Farts of Darkness: The Making of 'Terror Firmer' (2001)

Excellent but underrated film

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Blistering performances.

It's amazing what a certain budget can do for a movie. This documentary in of it itself looks & is mediocre in it's own respect. It's sad to see that so many people can be involved in the making of such a waste of space. It's one thing to make a bad movie & know it's bad, it's another to make bad movies & take them seriously. This documentary about the making of a Troma movie is better than the actual film. A term which I use extremely loosely. I can't believe there are films like this being made or that there is even a market for these either. This documentary shows the owner/director/ whatever else he is Lloyd Kaufman & all his temper tantrums. It would be one thing if he actually had some talent, but my god he is as bad if not worse than Uwe Boll, if that's even possible. Boll's films are Oscar material compared to the garbage Troma pumps out. Kaufman is so neurotic about every dumb little detail it's pathetic. Worse than that it shows just what sort of people little money will buy. Not only do you get less than 3rd string people as actors (I'm not kidding these "actors" are worse than terrible) your crew doesn't seem to know or care what the heck is going on. If you want to see why independent films usually fail, this is a good place to start. If you don't mind seeing a documentary about a terrible film & terribly cruel yelling madman (Kaufman) then this is for you. If you want to see a film that is actually good, then skip this please.

this 99 minute documentary on the Troma film "Terror Firmer", can be found on the second disc of the two disc set of the aforementioned movie. It features a surprising level of honesty and candor that is refreshing when one is accustomed to bigger studio documentaries which mostly are back-patting love fests and are a chore to sit through because of it. Not so here, you get to see the tension, the boobies, the bushes, the asses,the gore. You know, basically all the good stuff and while it's not as good as the documentary on "Citizen Toxie", in my mind. It's still very interesting and pretty cool to watch (well aside from the really disgusting parts). It's never dull and I liked it a good deal better then I like the movie it's on.My Grade: B

"Farts of Darkness" is, in some ways, more entertaining than the movie it documents ("Terror Firmer"). It's like walking into the pages of Director Lloyd Kaufman's book "All I Need to Know About Film-making I Learned from the Toxic Avenger" (more so than "Terror Firmer," which was inspired by the same book).Here you see Troma at its best and worst--for example, making a rooftop into a "street" to get around a lack of a permit to film a scene on the ground, or showing an actor actually vomiting into a toilet after doing multiple retakes of a scene where he's forced to eat fake feces (which look disturbingly realistic). This same actor is later forced to run around Times Square buck naked, all for the sake of film.It's a funny, disturbing, essential, disgusting look at low-budget movie making, and it's especially entertaining after reading Kaufman's book.

Anyone with a strong stomach who is interested in filmmaking and/or who is considering taking part in a Troma film should view this movie, which can be found on the Terror Firmer DVD.This film pulls no punches on the rigours of making a Troma movie, showing it to be a job that you have to really want to be a part of to take part in. Director Lloyd Kaufman is not always portrayed in the most positive light, often yelling at people on both sides of the camera. It really shows that Troma may make comedic movies, but it takes the filmmaking process very seriously.As with Terror Firmer itself, the documentary has male and female frontal nudity, fake excrement, etc. so it is not for the faint of heart. But if you can handle strong material, you'll be rewarded with an honest look at the world of filmmaking, Troma style.