Toxic Avenger III: La dernière tentation de Toxie

The third TOXIC AVENGER film (aka LAST TEMPTATION OF TOXIE, 1989) by Herz/Kaufman pair is not too interesting anymore because it seems to rely more and more on the inept "humor" that would be found in the many other Troma films, too, but which was much more intelligent and critical in the frist TOXIC. Still the third part includes even Satan and an internal moral fight of the protagonist mutant which are welcome additions to the dramatic structure of the monster story! There are some nice and even clever camera tricks and angles (like the school bus terror) and naturally lots of ridiculous sexual situations and (some) ultra gore, but when compared to the originality and great dialogue of the first movie and the ultra wild and still pretty fresh feel of the second part, this third movie seems more and more just a money taker and not so great a (trash) movie anymore. Usually if a sequel has many segments or scenes from a previous film (usually from part one), that tells something about the obvious lack of new ideas and in addition to this sequel in question, that can also be found among others in an awful Sonny Chiba sequel to his Japanese karate flick THE STREET FIGHTER (1974), THE RETURN OF THE STREET FIGHTER (1975). These films don't have anything else in common for sure but both sequels tell the same thing.

This was not as good as the second by a long way. In fact it was bordering on boring. There wasn't enough violence, it moved too slowly and there wasn't enough dancing. It does complete the trilogy except the fourth one that Toxie mentions in this film. Worth making time for if you have seen the first two and want to finish the story. It is a deliberately bad movie.

The best thing about Toxic Avenger Part III is the poster art. The film starts off pretty good with a fight at Tromaville Video. This is probably the highlight of the movie. Make sure you watch the Unrated version as the R Rated version removes almost all of the gore.

Once again Toxie has rid Tromaville of all evil, or so he thinks. What is an out of work superhero to do? Toxie signs a contract with Apocalypse Inc. To make enough money to buy his girlfriend an operation that will restore her eye sight. Corporate Toxie becomes blind to what is going on right under his nose in Tromaville. He's letting the bad guys takeover his town. His girlfriend convinces him to finally open his eyes, and he realizes that he's sold his soul to the Devil. To break the contract Toxie must play the Seven Levels of Doom and win or the Devil himself will rule over Tromaville and Toxie's friends.

This entry is the most disappointing of the series, and much like Part II, I really enjoyed this film when I was younger. Toxic Avenger Part III hasn't held up very well, and will probably have the greatest appeal to those who are viewing it for the first time.

The previous two Toxic Avenger films managed a total 5 points out of a potential 20 from me so it goes without saying that Troma hardly have a fan here.

The companies most famous character returns for a third and perhaps worst outing. Here Toxie sells his soul to the devil in order to raise the money for his girlfriends eye surgery, and that's basically it.

Unlike part 2 there aren't even any purile gags to be found here and the whole thing is cringe inducing. If a 5yr old were given money to have a movie filmed based on their writing I'm pretty sure this is what it'd look like.

Toxic vomit, men in tutus, another awkward Toxie sex scene and random dog people are to be found and little else. Childish, dumb and I can't believe there is another one and that I'm going to watch it.

The Good:

Consistent cast

The Bad:

Simply not funny

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Intestines make great skipping ropes

Tattoo removal in the 80's was savage!

Redneck Zombies was not a Disney film

I consider myself to be a fan of Troma films ever since catching some on late night UK TV, but this is a lesser effort. It uses leftover footage from the second movie, as well as highlights from the first film. I am a fan of the first film and the second one is ok-ish. I don't know if I just wasn't in the mood for it or didn't have the right amount of stimulants, but this is for the most part just plain bad.

It lacks the gore of the first two films. This is understandable as the first two films had difficulty securing an R rating for video and theatres. Not to mention the kid friendly Toxic Crusaders TV series would have been in the pipeline. Like a lot of Troma films it has goofy humour which is more irritating than amusing in this one. You can excuse the low budget and I actually think some of the set design and costumes look really good. However, when the actors are told to stand around and point and laugh for two minutes, it's just bad film making and not so bad it's good either. There's also the nearly two hour runtime to consider.

I can appreciate the green devil and the original take on Dante's Inferno; which has been done better since in The Devil In Miss Jones sequels and Deconstructing Harry. Other than that it's hugely disappointing. Troma did go onto redeem themselves with an absolute cracker in the form of Tromeo & Juliet. These films no doubt have their fans, but it would have made for a wasted Blockbuster rental back in the days to all, but the most ardent fans.