Been a fan of Wayne A. Harold and Mark Steven Bosko’s “Killer Nerd” since it popped up on video in the early 90s, although I haven’t really been able to get anyone to join me in my adoration. You might say it’s a guilty pleasure of mine, but if it is, then why am I so proud to own this “Killer Nerd” and “Bride of Killer Nerd” double feature DVD graciously released by Troma? Maybe it’s because I’m a f*****g “NERD! NERD! NERD! NERD! NERD! NERD!”
“Killer Nerd” is a revenge of the nerd tale gone homicidal as Harold Kunkle, played by the one and only Genuine Nerd – Toby Radloff, is tired of taking s**t from everyone and anyone, because he looks like his mama still dresses him and his social skills are a little off par from your average civilian. Watch as Harold takes apart rude co-workers, mean punks and even his own bitchy mother. Problem is it feels like it takes a couple of hours before Harold turns into his titular self. The first two thirds of the movie creep along at a snail’s pace, but this isn’t too much of a problem for people who like their films the polar opposite of normal. Yeah, most of this flick is slow, but there’s still plenty of bizarre humor to get a kick out of and Toby Radloff is hysterical as uber-nerd Kunkle, he practically carries the entire movie. Toby Radloff needs his own show. Not to mistake the sluggish pace of “Killer Nerd” for inept filmmaking, the running commentary on this DVD with Wayne A. Harold and Toby Radloff reveals that someone stressed to Wayne that to find distribution, the film had to be a solid 90 minutes. So enter the excessive padding, which Wayne confesses to being embarrassed of. Still, though, the unique personality of Toby Radloff shines through which only goes to show that you can’t keep a good nerd down.
“Bride of Killer Nerd” sees Harold Kunkle continuing on in his murderous ways, taking out chuckleheads who give innocent nerds anything but a break. And as the title suggests, this time he has a girlfriend who also engages in spilling the blood of the not so innocent – a match made in nerd hell. This film moves quite a bit quicker than the first, so maybe those who couldn’t hang with the original due to its creepy crawl pace perhaps should give this one a try to see what all this Toby Radloff hub-bub is about. The guy just may win ya over!
Adding to the entertainment this time around are running commentaries from Toby Radloff and Wayne A. Harold on both films. These commentaries are a blast to listen to as they mostly consist of Wayne winding Toby up and letting him go off on some bizarre tangent. Sure, there’s plenty of insight into the making of these films, but you’re bound to get more of a kick out of listening to Toby endlessly meowing over Wayne’s attempt at bringing the commentary back on track. It’s the kind of weirdness you’ll want to share with your loved ones.
