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From their status as the world's longest-running independent studio to the DIY aesthetic to their in-your-face publicity stunts, no other film studio has quite embodied the punk ethos like Troma. So it comes as no surprise that their upcoming project, Poultrygeist II, is embracing this with its soundtrack.
For those unaware, Troma is a production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. Best known for horror comedy B-movies like The Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke 'Em High, Troma has become the crown jewel of cult classics in its "50 years of disrupting media". While it has flown under the radar for many, it has produced, acquired, and distributed over 1,000 movies and has served as a training ground for industry legends like James Gunn, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, J.J. Abrams, and countless others.
In 2006, they released the horror comedy musical Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, a movie about a fried chicken restaurant that gets overrun with the undead. Much like the rest of Troma's filmography, Poultrygeist maintained a cult status despite not seeing mainstream success. In January of 2025, Poultrygeist II: Dawn of the Chicken Dead was announced to be released 20 years after the first film's debut.
As information on the movie has come out on their official Instagram, a few things have become clear. This movie will be gory, this movie will push boundaries, and this movie has quite a distinct soundtrack coming together.
In early February of this year, Poultrygeist II announced that it will feature songs from two punk bands: Los Angeles' Radioactive Chicken Heads and Atlanta's Gas Station Boner Pills.
While this may seem like underwhelming news, there's a subtle brilliance here that's worth acknowledging. Both bands sport a wicked sense of humor that fits right in with the Troma brand of horror comedy. By bringing these bands into the project, Troma has found a cost-effective way to elevate their film, bring the tone of the film into its marketing, and help Poultrygeist II find its audience. Fans of the two bands (likely referred to as Gobble Heads and Pill Poppers, respectively) would probably never have heard of such a small film otherwise, but now they will flock to theaters when it premieres.
While it may be easy to credit Troma's decades of success to their ever-expanding catalogue of over 1,000 movies, there's more to it than that. This may sound absolutely absurd, but any indie filmmaker looking for the secret to Troma's 52-year lifespan should look no further than Poultrygeist II: Dawn of the Chicken Dead. Troma knows who their audience is and, more importantly, they know how to find them. Their inclusion of small punk bands isn't simply a cheap way of throwing together a soundtrack. It's a way of connecting to the punk scene and the undiscovered Troma fans in it.
