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Andree Maranda, Mitch Cohen, Mark Torgl

This is the story of Melvin, the Tromaville Health Club mop boy, who inadvertently and naively trusts the hedonistic, contemptuous and vain health club members, to the point of accidentally ending up ...( read more  read more... )in a vat of toxic waste. The devastating results then have a transmogrification effect, his alter ego is released, and the Toxic Avenger is born, to deadly and comical results. The local mop boy is now the local Superhero, the saviour of corruption, thuggish bullies and indifference. Troma classic with good make-up effects and stunts, a pleasant surprise indeed.

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60% liked it

19,592 ratings

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65% liked it

17 critics

R, 1 hr. 41 min.

Directed by: Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz

Release Date: April 11, 1984

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DVD Release Date: November 10, 1997

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Flixster Reviews (1,257)

  • puffchunk
    October 28, 2009
    puffchunk
    The more I see Troma films, the more I don't want to see any others.
  • stopitgoaway
    August 28, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    In the town of Tromaville New Jersey, janitor nerd Melvin Fern (Mark Torgel) has been picked on and bullied by the jocks at the Tromaville gym until a prank goes horribly wrong when he falls into a barrel of toxic chemicals. The material somehow transforms him into a muscular and...( read more) powerful mutant creature called "The Toxic Avenger" (Mitchell Cohen) and has a powerful instinct to kill only evil people and save Innocent people. He soon becomes the town's monster hero and falls in love with a lovely blind woman named Sarah (Andree Maranda) but the local crooks especially the wicked Mayor Belgoody (Pat Ryan Jr.) who all wants him dead.

    A brilliantly hilarious, entertaining and gory as hell horror comedy that became Troma's landmark film and made the studio the popular cult independent studio that it is today. Yes the acting is laughable and the film gets a little cheesy, but this is pure escapism at it's best! The film was originally given an "X" rating for it's extreme violence and gore such numerous head crushing and brutality. But the movie went on to become one of the greatest cult movies of all time, this is definitely a movie for those with a strong stomach and warped sense of humour.
  • 366weirdmovies
    May 26, 2009
    366weirdmovies
    A nerdy young janitor is tormented by his serial killer peers, but gets revenge when a fall into a vat of toxic waste mutates him into an avenging, mop-wielding superhero. Goofy, offensive and gory; somewhat innovative when it was first released, but not as clever or funny as i...( read more)ts cult reputation suggests.
  • sononothing
    December 20, 2008
    sononothing
    The 1980's was full of cheesy, low budget, B-grade films that would get the occasional drive-in show in the south or a midnight show in some larger city. These films would get there cults from two things: home video and cable TV. The Toxic Avenger is probably the biggest slice of...( read more) '80's cheese.

    The story is about a health club mop boy named Melvin who ends up being ridiculed to the point of falling into a vat of toxic waste. He transforms into a "monster hero" whose purpose is to rid evil from the city of Tromaville.

    The Toxic Avenger isn't Citizen Kane. Let's face it, the acting sucks. The story is lukewarm and most of its audience comes from the fact that it's so overboard in the gross out category. It's like a moving B-grade comic book, always trying to push the envelope as it goes along. The vision that went into this film is what really is great about The Toxic Avenger. The entire idea that "let's go out and make a movie" isn't seen on You Tube or any of that crap. Sure, when you look at it in comparison to other movies The Toxic Avenger sucks, but it has a heart while many other films fail to have a pulse.
  • FangsFirst
    September 15, 2008
    FangsFirst
    I've had a surprisingly large number of people I discuss movies with recently mention their ignorance of Troma films. Maybe it's only surprising to me, though, as I first saw this one over a decade ago, as a relative youth, simply perusing my father's amassed pile of movies (some...( read more) he liked, some he'd been given by friends and maybe didn't like so much...) for anything that seemed to be about a superhero. After the disappointment of finding out Iceman was about a frozen caveman (for instance) and not the X-Man, and lacking the patience or interest in any film that wasn't about big events involving nonhuman beings, I eventually stumbled across this one. Surely with a name like that, it couldn't be anything else, right? Well, technically, it is, indeed, about a superhero.

