Runtime: I saw the 83 minute version
Directed by: Lloyd Kaufman/Michael Herz
Starring: Mostly actors you've never heard of... for good reason
From: Troma
Perhaps people won’t be surprised this was a first time watch for me. Some films with juvenile humor I do enjoy, but over the top can be a tough sell. Thus, what I’ve seen from Troma was more what they picked up & released rather than what they made themselves. That’s no disrespect to Troma, who have been a successful independent film company for decades.
As for what will be forever their trademark picture… it was even more over the top than expected, and thus don’t expect me to do a deep dive on the rest of the studio’s filmography. Yes, I did love the opening in the health club between all the 1980’s health club shenanigans and the 1980’s music which we hear throughout. Between the expected period sound, the random funk song, a hysterical 80’s ballad, and surprising usage of Night on Bald Mountain as Toxie’s theme (!), the soundtrack didn’t have to go as hard as it did.
Technically, the movie is pretty bad; there’s plenty of bad hammy acting to go around, the story is utterly preposterous and the movie tries really hard to be shocking… this includes villains named SLUG and BOZO ripping off Death Race 2000. Yet I can’t say I wasn’t entertained by this trash; legitimate laughs were had. At least the movie did deliver on its opening promise of having “extreme violence”, brought to life by fine low-fi special effects.
Ultimately, this is a story of how a nerd named Melvin Ferd Junko III fell into toxic waste and became a hulking mutant (who suddenly has an eloquent speaking voice) while an attractive blind lady falls in love with him and the villain is the corpulent mayor of a city named Tromaville… the fact that it wasn’t a movie I hated means that The Toxic Avenger was a good time.
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