Sgt. Kabukiman: NYPD (1990), dir. Lloyd Kaufman/Michael Herz, Namco Limited/Gaga Communcations/Troma Entertainment
A film comes along every so often that you wish the making of would be the focus instead of the story we see on screen.
New York City is plagued by a series of murders. So what else is new? How about the victims all being either current or former kabuki performers?
Sgt. Detective Harry Griswold (Rick Gianasi) is on the case! While attending a kabuki show, Harry witnesses the entire cast being gunned by grinning thug Jughead (Brick Bronsky). Offering what aid he can, Harry gets kissed by one of the perfomers.
This greatly angers Lotus (Susan Byun). That old man was her grandfather and Harry stole her legacy! A kiss? No, the powers of the Kabukiman! Yup, the old man was the legendary hero of the East, Kabukiman or he was until he got ventilated. With his dying breath, the old man transferred his abilities to Harry and it looks like Lotus is going to whip Harry into shape and brother, do I mean whip.
She'd better hurry too, since Reginald Stuart (Bill Weeden) is on a tight schedule. Heroes to kill, prophecies to help summon the Evil One to help him rule the world. Can Harry stop him? Will Lotus stop hitting him in the crotch?
Yeah, during the production of Toxic Avenger Part 2 Troma was approached by Namco of all people to make a movie. I suppose that was the first flaw. Is it the typical Troma sex/gore fest or is it a goofy superhero spoof? I think that's the issue. One doesn't flow into the other without a fair amount of care and this film lacks that. Some funny bits and yes, the most overused car crash in Troma's history but it just falls short.
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