Color, 1990, 105m.
Directed by Michael Herz &Lloyd Kaufman
Starring Rick Gianasi, Susan Byun, Bill Weeden, Thomas Crnkovich
Troma (Blu-ray & DVD) (US R0 HD/NTSC) / WS (1.78:1) (16:9)
Color, 1990, 105m.
Directed by Michael Herz &Lloyd Kaufman
Starring Rick Gianasi, Susan Byun, Bill Weeden, Thomas Crnkovich
Troma (Blu-ray & DVD) (US R0 HD/NTSC) / WS (1.78:1) (16:9)
After wrapping up its initial Toxic Avenger trilogy at the end of the '80s, Troma Entertainment was looking for another oddball superhero to add to its roster of misfit characters. Though he didn't get a full film series to rival Toxie's, they found their answer in this 1990 comedy, a bizarre blend of Japanese culture and the company's trademark anti-corporate railing.
Scruffy, goofball New York cop Harry Griswold (Fatal Frames' Gianasi) decides to go undercover at an amateur Kabuki performance to try to get to the bottom of a local crime spree, but instead the night at the theater turns into a bloodbath when goons bust in wielding machine guns. Strengthened by the consumption of eating magical worms, one of the performer victims passes on the mystical gift of Kabuki to Harry, which turns the mild-mannered officer into a mighty, opera-singing superhero capable of flying and fending off his foes with powerful fiery chopsticks and flying sushi. Meanwhile the nefarious, pistol happy, and very greedy Reginald Stuart (Weeden) is busy implementing a plan to not only take over the city but unleash a dark force called the Evil One that only Kabukiman could possibly stop.
A direct result of Troma's courting of its Japanese investors and fan base after the last two Toxie films, this film features one of the weirdest identity crises in the studio's catalog thanks to tension between Troma and the Japanese backers over the tone of the project. A 
PG-13 version missing several T&A shots and some bloody violence was released to theaters a few years after completion in 1995, with a VHS edition of the rougher director's cut 
popping up a year later. Either way it's a peculiar patchwork of silly comedy (with whimsical music to match) and the more standard Troma exploitation elements, but in a way that also makes it stand out from the pack. The film also inadvertently became a great time capsule of New York and New Jersey in transition out of the '80s, with a parade of fashions and great city street shots far removed from what you'd ever see on camera today. However, the undisputed highlight is the (relatively) elaborate car chase in the middle of the film, featuring a crazy stunt that's been recycled by Troma in many subsequent titles.
Though it's been divisive among Troma followers, the Kabukiman character proved popular enough to earn recurring appearances in several later Troma projects and offshoots including a PSA and a proposed cartoon series. It's surprising they didn't get around to a Blu-ray edition until 2015, but the disc turns out to be a pretty strong one with a fresh HD scan of the uncensored director's cut. Not surprisingly, everything looks drastically improved over the decades-old master we've been stuck with, and while it'll never look like a pristine multimillion-dollar production, there's more than enough of an upgrade here to satisfy. (No nasty compression issues like the ones plaguing Troma's War either.) As usual Troma only supplies a lossy Dolby Digital track, which should be no surprise.
Owners of the original DVD may want to hang on to that as it contains the cartoon show pilot and some selected clip commentary by Gianasi, but the Blu-ray adds on a handful of new and preexisting material. 
Co-director and Troma head Lloyd Kaufman 
appears for one of his more dense and informative audio commentaries (recorded for the DVD), including a thorough rundown of the character's origins during a shoot in Tokyo and the background of most of the locations and participants. The anecdotes about eating boxes of worms and shooting the big car stunt are pretty priceless, too. You also get a pretty clever new HD video intro with Kaufman kicking off a faux doc about Kabukiman's up and down fortunes since the film including encounters with a variety of celebs, and Gianasi turns up for a six-minute video shot at a convention in Orlando, Florida for a Q&A about his current whereabouts and the legacy of his most enduring character. A two-minute "Kabuki Karaoke" features more con footage of fans singing along with the theme song, while "Kabuki's Cocktail Corner" is... um... a very strange talk show with Kaufman and comedian Brian Quinn. Finally the disc rounds out with "Stupid Moments in Troma History," the film's original trailer, and a 2015 Tromadance highlight reel.
