[HorrorScience] Sergeant Kabukiman (1990)

I have previously commented on some films Troma Entertainment, the independent film company that gave us extravagant and crazy films like Nazi surfers must die, Tromeo and Juliet or the movies The Toxic Avenger.

Precisely that last character became Troma's mascot and goose that laid the golden eggs indisputably and only one other character managed to come close to his level of popularity: Kabukiman.

Sergeant Kabukiman (Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.) is the film in which he debuted and it will be the one I will comment on today in this section.

Harry Grisworld is a somewhat clumsy police officer who gets involved in a shootout while attending a Kabuki play. While trying to stop the murderers, Harry is kissed by one of the victims, which causes him to have strange visions. After that, Harry chases the assassins until he finally discovers that his appearance is changing as he takes the form of a Kabuki actor.

This fact has to do with the fact that a Kabuki spirit has been introduced into him when its previous carrier died so that now Harry has become the new Kabukiman and in addition to a bizarre appearance, he has obtained an enormous amount of extravagant powers that will allow him to search for the murderers and close the case.

Sergeant Kabukiman It is a film that leaves a very strange feeling, on the one hand we have the unmistakable Troma style peppering the film (in the good and bad sense) and on the other we find ourselves facing a contained film, in terms of taking things to the extreme.

Apparently, when making this film there was a division of opinion about whether it should be as extreme as the others or if they should do something that everyone would like to turn Kabukiman into a popular hero (and merchandising). The final product shows that they did not reach any agreement, and hence the feeling that the film is somewhere between something more commercial and a Troma product.

This does not necessarily mean something bad, since the film offers us laughter with impossible scenes, exaggerated violence and cheesy but effective resources (both in script and special effects) so that I doubt that many Troma fans will feel disappointed, although we will always be left with the doubt of what would have turned out better, Kaufman's extreme version or the heroic version that the rest of the team and producers wanted.

In general terms, Sergeant Kabukiman It is fun and entertaining, and the character is very charismatic and became another icon for his company (always behind the unbeatable Toxie). At no point did I think this movie was bad (I can't say the same about The Toxic Avenger 2 and 3) although it is true that some scenes are far below the rest of the movie.

Movie trivia:

• During the filming of The Toxic Avenger 2, the Kabukiboy character was very popular among Japanese workers and there was a rumor that he would star in a movie. Upon finding out about this, Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz considered making a film with him and from there came Sergeant Kabukiman.
• One of the investors in this film was Namco, the video game company, which planned to make Kabukiman a popular character among children, although Lloyd Kaufman had other plans for him.
• The actor who played Kabukiman walked through parks in Japan in costume and upon seeing how children liked the character, he joined the group of people who thought that the film should be lighter and funnier to reach a wider audience.
• Kaufman wanted to include a scene where a snake entered the ass of one of Kabukiman's enemies and came out through the mouth. No matter how much he insisted, they wouldn't let him.
• In this film, a scene appears for the first time in which a Ford Thunderbird model car flips and explodes. That scene is one of the most reused in Troma films, as it also appears in Tromeo and Juliet, Citizen Toxie, Poultrygeist and some more.
• On several occasions there have been attempts to make a sequel to this film, although this never happened as such. Perhaps the closest attempt was in 2006 when production of Sgt. Kabukiman and the Lesbians of Bonejack High, which was eventually cancelled.
• Este personaje aparece en un videoclip de Moby, concretamente en el de la canción We Are All Made of Stars, en el minuto 2:13. En ese mismo vídeo también puede verse al Vengador Tóxico.