The Toxic Avenger

As a child I loved to stay up late and watch "USA Up All Night" (with Gilbert Gottfried or Rhonda Shear, I wasn't picky). This allowed me to sample pretty much every major Troma movie, and I discovered the meaning of the phrase "guilty pleasure". As I got older I stayed away from Troma, as their movies radiated the kind of feeling you get from wearing a shoddy Halloween mask too long and getting nauseous inhaling the cheap rubber fumes. But after sampling the delightful "Tromeo & Juliet" I decided to return to my roots and check out the directors edition of the classic "Toxic Avenger".

While I was right in remembering the films as the guiltiest of pleasure, the cheap charm of the film was undeniable, and there was a ton of gore in the movie that I never saw on T.V. Arms are severed, guts are ripped out, seeing-eye dogs are shot, and children's heads are crushed- and it all looks pretty good! Some of the acting will make you wince, some of the jokes are atrocious (there are mother-in-law jokes), and some scenes go on too long (the idiotic out-of-control-car sequence) or too short (Toxie taking his revenge on his tormenters is strangely gore-free, which is explained in the director's commentary), but I can't bad-mouth a movie that has it's hero stuff a little old lady in a washing machine. If you're a gore fan with a high thresh hold for bad taste, then give the Toxic Avenger another shot- I did, and I'm a better person for it. I think.

The Toxic Avenger is one of those Troma horror flicks you should have watched at least once in your lifetime befor entering the next level - if you love horror comedies, of course. What you get is perfect cheesy horror 80s style with a lot of humor, overacting, some naked boobs, weird stuff happening scene after scene, fueld with crazy characters, and last but not least, some gory moments and violence. Still great fun for the connoisseur of sleazy 'n' trash. Don't forget: there are a couple of sequels, quality ranging from okay to solid.

One of the craziest, most over-the-top, and bizarre films I've ever seen. Still feels surprisingly fresh and puts the majority of today's superhero films to shame, including recent hits such as "Avengers Assemble" and "The Dark Knight Rises" (Coincidentally, the latter stole a line from this film). Why? Because not only does this not take itself even remotely seriously, it's hilarious to the point where the comedic timing rivals that of some of the most beloved comedies out there. The pacing is also practically perfect, ensuring there's not a single dull moment during the entire runtime. The only time where I started to feel the length was during the finale, but that's only because I was watching it late at night. Herz and Kaufman proved here that they knew exactly what it took to make an entertaining camp trash classic. It also has some rather well implemented social commentary, but never preaches to the viewer or makes them feel as if they're watching a "message movie" in disguise. "The Toxic Avenger" is certainly not for everyone, and the average person is likely to automatically label it as juvenile garbage with no redeeming values, but for those with an open mind and a strong stomach for pretty much anything, it's simply an absolute blast from start-to-finish, and if any of Troma's other films are even half as entertaining, I have a feeling I'm going to quickly become a huge fan.

Four crazed teenagers speed down the road in their car, wildly bragging about points they've notched up by running down different people in the car. So many points for someone on a bike, so many points for an elderly person, and big points for a small child. "How many points for a child on a bike?" asks the driver, excited. Learning this will earn him maximum points, he proceeds to knock the small child off his bike, and he goes flying over the hood. They turn round and see the child move in pain. Horrified that he may lose out on his points, the driver then proceeds to reverse over the child's head, squashing it completely. Two girls get out of the car and take some pictures. This scene, for me, represents the majority of this film. More shocking than it should be, even today, but never taking itself at all too seriously, regardless of the horror on show.

Melvin (Mark Torgl) is a skinny, nerdy loser who works in the swimming baths, forever cleaning up with his mop. He is frequently bullied and humiliated by a high school gang who one day play a trick on him, which sees him kissing a goat dressed in a tutu. Horrified, Melvin flees and throws himself through a window, landing on a conveniently positioned (and open-topped) barrel of toxic waste. He begins to burn and rot, and eventually the toxic waste causes him to mutate in a taller, stronger, and ultimately more heroic beast, who wants revenge on his tormentors. Toxie (as he is now called, played by man-mountain Mitch Cohen) starts to clean up the city of Tromaville, which is being run by corrupt mayor Peter Belgoody (Pay Ryan), while at the same time romancing blind girl Sara (Andree Maranda) who he rescues from a rapist in a restaurant.

This was Troma's first big hit, and also their first foray into horror, having previously focusing on really crap sex comedies. After this, which after an initial unsuccessful run became a popular cult favourite on the B-movie circuit, they focuses only on horrors. This is the second Troma film I've seen. The other was Killer Nerd. You can probably assume from the title that it is a god-awful excuse for a film, although it is quite amusing in it's filmed-on-video awfulness (starring Harvey Pekar associate Toby Radloff). This, I'm pleased to say, was actually good! It was a hell of a lot more violent than I was expecting, and the special effects are actually pretty impressive in some places. And Toxie proves to be a likable vigilante/superhero, however hideous he may be.

Having said that, this is a low-budget Troma, and it's not exactly Citizen Kane. The acting is wooden, and the film is so 80's you can practically reach out and feel the sweatbands and mullets. But it is funny, satisfyingly gory, and, most importantly, fun. Toxie proves to be a more interesting 'superhero' than the majority of others. And the film actually has a social message in there somewhere, beneath all the tits and human-taco-making, recognising the pollution that we are all too aware of in our age of global warming and climate change. Now to sit through the three sequels, which I am quietly confident will be awful!

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Lacklustre direction by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, a goofy script (by Joe Ritter), truly poor FX and even worse acting all add up to, for some strange, abstract reason, a stupidly enjoyable film experience.

Maybe it's the camp sounding music, the over the top (and in some cases *way* over the top) 'acting', or perhaps it's just the fact that it's so unashamedly weird and downright cheesy that makes it such fun to watch, who knows? Whatever the reason this definitely isn't a film to spend long hours contemplating such things, instead just sit back and enjoy the crazy show.

Performance wise, as already mentioned, none of the actors give even remotely decent performances, with the exception of Andree Miranda who's actually pretty good in her role as Toxie's blind girlfriend. All of the other actors are so far over the top (or indeed just so downright terrible) that by films end they too have somehow managed to take on their own distinctly cheesy charm and add greatly to the whole 'so bad it's good' motif.

As I may have mentioned once or twice before 'The Toxic Avenger' is cheesier than a block of cheese factories, and as such it takes a special type of person to enjoy 'this type of thing', however for those with their tongue planted firmly in cheek, and for lovers of schlock cinema and 50's z-grade monster movies this is a must see. For most everyone else though it's probably best avoided and will most likely induce headaches and annoyance rather than belly laughs and amusement. Which of the above descriptions best suits you I'll leave you to decide for yourself.

7/10