The Toxic Avenger (1984) Troma/Comedy-Action-Horror RT: 82 minutes Unrated version (extreme violence and gore, sexual content, nudity, language, drugs) Director: Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman Screenplay: Joe Ritter Music: Mark Katz (consultant) Cinematography: James London and Lloyd Kaufman Release date: June 1986 (Philadelphia, PA) Cast: Mitchell Cohen, Andree Maranda, Pat Ryan Jr., Jennifer Baptist, Robert Prichard, Cindy Manion, Gary Schneider, Mark Torgl, Dick Martinsen, Chris Liano, David Weiss, Dan Snow, Doug Isbecque, Charles Lee Jr., Pat Kilpatrick, Larry Sulton, Mike Russo, Norma Pratt, Andrew Craig, Ryan Sexton. Box Office: $800,000 (US)
Rating: ****
There are moments in every movie geek’s life that help define who they will become. One of mine is the day in February ’87 I rented The Toxic Avenger. It’s the day I was introduced to the weird wonderful world of Troma. The owner of The Video Den made it an instant 99 cent rental he thought it was so awful. That NEVER happened with brand new releases. It didn’t deter me though. Are you kidding? Like I’m NOT going to rent a movie with the tagline “The First Superhuman Hero from New Jersey”? I’m sorry, have we met? I’m the Movie Guy! ANYWAY, that’s the day I became a fan and honorary citizen of Tromaville.
Melvin Ferd (Torgl), a 98 lb. weakling who works as a janitor at Tromaville Health Club, is a classic victim. He’s constantly bullied and harassed by muscleheads Bozo (Schneider) and Slug (Prichard) and their girlfriends Julie (Manion) and Wanda (Baptist). One day, they take it too far with a cruel prank that ends with Melvin falling into a drum of toxic waste. This misfortune causes him to transform into a big hideous monster (Cohen) with superhuman strength. Instead of terrorizing the city, he declares war on all criminals operating in Tromaville, NJ including the corrupt mayor (Ryan, Fighting Back). As “The Monster Hero” grows in popularity, His Dishonor tries to have him killed before it’s discovered that he’s the scumbag behind all criminal enterprises in town.
The Toxic Avenger, hereafter referred to as “Toxie”, finds love with Sara (Maranda), an attractive blind girl he meets while foiling a violent robbery at a fast food taco joint. Three creeps with guns burst into the joint and start terrorizing the customers. They kill Sara’s guide dog and attempt to rape her. Luckily, Toxie shows up in the nick of time. Now here’s a guy who knows how to deal with dirtbags. He rips one guy’s arm off and beats him with it. He later cooks him in a pizza oven. Creep #2 gets his with a milkshake blender down the throat. Creep #3 has his hands dunked in the deep fryer. That’s what you get for killing a dog, a**holes!
As indicated in the preceding paragraph, The Toxic Avenger is insanely violent and bloody hence the reason for its “No One Under 17 Admitted” policy. For me, that’s a major deal clincher. The gore highlights include a boy’s head being crushed after he’s deliberately hit by a car driven by Bozo and Slug playing a sick game, a drug dealer’s head being crushed by a set of weights, somebody’s eyes being gouged out and a disembowelment (Toxie rips his guts right out). All of it is cheesy and cool at the same time. It’s also not meant to be taken seriously. One of Troma’s trademarks is their comical approach to their movies no matter what the genre. One look at titles like Class of Nuke ‘Em High, Surf Nazis Must Die, Chopper Chicks in Zombietown and Sgt Kabukiman NYPD should tell you that.
Directed by Troma founders Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman (under the pseudonym “Samuel Weil”), The Toxic Avenger is the studio’s finest hour (and 22 minutes) even if it is total junk. I’m not going to lie, it’s a low-budget affair all the way. It’s not put together with the greatest care or slightest concern for artistic integrity. The acting takes OTT to a whole new level. It has exaggerated character types- e.g. the German-accented, heel-clicking, Nazi-saluting police chief (Weiss)- not characters. The only development of any kind is Melvin’s transformation into Toxie. I will say that they do a good job with the Toxie effects. Sure, it’s an actor in a rubber suit but it’s just right for this silly monster movie.
What we’re dealing with here is a goofy live-action comic book starring a superhero beloved by children, citizens and the sole honest cop (Martinsen) in Tromaville, all grateful for his service to their community. In the end, it’s the kids that form a human shield around their hero when the National Guard has their guns pointed at him.
In the end, The Toxic Avenger encompasses all that’s great about cheap exploitation movies. It can be summed up in one word, FUN. Of course, you have to like this kind of movie to begin with. It’s obviously not going to appeal to elitist filmgoers who live on a steady diet of fine art cinema. Fans of trash cinema, on the other hand, should love it. That’s where I stand on it.
