Lloyd Kaufman has always marched to the beat of his own drum. The “Toxic Avenger” creator has spent more than half a century making truly independent films through his Troma label, many of which gleefully push the boundaries of good taste while sneaking in progressive social messaging. They’re unapologetic B-movies in the tradition of Roger Corman, often filled with sex and bodily fluids and made on shoestring budgets. Kaufman works quickly, and is often mentally onto the next project before a film even premieres. But sometimes, despite your best efforts, you make something that stands the test of time.
Such is the case with “Tromeo & Juliet.” Kaufman’s 1996 take on Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy has lived on as a piece of indie film history. It’s primarily remembered for both introducing the world to James Gunn, who wrote the script and served as associate director. But it’s also an exhilarating display of indie filmmaking enthusiasm. Rewatch it in 2026 and you’ll see that the grossness and shock value are secondary to the passion and excitement of a team of artists trying to make something that was uniquely their own. It has a manic energy and lived-in grit that makes it more compelling than many films with much higher budgets.
Kaufman didn’t know that the film would catch indie lightning in a bottle, but he’s enjoying the victory lap three years later. The 80-year-old is celebrating the film’s 30th anniversary with a screening at Southampton Playhouse on August 11. And during a recent call with IndieWire, he made clear that he still believes that the movie has higher-minded ideas that are worth remembering as much as its sex scenes and prosthetics.
“It’s not a parody, it’s more of a reimagining,” he said. “That came from the fact that my generation, the post-war Baby Boomers, have destroyed love. I’ve been married for 52 years, but most marriages dissolve. Baby Boomers made a mess of it because they have to be so cool.”
That idea of devalued romance prompted him to start working on his own riff on “Romeo and Juliet,” combining Shakespeare’s classic tragedy with his own Troma sensibility. What began as a more faithful attempt at recreating Shakespearean verse gradually evolved as the team tried to figure out how to make something that spoke to then-contemporary anxieties.
“It took five years just to get the script to where I thought it could be a good movie,” he said. “Obviously Shakespeare wrote a pretty good play, and we tried to use my ideas and keep it all in Iambic pentameter. And then John Avildsen, one of my mentors who directed ‘Rocky,’ said ‘Don’t do that, nobody wants to hear Shakespeare.’ We decided to do it with high school kids and redo it in their vernacular. So I did two versions of that.””
Even after five years, it still wasn’t clicking. But the project came together when one of Kaufman’s most important collaborators entered the picture: James Gunn.
“Luckily for me, James Gunn was graduating from Columbia University where he got his MA, and he had written a novel. I gave him $150, and two weeks later he figured it out. He took the mess we had made and turned it into a wonderful, wonderful script,” Kaufman said, adding that he hasn’t been remotely surprised by the studio success that Gunn has gone on to enjoy. “I don’t necessarily have any talent, but I know talent.”
Troma has produced or distributed hundreds of films throughout Kaufman’s run, but “Tromeo & Juliet” is arguably second only to “The Toxic Avenger” in terms of fan enthusiasm. The filmmaker has always enjoyed the array of fan art and merchandise inspired by the film that he sees on the convention circuit. To him, it’s evidence of how a film can take on a life of its own when you least expect it if it’s made with enough passion.
“You wouldn’t believe how many ‘Tromeo & Juliet’ tattoos I run into,” he said with a laugh. “You can buy an Oscar, but that’s love.”
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