After filming Lust for Freedom for Troma, filmmaker Eric Louzil flew to their New York office to pitch an idea. His concept revolved around a group of mercenaries taking over a small American town and the citizens fighting back. While some at Troma weren’t sure about his pitch, Lloyd Kaufman fully supported Louzil and told him to make it. With a budget of roughly $100,000, Louzil planned to shoot the film in Washington state, California, and parts of Arizona. Louzil would send the dailies to the Troma offices in New York during filming and would receive generally negative feedback. However, Kaufman believed in Louzil enough that he told him to keep going and make the movie he wanted. Louzil also replaced the lead role when the original actor tried faking an injury to collect the insurance. Despite these setbacks, Fortress of Amerikkka hit video stores in August 1989.
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Synopsis
After serving jail time, John Whitecloud (Gene LeBrock) returns home to Troma City and immediately runs into trouble. Years ago, the Sheriff (David Crane) killed his brother, and John wants revenge to put his brother’s spirit to rest. At the same time, he runs into an old flame, Jennifer (Kellee Bradley), who’s since gotten engaged to another man. Meanwhile, a band of mercenaries calling themselves the “Fortress of Amerikkka” is forming out in the neighboring woods. Led by the maniacal Commander Karl Denton (William J. Kulzer), the mercenaries kill random passersby to prepare for a revolution. As the bodies pile up, John must lead a group of civilians to take on the mercenaries. Initially, he’s met with backlash, but the citizens band together to save their town after the mercenaries kill the Sheriff. Who will win the fight, the citizens of Troma city or the Fortress of Amerikkka?
Review
While researching Fortress of Amerikkka, I saw several people saying this is one of Troma’s worst movies. Considering the company also released Igor and the Lunatics and Carnal Monsters, I wonder what movie those people saw. Admittedly, I wouldn’t call Fortress of Amerikkka one of their best movies, but it’s nowhere near one of the worst. If you go into this expecting the same outrageousness of Troma’s usual fare, you’ll most likely be disappointed. This movie does have plenty of explosions, bloody violence, and fake breasts to satisfy any exploitation fan. Aside from that, this is one of Troma’s more straight movies, which is refreshing and the film’s main flaw. The film drags as it injects plot and character development when things aren’t blowing up, and bare breasts aren’t exposed. Thankfully, only certain moments are boring rather than the whole being a drag to sit through.
Acting-wise, everyone plays their parts as if they were in a serious action film for the most part. In the lead, Gene LeBrock has the looks and charisma needed to make John Whitecloud believable as a reluctant hero. As the Sheriff, David Crane plays a great bad guy you love to hate, though you can understand his viewpoint. William J. Kulzer is on another level with his performance, acting over-the-top just enough to come off as menacing. Kellee Bradley does what she can with the material given, but she’s the cast’s weakest link. Thankfully, there are plenty of explosions and graphic violence to keep people entertained, and the climax is the film’s highlight. It does take a while for things to get going, but this is still an underrated gem in Troma’s catalog. Overall, Fortress of Amerikkka has its problems, but it’s worth at least a one-time viewing.
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