| The Toxic Avenger (1983) |
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| Directed by Lloyd Kaufman, and Micheal Herz |
| Starring Mitchel Cohen, Andree Maranda, Mark Torgl, Gary Schneider, Cindy Manion, Robert Pritchard, Jennifer Babtist, and Pat Ryan. |
| After years of making mainly inane screwball sex comedies like Squeezeplay, Waitress!, and Cheerleader, Lloyd Kaufman and Micheal Herz came up with an idea that would put Troma ( founded by Kaufman and Herz) studios on the map, and establish 'Toxie' as a pop culture icon. Formerly titled Health Club Horror, it was originally going to be a straight slasher movie based around a monster killing innocent patrons at a gym. But obviously realising that a lot of gym patrons are vain, dislikable, peices of shit, Kaufman and Herz decided to make a comedy/horror about a good monster who kills evildoers in a gym. |
| The Toxic Avenger begins with the geeky Melvin ( Mark Torgl), who kind of looks like a very young Bob Dylan, mopping up around the Tromaville Health Club. The poor bastard is the constant butt of everyones jokes, especially by Bozo ( who reminds me of Jerry Seinfeld), Slug (a Corey Feldman lookalike), and their girlfreinds Julie, and Wanda. Anyway, due to a series of events that I can't be bothered explaining, they trick mop boy Melvin into wearing a pink tutu,and getting hot and heavy with a sheep. He's so horrified when the lights go on, and he finds that it is a sheep ( the poor guy led a sheltered life, so he couldn't tell in the darkness) that he dives out of the second story window of the healthclub, and into a drum of toxic waste on the back of a truck below. He subsequently turns into the toxic avenger, and embarks on a mission to kill all evildoers in the most violent, gory, and tasteless ways possible. This includes Bozo and his buddies, who when not having panic attacks about body fat levels, enjoy running down innocent pedestrians for points like David Carradine in Deathrace 2000. |
| This movie is a great crowdpleaser, and is a favorite party tape of South Park creators Trey Parker , and Matt Stone. Watch any episode of South Park, and you'll clearly see the mindwarping influence it had on them. My favorite scene is the attempted hold-up at the Mexican restaraunt. A guy that looks like Richard Pryor, and his two buddies ridicule the patrons ( " Look Frank ! Teenyboppers! Does your Momma give you quarters to play videogames?") , and try to rob the place. Then Toxie arrives and creatively kills them...even using one guys torn off arm to bludgeon him! This movie is definitely one of Troma's best, though with movies like Space Zombie Bingo, Fortress of Amerikkka, and Troma's War in their catalogue, it doesn't have all that many movies competing for greatness. The Toxic Avenger is the perfect choice when you can't decide whether you want to watch a screwball teen comedy, or watch someones head get crushed like a grape under a car tyre. |
| Entertainment : 3 out of 4 |
| Watchability : 4 out of 4 |
| Overall : 3.5 out of 4 |
| Reviewed by Blake. |
| UPDATE!!! The Toxic Avenger, along with many other Troma classics is now available in Australia through Stomp Entertainment. And uncut to boot with all those Troma Extra's we all know and love. |