The Toxic Avenger (1984)

Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz formed Troma Entertainment in 1974.  Initially involved in purchasing and distributing low-budget films, Kaufman also directed a number of sex comedies in the late 1970s.  By the 1980s, however, it was horror that was selling, and it would be what Troma would eventually become famous for.  Troma's take on horror, however, was rarely serious.  As bloody as the films were they often had purposely over-the-top acting and a puerile sense of humor. 

It was 1984 that their particular style caught on with midnight movie fans and was aided by the new age of video rentals.  Although many of their films had small theatrical releases, it was on home video that Troma prospered, and one of the first of many hits was The Toxic Avenger.  A combination of violent horror film, mob flick and superhero movie, it was the studio's first major success. 

Melvin (Mark Torgl) is a janitor at Tromaville Health Club.  He is developmentally challenged, and often the butt of bullying by Bozo (Gary Schneider) and his girlfriend Julie (Cindy Manion).  Bozo and Julie, along with their friend Slug (Robert Prichard) and his girlfriend Wanda (Jennifer Baptist), spend their spare time running down pedestrians for points and taking pictures of the aftermath for their amusement.  Thus, when Julie decides to get rid of Melvin, they have no qualms about it.

Unfortunately for them, Melvin happens to jump out of a window and into a vat of toxic waste.  Rather than die, the waste transforms him into the Toxic Avenger (Mitch Cohen), a seven-foot tall radioactive monster with a mop that decides to clean up Tromaville.  This doesn't sit well with the town's mayor (Pat Ryan), who is the tip-top of the local organized crime syndicate.  Meanwhile, Toxie soon finds love after rescuing a blind girl named Sarah (Andree Maranda) when she is assaulted by thugs during a robbery.  He soon decides to head off with Sarah to live in peace, but unfortunately the mayor won't stop until Toxie is out of the way for good.

The movie was directed by Herz and Kaufman (the latter using one of his pseudonyms, Samuel Weill) and features pretty much every hallmark of a Troma film.  That includes strangely effective violent scenes using low-rent props and characters, especially the bad guys, who over-emote and practically scream out every line.  Watching a Troma film is often like watching a bunch of tweakers put on a play, with all the jerking and shaking they do.  It's a stylistic choice, one of many that can determine a viewer's enjoyment.  Personally, I love it, particularly when they spout some of the worst dialogue imaginable. 

While there is definitely a tendency to aim for offensiveness - or at least a 12-year-old would think is gross enough to get their teacher upset - there is a method to the madness.  While an opening scene of a child getting his head squashed by Bozo and his crew is darkly comic, a later graphic portrayal of a dog being shot by thugs is played much more as a true shock scene, particularly as it justifies what Toxie does to the perpetrators soon after.

As for our radioactive hero, the rules about his powers aren't exactly established, other than he is instinctively attracted to those who do evil so that he can take care of it.  The makeup work is quite well-done on him, using some of the same air-bladder techniques during his transformation that were used for the werewolf scenes in The Howling.  Where Troma has become known for using the same car wreck scene over and over since the 1980s, at this particular point they were trying to make something that would stand out.

My only problem with The Toxic Avenger is that, even though it's short, it kind of falls apart toward the end.  There are comedic bits, a bit of comedy that unfortunately tends to repeat itself, and a decent ending.  Still, it seems like Kaufman, who was the one largely responsible for the script, wrote himself into a corner.  The length is definitely a selling point, as later films in the series started running quite a bit longer with less material to use.  

Despite that, and despite the fact that The Toxic Avenger is not for kids, Troma still managed to license the character into an environmentally conscious cartoon for children and a line of action figures.  Troma is truly the house that Toxie built, and this obnoxious, offensive and hilarious film still stands the test of time.  The fact that some of the stereotypes in it have become more offensive over the years even helps keep it relevant. 

The Toxic Avenger (1984)

Time: 82 minutes

Starring: Mitch Cohen, Andree Maranda, Mark Torgl, Gary Schneider, Cindy Manion, Robert Prichard, Jennifer Baptist, Pat Ryan

Directors: Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman