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| Release: 1984, Rating: UR, Runtime: 78 min. |
It has to come to my attention recently, that I don’t understand Troma films and that my taste in horror movies sucked. I never really thought about it, but maybe I have gone a little mainstream and have left my cult horror movies behind. So, I decided to test it and give The Toxic Avenger a watch this weekend. So what happened? Well, I’m glad to report that, no, I didn’t leave it behind and my taste in horror movies is still in fact, very much alive, or should I say undead? The Toxic Avenger rocks!
Short nitty-gritty plot description from IMDb is as follows: Tromaville has a monstrous new hero. The Toxic Avenger is born when mop boy Melvin Junko falls into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers will have a lot to lose.
The Toxic Avenger has a very easy to follow story. 98-lb weakling, Melvin, works as the janitor at the local Tromaville health club, which houses all kinds of random 80s cliches. Melvin, becomes the target of a group of youths, who in their spare time, kill people with their car for points, this little side story gives you the awesome and gruesome scene involving a kid on a bike and a head that pops like a watermelon!
Melvin gets tricked into thinking he is going to score with the hot blond of the group and instead gets laughed at, as he makes out with a sheep in the dark (long story, but oh so hilarious). This causes him to run off crying, as the entire strange collection of gym goers chase him and laugh at him. He decides the the best thing to do is jump out a window and he unfortunately lands in some toxic waste, that is conveniently parked outside. Thus, The Toxic Avenger is born!
The Toxic Avenger, or Toxie, is a well spoken monster, who seeks out bad people and serves them their just desserts and goes out of his way to help the good folks of Tromaville. Unfortunately, with the town so full of so many baddies, such as the evil Mayor, or corrupt police force, Toxie always has a full plate and hardly ever has time for himself, that is until he meets a blind woman, Sara, who falls in love with Toxie, after he protects her and a group of people at a burger joint. Sadly, the seeing eye dog didn’t make it. Toxie seems to be getting in a good grove, defending the town and heading home to this hot blind girlfriend, but there are people, high up people, that will stop at nothing to kill Toxie once and for all!
I seriously ended up loving The Toxic Avenger. Oh don’t get me wrong, the acting is godawful, but it only adds to the overall charm of the entire thing. In fact, there are many things going for it, than against it, such as the amazing special effects. I loved the transformation scene, which was filled to the brim full of popping boils and warping heads. It was awesome! There are also tons of beautiful and hilarious kills in this movie, often ending with a mop shoved into the persons face. Add on top of all this, a monster, who is able to speak so eloquently, the movie is oh so full of cheesy, yet often times, funny scenes. Also, we get a big handful of nudity, which is always a big plus in my dirty little book.
You may be asking yourself, why would I praise The Toxic Avenger, yet completely bash Class of Nuke ‘Em High, a movie that has a lot in common with this movie. The main reason being, Class of Nuke ‘Em High was all over the place in it’s story. It didn’t make a lot of sense and dragged on, whereas The Toxic Avenger, has a simple story and knows exactly what it’s trying to deliver. For that reason and the numerous ones I mentioned above, The Toxic Avenger is one movie that I can easily recommend for any fan of the cheese filled classics of the 80s.
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