Waitress! Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		1.0
Audio		0.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		0.5

Waitress! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 25, 2022

Everything changed for Troma Entertainment in 1984, with the release of “The Toxic Avenger” providing the company with a hit they could call their own, leading the way to a new direction in low-budget exploitation moviemaking, featuring strange monsters, gross-out comedy, and a whole lot of noise. Before Toxie, there was Troma Entertainment, creators of “sexy comedies,” trying to make a small fortune with nudity-laden endeavors that cranked up wackiness to best attract ticket-buyers. For 1981’s “Waitress,” co-writer/directors Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman bring their scattergun creative approach to the world of restaurants and desperate women, trying to capture restless New York City energy for this take on chasing dreams and avoiding extreme kitchen messes.

Andrea (Carol Drake) is a struggling actress who can’t catch a break. She starts working at a New York City restaurant to make ends meet, dealing with her manager, Jerry (Jim Harris), who’s also her boyfriend. Learning about a major acting opportunity from a big-time producer, Andrea begins her relentless pursuit of the gig, desperate to play Joan of Arc and showcase her talents to the world. Also employed at the restaurant is Lindsey (Renata Hickey), the owner’s spoiled daughter, and Jennifer (Carol Bevar), who hopes to become a journalist, assigned to write an article about men.

Perhaps the only thing interesting about the disorganized “Waitress” is watching Kaufman and Herz try to use the R-rated permissiveness of the 1980s to make a vaudeville comedy. The jokes are older than the cast members, with the helmers trying to generate a tornado-like viewing experience with visual gags and one-liners, hoping to make as silly a picture as possible. This ambition is laudable, but the whole endeavor goes random quickly, transitioning to a white noise viewing experience as bad bits collide into dumb ideas, creating numbness instead of hilarity.

Waitress! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Troma Entertainment isn't known for their decent video releases, and "Waitress" is no different. The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation offers a 9 GB file size for an 88-minute-long film, suffocating the viewing experience. There's a layer of digital mush throughout, keeping grain blocky and unnatural. Fine detail isn't present, delivering soft facial surfaces and city views, which retain no dimension. Color offers a bit more power due to the cartoon nature of the endeavor, but consistency is missing, possibly reflecting points of damage. Encoding errors are encountered, including a major glitch at the :26 mark.

Waitress! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 Dolby Digital mix is working with Troma's less-than-stellar commitment to technical quality, which exposes sync issues that carry throughout the listening experience. Intensity of such problems varies from scene to scene, but nothing lines up as it should.

Waitress! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Listed on the back cover are "In the Kitchen" interviews and "Foodporn" photo gallery, but these supplements aren't included on the disc.

• Intro (1:42, HD) finds Troma Entertainment honcho Lloyd Kaufman in the bushes, sharing a few details about "Waitress," jokingly referring to it as the prequel to "My Dinner with Andre."

• Commentary features writer/director Lloyd Kaufman.

• "Before There Was Toxie" (1:57, SD) is an old intro from Lloyd Kaufman, who stands in front of Troma Entertainment headquarters to provide some tidbits from the "Waitress" shoot, including overnight work hours and cameos from Larry "Bud" Melman and Chris Noth. During this short clip, viewers are offered a chance to see Kaufman in director mode, cursing out the cameraperson when they make a few mistakes.

• "Gizzard Face" (1:00, HD) is a promotional clip for the Troma Now! streaming service.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (3:05, SD) is included.

Waitress! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Waitress" hopes to season its lumpy screenplay with a smattering of nudity, but sexploitation efforts aren't strong enough, leaving the feature to be consumed by corny jokes and other DOA ideas. The writing also struggles, barely tending to the needs of the three main characters, with Andrea's subplot taking up the most screentime, delivering as much repetition as Kaufman and Herz can get away with to help beef up his runtime. "Waitress" initially promises bawdy fun, but this is a Troma production. They best they can offer is occasional camera focus and at least one nosepicking joke per movie.