Back in its heyday, independent film producers Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz certainly found their niche through a memorable array of cult horror and comedy classics over at Troma Entertainment. For Pretend For Real Films’s own Mike L. Taylor, one such character stands out in the form of the titular hero in the 1991 cult slapstick classic, Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D., a story centered on a hapless detective who gains the mystical powers of Kabuki to fight crime.
An L.A.P.D. Sgt. goes undercover as a Kabuki performer to expose a human trafficking ring called the “White Devils”, who are disguised as a famous international Kabuki troop. His cover is blown and his family is violently murdered in front of his eyes by his Kabuki Master. He is framed and left for dead but secretly escapes into the streets of downtown Los Angeles.
Homeless and alone Sgt. Kabukiman forges a one-man vendetta on the “White Devils”. His vengeance is enforced by a newly discovered talent for ancient “KABUKI MAGIC”, which turns his dance moves into LETHAL DEATH BLOWS. He uses these powerful arts to carve a bloody but elegant path of revenge through the White Devils and deep into “WHITE HELL” (their urban compound of illegal prostitution, slavery, and drugs) in order to get to their corrupt but powerful Kabuki Master leader. But will Kabukiman be able to survive the surprises and revelations he uncovers when the curtains rise on the final performance?
