Peter George is almost too talented, in a sense, to have made Surf Nazis Must Die for a Troma audience. As a regular low-budget piece, it uses its thousands of dollars reasonably well. Unlike a whole lot of other films made by Troma, this one isn't shot by incompetent simians throwing crap up onto a wedgie board to decide the next shot. Hell, the actors even kind of try to give some decent performances. The only problem happens when George and his co-writer try and make a solid story out of their material: surfing Nazis taking over the territory from rival ethnic gangs. Maybe there shouldn't be much of a story to expect, but there could be more, either as an actual deranged work of real craft and structure, or as a go-for-broke guilty pleasure.On the latter part, the filmmakers don't even live up to the cheesy promise of the poster; the only time one sees some death on the waves occurs in the climax, and it's more like a much better version of the climax of I Spit on Your Grave (saying "much better" is indeed a compliment in any regard as it's the worst film ever made). Mostly it's just shots of regular surfing (mostly in what looks like so-so stock footage), and then the action (which isn't quite as much as you might expect) taking place in other areas between the Nazis and other gang members. This isn't to say the filmmakers disappoint with camp value all the way, far from it; the highlight is Gail Neely as the "Mama" of Leroy, a black youth killed by the Nazis, who goes to exact her revenge on a motorcycle after going through a gun shop like Tuco in GB&U. Seeing her is almost worth the price of the DVD.But at the same time there isn't quite enough crazy action to justify the sloppy storyline. There's some interest in the power games between Mengele and Adolph (and seeing one of the Nazis, Smeg, being harranged by his mother at home like a typical nag), and a few other things, yet most of the plot doesn't hinge on the Nazis or gangs as much as the Mama in her Punisher mode. It's almost the kind of flick that could make an ambitious remake- maybe with actual hardcore surf kills and with a plot out of the Warriors- but as it is a curiosity veering on being an actual good movie.

If you don't like this film, it is because you don't really understand. Go pay your seven or fifteen bucks and plop down at the local cinemark, because if you don't stuff like this, it just isn't for you.But if you can take a joke, then the thing is interesting. I haven't seen a bunch of Troma's catalogue, but I think it is one of the more memorable flicks there; it certainly isn't Tromeo and Juliet or Terror Firmer, but I don't understand the claim that it isn't a typical Troma film. At least it wasn't something like "Outlaw Prophet" (which put Troma on a blacklist with my wife). It was a genuine trash film, and taken as such seems as good as any other work of trash.What makes this movie good is the fact that the kids have all given themselves new names, a fact that comes up when Smeg is talking to his mom (who claims he shouldn't call her mom). That is just choice.Or the fact that the Nazis are all queens in hiding. I like the not so subtle homo-eroticism.Of course, not only could both of these elements been mobilized more effectively, but there are other things it could have hit on. The apocalyptic oil pumping could have been used better, along with placing Leroy as part of the energy company pumping the beach dry. I was hoping that the fact that there is a big disjunction between the bourgeoisie expectations of Leroy and the ludicrous turf wars of the surf gangs could have been put to better use.So to all you people who didn't like this because of the film making-- you are just wrong. This is what good ol' not so Hollywood film looks like. Like all real films, it's flaws are that it doesn't exploit everything that it could.

This was a $1.00 blind VHS purchase from Hollywood Video (mainly because Iam such a fan of Troma's "Monster in the Closet") & to be frank....IWANT MY DOLLAR BACK!! What an utterly banal, stupid & nonsensical film this truly is. Hell, I don't even really know where to begin in describing this putrid film which looks like it was shot on a $99.00 budget(complete with ultra amateurish 'acting'). And what's worse, it's not even funny bad either! SNMD takes place in the future sometime after the great "California earthquake". Supposedly the police force is all tied up with restoring order in Los Angles and that leaves the beaches free for roaming gangs of surfer thugs . Let's see..we have, the Samuri gang, the pipe fitters (or whatever their dumb names were) & of course the Surf Nazis. The Surf Nazis all have names like Adolph (the leader-o'vey!) & Eva (his nasty bitch of a whore), Menglea..well you get the picture. We get plenty of surfing scenes, some terribly choreographed "fight" scenes, lots of meaningless filler scenes & very little T & A or sex (the gore is also minimal). The Surf Nazi's allegedly own the waves & the beaches & shakedown the local businesses. So one would think that these lunkheads would be armed with something a tad bit better than knifes & stabbing weapons-NOPE! Anyway, the Surf Nazi's kill a son of a very cantankerous middle-age, overweight, black woman. And so (naturally) we have a Troma-ized re-enactment of "Big Bad Mamma" & her subsequent revenge. She also happens to be the only one in the film smart enough to buy a gun & grenades (get this) from one of the Surf Nazi's main suppliers . The rest of the film continues to wallow in the swamps of absurdity as the viewer logically asks "if these Surf Nazi's are so bad ass, how come they can't dispose of one lone, over-weight, middle age black woman?" and "How come none of these boneheads ever heard of a gun"?Bloodstone's Recommendation: Watch "Surf Nazis Must Die" ONLY if you're suffering from insomnia or you want to lower your IQ ten points.Bloodstone's Rating: 2.0

Because many people wrote about how "cult" this movie was, I rented it one time at the video store. I don't care if its made by Troma or not, it is just a whole load of sh*t... The basic story may be great, a surfer gang of Nazis trying to invade Californian beaches. But the outcome - forget about it. The whole movie shows only the inability of the makers, especially in the ridiculous "fighting" scenes. They could not even make the Nazis look like real Nazis, with Uniforms and so on or at least in Skinhead Style. Despite some senseless dialog, the movie has not much to offer. No sex, no gory violence, except for the basic idea a very conventional story - Surf Nazis take over the beaches, the "oppressed" other surf gangs take revenge. There are lot B- and C-Movies of the 80ies which are much better.