The Taint Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		3.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		1.5

The Taint Blu-ray Movie Review

So bad it's awful. And yet. . .

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 12, 2013

One behalf of all Kaufmans (or Kauffmans or Kauffmanns or Kaufmanns or Coughmans or Koffmans or Coffmans), I apologize. I have one of those surnames that seemingly comes in a huge variety of different spellings, so I can’t be sure if I’m actually related to (let alone responsible for) Troma’s head honcho Lloyd Kaufman’s choices in what films he distributes and/or champions, but this being the Easter season and all, I’ll take these particular sins upon myself and offer what minimal redemption I’m capable of via this review. Now there is a certain class of fan who absolutely loves the low rent horror ethos that is Troma’s stock in trade, and if I’m being frank (which, if I’m taking manifest sins upon myself, I guess I’d better be), I tend to enjoy these schlockfests as much as anyone, even when my critical faculties are screaming in another kind of horror. Such is the case with the unabashedly awful 2010 film The Taint, which is just as undeniably hilarious if you’re in the right—perhaps “enhanced”—state of mind. Troma made much of whatever reputation it has with beloved cheesefest The Toxic Avenger, and there’s little doubt that The Taint’s do-it-all team of Drew Bolduc and Dan Nelson had that film in mind, or at least had Troma in mind, when they crafted their little experiment in outrageousness. Once again a certain kind of pollution breeds incredible mayhem, although in this case it’s a water supply spoiled with a “male enhancement” drug that turns every guy into raging misogynistic sex fiends, sporting erections that have lasted a lot longer than four hours and diminishing whatever minor mental capabilities they had in the first place to lizard brains intent on inflicting as much cruelty and bloodletting as possible on any passing female. Sounds like a hoot, right?

There’s really no way to adequately describe the various bodily fluids on display in abundance throughout The Taint, at least not on a “family site” such as Blu-ray.com. Along with the requisite amount of blood, guts and brain matter, within the first few seconds of the film we’re also awash in feces, vomit and ejaculate. Are you still reading? This is a film that delights in having zombie like men walk around with their engorged members hanging out of their pants, many of which get blown to smithereens by shotgun wielding women. The women who aren’t so fortunate as to have a handy weapon find themselves terrorized by the men, with sex being the least of their troubles.

When you watch something like this, there are two simultaneous reactions. First, there’s the obvious tendency to respond with disgust and disbelief. Did we really just see Drew Bolduc actually upchuck (repeatedly)? Why, yes, yes, we did (as is revealed in one of the two commentaries on this Blu-ray). But as abhorrent as most of the visuals in this film are, there’s also the tendency for most to think, “Well, they’ve got to be kidding, right?” It’s no secret that there’s a fine line between horror and humor, and anyone who has undergone a good scare only to either figure out it’s nothing or they’ve been pranked will know that the first response is usually to laugh uncontrollably. While the commentaries on this disc might indicate that the filmmakers were perhaps depressingly serious about at least some of their contributions here, the bottom line is a lot of the film is undeniably funny, kind of in an Ed Wood way if nothing else.

I first heard about The Taint when it played the Portland Underground Film Festival a couple of years ago, and the response was really interesting. Virtually everyone who saw it hated it, eviscerated it, couldn’t stand it. And unabashedly loved it and couldn’t stop talking about it at the same time. There are guilty pleasures to be sure, but what seems to be the reigning response to The Taint might be better termed as a guilty displeasure—a film so utterly revolting that its inherent awfulness can’t be denied, but whose very hyperbolic elements give it a weirdly goofy charm (for want of a better term).

The Taint is obviously going to continue being a cult item, and for a certain type of viewer, it will be a completely winning gross out experience. The special effects are actually pretty well done for a film of this obviously lo-fi approach, and in fact there are several pretty gruesome shots which crop up with a fair degree of regularity that may have some viewers joining Bolduc in the real vomiting department. It’s hard to react with anything other than, well, disgust and disbelief to a film that posits so much over the top imagery, but there’s an audience for this sort of thing, and for them, no apology of any kind is ever required.

The Taint Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Is it part of The Taint and Troma's supposedly intentional irony that this film is released in 720p? With an AVC encode and a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, The Taint looks about like what you would expect a low budget outing like this to. Detail is fair to middling, with only extreme close-ups (of which there are quite a few) offering excellent fine object detail. Colors are nicely robust, and the guts, gore and blood look nicely saturated. There are some persistent contrast issues throughout this presentation, though my hunch is Bolduc and Nelson intentionally (or mistakenly) pushed contrast in a lot of the outdoor scenes, leading to a kind of effulgent glow around objects and a fairly aggressive obliteration of fine detail. Still, there are moments when this presentation looks well above average in terms of sharpness and clarity, which, depending on your point of view, will either be a very good or very bad thing.

The Taint Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Taint features a standard lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 track that suffices most of the time, but which is hobbled by what appears to have been on the fly recording as the film was actually being shot. That means levels vary hugely. While most of the characters are fairly easy to hear, often people in the background or on the far sides of the frame are virtually inaudible. Also, Bolduc's rather good synth-driven score is mixed way too loudly at times, drowning out dialogue. Fidelity is okay, nothing more or less, and dynamic range, while delivered in a lossy environment, is rather wide.

The Taint Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Director's Commentary features Bolduc and Nelson along with a few others, including two who are evidently across the room and are basically inaudible the entire time. If you want to hear about prosthetic penises and real vomiting, this is the commentary for you.


• Cast Commentary features Cody Crenshaw, who had evidently had a bit to drink, along with Gabriella Herzberg, and Kenneth Hall (whose real first name is evidently Brock). Once again someone's in the background (maybe Dan Nelson?) shouting inaudibly. There's nothing earth shattering here, but if you like listening to semi-buzzed people riffing on a film, this is the commentary for you.


• Teaser (720p; 00:46)


• Trailer (720p; 00:53)


• Deleted Scenes include:

  Gina Asks Ludas Out (720p; 00:45)

  
  

  Morphina Speech (720p; 1:25)

  
  

  Phil and Ludas (720p; 1:17)

• Behind the Scenes Slide Show (720p)


• Tromatic Extras contain a bunch of Troma-specific items, like trailers for other Troma Films, as well as a couple of actually pretty funny shorts, Why is Lloyd Kaufman Living in a Refrigerator Box? and Sunny Acres Farms (Peta and Troma) .

The Taint Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Make no mistake about it, for fans of sick horror flicks, The Taint is inarguably a 5 star tour de force. The scores above are geared toward the public at large, who may not share this particular sector's tastes. There's no denying that Troma knows its audience and repeatedly delivers exactly the sort of product that audience wants. If you're a member in good standing of the Troma fan club, chances are you will love this film. Others will probably react with disgust and disbelief.