Surf Nazis Must Die (1987) (Troma) (BLU-RAY REVIEW)
DIRECTED BY: Peter George
STARRING: Gail Neely, Robert Harden, Barry Brenner
RATED: R/REGION O/1:85/1080P/NUMBER OF DISCS 1
AVAILABLE FROM TROMA
An earthquake leaves the California coastline in ruins and reduces the beaches to a state of chaos. A group of neo-Nazis led by Adolf (Brenner), the self-proclaimed Führer of the new beach, takes advantage of the resulting chaos by fighting off several rival surfer gangs to seize control of the beaches. Meanwhile, an African American oil well worker named Leroy (Harden) is killed by the surf Nazis while jogging on the beach. Leroy’s mother, Mama Washington (Neely), devastated by the loss of her son, vows revenge. After arming herself with a handgun and grenades, she breaks out of her retirement home and exacts vengeance on the Surf Nazis.
This is certainly a movie that is a bit of an acquired taste. It feels like to me and I’m a big fan of most Troma movies. Well, the movie does have a great title, we can give it that. Overall it should have been a movie I enjoyed a lot more than I actually did. For whatever reason a lot of it feels kind of flat with me now, but had I been 14 I’m sure I’d have gotten a much bigger kick out of it. To the film’s credit, it does give us some memorable characters in the surfing Nazi villains and the gimmicked other beach gangs. It was almost like the film was trying to be a lower-level Warriors, and maybe to some, it did do just that in the attempt. I don’t think I could put it in that class, but I do think a lot of it is comedic fun, regardless of whether it is meant to be funny or not.
I think one bad thing about the film is the fact that we don’t have a solid leading hero. We do have one and she is a good one when she is around, but I don’t feel we even focus enough on our hero until around the closing part of the film. The film goes from following some bad gang members to a bit of a revenge flick and I found the way it was mixed a bit awkward. But the film at heart is a cult film and not all cult films mix well with everyone. It does have some fun moments and is without question watchable. I just think you have to have a certain humor level to really get it and maybe that’s why so much of it was lost on me. And I say that as a guy who loves The Toxic Avenger, The Taint, and a number of other Troma classics. As far as the Blu-ray goes, I’ll be honest with you. It looks a lot like the 88 films version. The movie doesn’t look bad, but does feel a little washed out in spots. All in all, if you like Troma movies you’ll like this enough, but it might not be one you love like other ones.
Extras
- NEW WAVE Intro by Lloyd Kaufman, President of Troma Entertainment & Creator of THE TOXIC AVENGER!
- Exclusive Interview with Director Peter George
- Hang 10 on Set! Interview With Producer Robin Tinnell
- Deleted Scenes
- The Projection Booth Podcast (Featuring special guest, Peter George!)
- Scenes From the Tromaville Café!
- The “Soul of Troma”
- Troma Promos: Radiation March & Indie Artists vs. Cartels
- Troma NOW Promo: Gizzard Face II: Return of Gizzard Face!
- Troma Short: BLOOD STAB
- PLUS More #FanTOXIC Featurettes!
QUALITY OF TRANSFER: 78%
