this supplement includes clips from Lloyd Kaufman's introduction at the film premiere, and interviews with several actors who reflect on the experience of participating in a Troma film.
Designing the Monsters (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 8:08 min): This is a comical look at several members of the crew as they struggle to pull an arm mold out of a body suit.
Recording the Songs (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 5:54 min): As the title implies, this supplement takes viewers behind the scenes during the studio recording of the musical numbers for the film.
Filming the Meatgrinder (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 3:58 min): The lengthy initial documentary included on the disc already includes a portion of this footage, but this featurette takes it to the next level.
The Rooftop Reshoot (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 5:36 min): If you'd like a glimpse at the roof of the Troma building and a healthy dose of topless nudity, this is the supplement for you.
Joe Fleishaker Gets a Head Mold (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 8:33 min): Actor Joe Fleishaker undergoes the head mold treatment for the gore effects in the film. Not a comfortable experience.
Chicken Ass (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 4:26 min): Written and directed by Joe Weaver, this short film depicts a viral infection that causes unfortunate bowel-related side-effects.
Blow Me Away (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 14:47 min): After losing their original DP (Brendan Flynt), Kaufman eventually hired a new DP and finally shot the explosion of the fast food facility (months after the primary filming ended). The setup for the explosion is chronicled in this supplement.
Make Your Own Damn Sound Design (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 23:26 min): Poultrygeist's creators felt the sound designers hired for the film were a bit sub-par, so they took it upon themselves to handle the majority of the sound design on their own. If you're interested in the process of creating the audio effects for a film, this is fantastic material.
Deleted Scenes (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0): Four excised scenes are presented in this collection. While enjoyable, I can understand why they were cut from the final product (likely due to pacing issues).
Rounding out the extras, we have two standard definition trailers for Poultrygeist, four trailers featuring other films in the Troma film library (The Hanging Woman, The Toxic Avenger, Combat Shock, Radiation March), two music videos with clips from the film, an introduction by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, and two feature-length audio commentaries. The first commentary track features Lloyd Kaufman and Gabriel Friedman (writer/film editor), while the second stars actors Jason Yachanin (Arbie), and Kate Graham (Wendy). The first track focuses mainly on the technical aspects of the film and the background of the production, while the actor commentary delivers more of a superficial perspective and ratchets up the comedy (courtesy of Jason Yachanin).
Just to be clear, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead is not a film for everyone. In fact, it won't be an appealing production to approximately 99% of the population. However, for the one percent who find gory comedy-fests appealing, this is a must-own addition to your growing Blu-ray collection. From a technical standpoint, the only real weakness on the disc is a disappointing audio presentation, which I hope Troma remedies on their future titles. After wading through a tremendous collection of supplements, I'm assuming part of the reasoning behind the lack of a lossless track is a matter of disc space, but upgrading to a dual-layered disc would easily solve the problem. Regardless of the audio issue, Troma fans should be pleasantly surprised by the decision to move into the Blu-ray format, and stay tuned for upcoming titles to arrive on a monthly basis (as confirmed by Troma).
Indian-possessed zombie chickens seek revenge! Confirming reports from earlier this month, an early announcement to retailers indicates that Troma Team Video will release its first Blu-ray title, 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead' on February 23, 2010. No ...
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