He doesn't skirt satire

Set at a fast-food joint infested with zombielike chicken spirits — naturally, because it was built atop an ancient Indian burial ground — Kaufman spews a biting satire of the fast-food industry and the evils of saturated fat and marketing saturation.

The musical contains gratuitous gore, nudity and scatological and racial gags that will make some people cringe but works overall as a free-for-all romp. I spoke to Kaufman about his film.

You're one of the few indie operations to stick with film and not switch to digital.

"I shot it in 35 mm because fans enjoy seeing the movie in a beautiful community setting. I'm not really a fan of digital. Not yet. Like jazz and Beethoven — different. I'd have to learn digital. I don't know how to light for it. I love 35 mm. We have a lot of background jokes and onscreen you can really see it all. In the protest scenes, the signage is rather amusing."

Did you make this movie trying to offend people?

"It's not a matter of offending, it's a matter of exposing for satire. . . . You have phony liberals who have never had job in their lives riding around (in) big jets making their career telling you and me what music we can listen to. There's a lot of pomposity in the world and hypocrisy on both sides. Political correctness has gone much too far, and that's the main issue."

What do you have against fast food?

"McDonald's moved into the neighborhood next door and put their garbage in front of the Troma (Kaufman's production company) building. There are rats the size of raccoons in the basement, which we'd never had in that building for 30 years until McDonald's came."

What were you trying to accomplish with the film?

"I wanted to give young people who go to movies something to think about. The evils of fast food and industry consolidation are definitely destroying private creative enterprise in this country, and the zombies as a metaphor for that is a very interesting one. The mainstream media puts Kool-Aid in the water so people go like zombies to Burger King. There's constant advertising barrages and action figures. . . . Kids watching TV are brainwashed by $80 million worth of ads for one movie. Get yourself a Coke the size of Rhode Island."

Why did you use the device of an Indian burial ground?

"Of course, the Indians were exterminated, and the way we treat chickens is horrible. I don't eat meat. Chickens have horrible lives. Birds are not as stupid as people think. The term 'bird brain' is not really correct. Merging two exterminated victims in Indians and chickens creates 'Poultrygeist.' "

One of your characters is a drunken Indian. You're not concerned that's offensive?

"He's just one guy there in a crowd of protesters. I don't think anyone will be offended, and if they are, they're stupid. They won't be offended by that. Will the lesbians be offended because there's an evil lesbian in our movie? In our movie we're making ridiculous statements that are more about hypocrisy and political correctness. There are drunken Indians. I'm very sorry."

I was impressed by your disgusting toilet-cam scene.

"I just thought we ought to do it and make it happen. It took all day. . . . The toilet cam is just a major accomplishment. We really did spend a full day on that. My wife and I had to put up money for this movie — about 80 percent of the $500,000. She made me censor two shots. One of them involved excrement in the toilet cam scene."

So you're battling censorship even in your own home.

"I thought about saying in the movie, 'censored by the director's wife.' She would have liked that too, I think."

I was particularly impressed by the performance of your lead actress, Kate Graham.

"This movie has the best acting in the 35 years we've been making films. Kate and Jason Yachanin were brilliant. Kate just came in to audition. It was a very, very long auditioning process. She was called back in 11 or 12 times. She loves Troma, she's got a good set of pipes and trusted me as a director."

Is Tucson really the first place you're showing your movie?

"Tucson is pretty much the first. We had a preview in Milwaukee and a test screening in Portland, Maine, just to test out the posters. This is pretty much the premiere."

Why did you choose Tucson?

"The Loft is a great theater. They've always been genuinely supporting of independent cinema. I've known them for a number of years, and thought 'Why not?' Look around and there's a battlefield of dread movie companies, and we're kind of the last man standing."

Review

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead

***

• Rated: Not rated.

• Cast: Jason Yachanin, Kate Graham, Allyson Sereboff, Robin Watkins.

• Director: Lloyd Kaufman.

• Family call: Strictly for adults with a politically incorrect sense of humor.

• Running time: 103 minutes.

Win tickets!!!

Director Lloyd Kaufman will be in Tucson for the 9 p.m. screening Friday to answer questions from fans and sign autographs. General admission is $8, but we at Caliente have provided a way to get out of having to pay. Send your answer to this question — What's the title of Kaufman's 2003 how-to moviemaking guide? — to caliente@azstarnet.com. The correct entries will be entered in a drawing for passes to the film.