The film is the story of a New York low-budget film crew, led by their insane and egotistical blind film director, Larry Benjamin, who is trying to create a work of art. In addition to the typical trials and travails of a Troma set, the crew is preyed upon by a sexually conflicted, bomb-toting serial killer.
Among the large and poorly-paid film crew, the movie centers mostly on production assistant Jennifer. She struggles to do her job while deciding between the two men in her life; the strait-laced boom operator Casey, and the rebellious special effects operator Jerry. The love triangle intensifies as the dead bodies mount with increasing brutality. At the climax, the entire film crew bands together (both physically and sexually) against the mortal threat in their midst.
The end credits states, "A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO: The New York City Police Department, for their unstinting cooperation and invaluable help throughout every part of this production." The documentaryThe Making of Terror Firmer shows the police clashing with the production on several instances (one of which involved the police revoking the crew's filming permit).
The movie includes songs from notable punk bands, including NOFX (Stranger than Fishin'), the Vandals (Idea for a Movie), Bouncing Souls (Argyle), Blood for Blood (My Time is Yet to Come), Anti-Flag (Someone's Gonna Die Tonight), and The Melvins (Horn Bearer). A soundtrack for the movie was released by Go Kart records in October 2000.
The 2-Disc Special Edition gives the viewer a choice to watch the Director's Unrated Cut or to watch the Director's Unrated Cut with even more deleted scenes put back into the film. This makes the film's running time 123 minutes.
The 98-minute release R-rated version features several boxes that contain the words "CENSORED", covering various body parts (whether nude or dismembered). Additionally, for the heavier cut scenes, the movie freezes and a window appears on the screen with Kaufman explaining or comically re-enacting what was supposed to go on in the scene. The voices of characters uttering profanity at some moments are replaced by an obviously mismatched voice that says the accepted version of the word. Finally, some body parts are replaced by images of animals (e.g. a pussy cat).
The unrated director's cut runs 114 minutes. The heavily edited R-rated version runs 98 min.
