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

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Absolutely brilliant

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

"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.

Forget "Hearts of Darkness", "Farts of Darkness" is the real thing! Watch this movie, and be truly inspired. Lloyd Kaufman really does make movies of the future... but people are finally getting hip to him today. This is the must-see indie moviemaking doc. Get an appointment, "Farts of Darkness" rocks like anarchy bubbling under Hollywood. Revolutionary and Fun. Nothing can beat that. Way ta' go Lloyd!

Don't let the name fool you, "Farts of Darkness" is an interesting and candid look at the making of Troma's "Terror Firmer." The name's actually a riff on "Hearts of Darkness" the documentary about Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" and like that film, "Farts" is a pulls-no-punches look at what it's really like making a crazy out of control movie.Unlike many DVD documentaries, "Farts" is a feature-length film. It's not a puff piece about how much the actors loved the director and how the director loved the script and how the scriptwriters love themselves. Instead, it's odd people complaining about one another, while performing debasing acts of perversion and puking foaming green seltzer. Good taste be damned; nothing is spared for the viewer, and even director Lloyd Kaufman comes across as remarkably egoless (if a bit eager to yell at his staff).On this journey up the river to Kurtz, so to speak, you are privy to the many Troma stunts, goofs, messups and roadblocks; like the "high" fall that had to be altered so the stuntman only fell about two stories, dealing with Lemmy who's on "speed, and booze" and doesn't feel like waiting around for his scenes, or the skinny black man who doubles as Joe Fleishaker, and the highly therapeutic exploding Lloyd scene. "Terror Firmer" is fun for what it is; "Farts of Darkness" is a good movie, period. It's funny, grotesque, and it really makes you feel like you are part of the crew making the movie. Anyone who is interested in making movies (Regardless of whether it's for Troma or not) should check it out. Entertaining, informative, and genuinely disturbing, it's definitely a good DVD buy.