Troma Entertainment has always been a weird place. If you've ever fallen down the rabbit hole of independent B-movies, you know the name Lloyd Kaufman. He’s the guy who gave us The Toxic Avenger. But honestly? Nothing in their catalog quite compares to the absolute sensory assault that is Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead. It’s a musical. It’s a horror movie. It’s a satire about the fast-food industry. Most importantly, it’s a film where zombie chickens are the primary antagonists.
It sounds ridiculous. Because it is.
Released in 2006, this movie arrived at a weird time for indie cinema. Digital was taking over, but Kaufman insisted on 35mm. He wanted that grimy, grainy look that defines the "Troma aesthetic." The plot is basically a fever dream: a fast-food joint called American Chicken Bunker is built on a Native American burial ground. Naturally, this leads to a curse. But it’s not just any curse; it’s a curse that turns the processed bird meat into vengeful, bloodthirsty monsters.
The messy history of Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead
Making this movie was a nightmare. That's not hyperbole. If you watch the "making of" documentary, Poultry in Motion, you see a production that was constantly on the brink of total collapse. They filmed in an abandoned McDonald's in Buffalo, New York. It was hot. It was dirty. People were sleeping on the floor of the set.
Kaufman is known for being a demanding director, often pushing his amateur cast and crew to the limit. Most of the actors were unknowns. You have Jason Yachanin playing Arbie, the heartbroken lead, and Kate Graham as Wendy. They weren't Hollywood stars. They were people willing to get covered in fake blood and industrial-grade slime for the sake of "Art."
The film isn't just about gore, though. It’s a biting—if extremely crude—satire of American consumerism. It mocks everyone. It mocks the giant corporations selling "mystery meat," and it mocks the idealistic protesters who stand outside the restaurants. Nobody is safe from the script's cynicism. This is a hallmark of Troma, but in Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, the dial is turned up to eleven.
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Why a musical, though?
Seriously. Why?
Adding musical numbers to a movie about zombie chickens feels like a move designed to alienate as many people as possible. Yet, it kind of works. The songs, written by Rick Washburn and others, are surprisingly catchy. They serve a purpose, too. They provide a jarring contrast to the extreme practical effects. One minute you're watching a choreographed dance number in a fast-food kitchen, and the next, someone is being pulled through a meat grinder.
It’s that "whiplash" effect that keeps fans coming back. You can’t look away because you genuinely don’t know what’s going to happen next. It might be a joke about explosive diarrhea, or it might be a genuinely impressive practical effect involving a puppet.
The practical effects are the real stars
We live in an era of CGI. Most horror movies today use digital blood and computer-generated monsters. It looks clean. It looks safe. Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead is the opposite of safe.
The effects team, led by Gabe Bartalos, leaned heavily into the "splatstick" tradition. Think Sam Raimi's Evil Dead 2 but with a much lower budget and much less restraint. There are scenes in this movie that are genuinely difficult to watch, even for seasoned horror fans. Not because they’re "scary," but because they are so visceral.
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The chicken-human hybrids are a triumph of low-budget creature design. They look rubbery and wet. They have this tactile quality that CGI simply cannot replicate. When a character gets pecked to death or transformed into a giant egg-laying monstrosity, you feel the messiness of it. It’s gross. It’s sticky. It’s Troma.
The political subtext you might have missed
Underneath the layers of bodily fluids and chicken puns, there's a lot of anger in this movie. It was filmed during the height of the Iraq War and a period of intense corporate expansion in the US.
Arbie, the protagonist, takes a job at the American Chicken Bunker out of spite because his girlfriend joined a group of liberal activists. The movie portrays the fast-food corporation as a literal meat-grinder that destroys souls and bodies alike. But it also portrays the activists as being somewhat out of touch and self-serving.
It’s a "pox on both your houses" approach. This kind of scorched-earth satire is rare today. Most movies want you to take a side. Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead just wants to point out how absurd the whole situation is. It’s cynical, yes, but it’s an honest kind of cynicism that resonated with the underground film scene of the mid-2000s.
The legacy of the "Chicken Dead"
Does the movie hold up?
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Honestly, it depends on your tolerance for "bad" taste. If you're looking for a refined cinematic experience, stay far away. But if you appreciate the effort it takes to make an independent film with zero resources and a lot of heart, it’s a masterpiece of sorts.
It remains one of Troma’s most successful films of the 21st century. It toured film festivals, had a limited theatrical run, and became a cult hit on DVD. It proved that there was still an audience for hand-made, offensive, and wildly creative indie horror.
Many people compare it to Peter Jackson’s early work, like Dead Alive (also known as Braindead). There’s that same energy—a desperate need to shock the audience while also making them laugh. It’s a difficult tightrope to walk. Most movies fall off. Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead manages to stay on the rope, mostly because it doesn't care if it falls.
How to watch it today
You can find it on Troma’s own streaming service, Troma Now. It’s also frequently available on physical media, which is the way Lloyd Kaufman would probably prefer you see it. The Blu-ray releases are usually packed with hours of behind-the-scenes footage that is arguably just as entertaining as the movie itself.
If you’re going to watch it, bring a strong stomach. And maybe avoid eating fried chicken for a few hours afterward. You’ve been warned.
Practical steps for the aspiring cult film fan
If this movie sounds like your kind of chaos, here is how to dive deeper into this specific sub-genre without getting lost in the weeds.
- Watch the documentary first: If you’re a film student or just interested in how movies are made, watch Poultry in Motion: Truth is Stranger than Chicken. It gives you a profound respect for the sheer labor that went into this madness.
- Explore the "Splatstick" genre: If the mix of gore and comedy in Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead worked for you, check out Street Trash or The Re-Animator. These films share a similar DNA of practical effects and dark humor.
- Support independent creators: Troma is one of the longest-running independent movie studios for a reason. They take risks. Whether you love their stuff or hate it, the film industry is more interesting because they exist.
- Look for the cameos: Keep an eye out for Ron Jeremy and Lemmy from Motörhead. The film is littered with faces from the fringe of pop culture, adding to its bizarre, "outsider art" feel.
- Host a "Bad Movie Night": This is not a movie to watch alone. It requires an audience. It’s the kind of film that needs to be shouted at, laughed at, and experienced with friends who have a similarly warped sense of humor.
The movie isn't perfect. It’s loud, it’s offensive, and the pacing can be frantic. But in a world of polished, focus-grouped blockbusters, there is something deeply refreshing about a movie that is so unapologetically itself. It’s a reminder that cinema doesn't always have to be polite. Sometimes, it just needs to be a singing, dancing, zombie-chicken nightmare.