#ShakespeareShitstorm (Fantasia Fest)
**Seen at the 2020 Fantasia International Film Festival.
Look, it was the only screening not geoblocked to Canada exclusively, alright?
Full confession: This was my first Troma film; or rather, the first one by Lloyd Kaufman. I’m not sure if I could make it through a second one. I’m sure there are ones better than this, but if they’re all kind of like this, I just don’t know how much Troma plays a part in future moviewatching.
I’m sure plenty of people would call me a woke SJW for some of my views on representation and social issues. I’m also sure that there is such a thing as overly excessive political correctness, which seems to be one of the things Kaufman is aiming at in this rambunctious film with his “SJW” characters, who seem to get offended about every damn thing they see. This stuff I would say Kaufman does a pretty good job with, actually; he’s playing it so far over-the-top for a reason, and it works fairly well.
I have no idea why he decided on Shakespeare for his primary narrative backbone; it kind of works, but it also doesn’t really fit in with the idea of a mad scientist who is getting revenge on his sister for forcing him out of his pharmaceutical company after being publicly humiliated. There’s also a love story between his blind daughter and his rival’s son- there’s some laughs to be had there.
If you’re not a fan of “shock” or gross-out humor, stay far away from this film. (As if the title alone couldn’t tell you that.) I’ll be honest, I kind of enjoyed this one- it’s strange and funny and vulgar, and it doesn’t always work, but I did sort of get on the wavelength of what Kaufman is doing here. It’s also completely stupid, and I understand entirely if you don’t find yourself jiving with it. I can fully say, though, that I’ll never forget watching this film, though, and that’s about as high a compliment as I can give it.