    Melvin Furd (Mark Torgl--what a name!, with "Furd" later retconned into "Junko" with the sequels that followed) is a geeky janitor at the Tromaville, NJ health club, the source of deririson and animosity for a gang of oversexed, psychotic and yet seemingly bored club members--Slug (Robert Prichard), Bozo (Gary Schneider), Julie (Cindy Manion), and Wanda (Jennifer Prichard, then Babtist--yes, she married her co-star). When they feel Melvin has just been too great a schmuck, Julie finally proposes a plan to "fix that mop boy's wagon." A mentally scarring but physically harmless prank that goes hideously wrong as Melvin goes careening out a window and into a barrel of toxic waste turns him into TOXIE! The Toxic Avenger! Forced by sheer instinct to stop all evildoing his senses tell him is occurring, Toxie first cleans up the gang of Cigarface (Dan Snow), Knuckles (Doug Isbecque) and Nipples (Charles Lee, Jr.) who are harassing the town's only honest cop, Officer O'Clancy (Dick Martinsen). Soon newspapers are rolling with news of the town's "monster hero"--to the chagrin of Mayor Peter Belgoody (Pat Ryan, Jr.) who is in control of the majority of the crime and corruption.

    Reading that plot, it almost seems like changing the character names might make for a fairly normal superhero story, doesn't it? If it weren't for the ridiculous names, I think it would sound quite normal as such things go. That is the thing I think most people miss--especially the silly gits who refer to Troma as a source of movies "so bad they're good." I've railed against this idiotic phrase many a time--if you enjoy a film, why feel the need to deride it at the same time, unless it's simply a smokescreen to make your enjoyment "acceptable"? I suppose in some cases, this enjoyment comes from amusement at a film's supposed failings, but anyone who has seen a movie like Manos, the Hands of Fate untouched by any help or editing knows that a truly bad film is simply not enjoyable for its entire duration. It becomes intolerable and difficult to sit through. And of course it presupposes intention on a filmmaker's part--something that, in this day and age, is a stupid thing to do. At some point, every convention has been subverted for whatever reason, even if it's simple boredom with a convention being conventional. As such, numerous films have been made with their tongues planted firmly in their cheek. Anyone who thinks The Toxic Avenger is a movie so "poorly made it's good," so "laughable" and "pathetic" has missed the (incredibly obvious) point. It reminds me of Roger Ebert suggesting that Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn is a "satire" and only "Level Two" viewers will catch onto the humour. No. Anyone with eyes and ears should catch onto the obviously intentional humour in both of these films. Troma films are over-the-top and excessive in all ways. They're fully aware of it. They became more aware after this first handful of films, admittedly (see: sequels to this film and Class of Nuke 'Em High, which often maintain the gore and naked breasts but with a far more fourth-wall-breaking awareness of their lunacy) but even here it's obviously not intended to be serious. It's a janitor named Melvin in a health club for crying out loud. The villains are named "Slug" and "Bozo." The mayor's Chief of Police makes only vague attempts at hiding his Nazi origins. Come on. If you think this is serious, you've got a lot more movie-watching before you come back to it.

    That said, I do make a point of emphasizing with all those unfamiliar that Troma films are not to be judged by the standards of other movies. They are inevitably something other. The low budget nature is an embraced charm--embraced by the makers as well as the fans. Don't make the mistake of thinking that any laughter you derive from the effects is purely your superiority over film-making ineptness. And, of course, look at earlier films like this one--the violence can be pretty disturbing for all its flaws anyway. I always liked this tone most in Troma films, this very blackly humourous insanity, instead of the lighter-hearted, overtly goofy gorefests that followed. I enjoy those as well, but this one and its closest companion (Class of Nuke 'Em High) are my favourite kind. They have that extra note that brings them halfway near serious that makes them interesting--like a Troma film infecting a regular one, instead of just being a pure Troma film (backwards logic, I suppose, since the "Troma film" I'm defining did not yet exist). I take them, then, as regular movies, but with an insane asthetic--they are fully enjoyable this way. Don't waste time laughing at low budget effects (I think this is inherently a waste of time, with possible exceptions for clearly unskilled effects, no matter what the budget), you won't see the real joy of this. It's, well, it's kind of like the ridiculous side of Garth Ennis taken to an extreme. Some mock the acting, too, but little of it has the actual clunk of BAD acting. It's amateurish, and is not nuanced, nor careful or precise--but it isn't supposed to be. While that could end up interesting (a Troma film with straight acting?!), it is inappropriate for what Herz and Kaufman were setting out to do. The editing and direction are also not so incompetent as some would have you believe. Again, they're obviously the work of the inexperienced and not absolute masters, but they are not bad by any stretch. The movie would not hold its entertainment value if we were dealing with Troll 2 type acting (that is the odious clunk of BAD acting) or the direction or editing of Manos.

    It's not a train wreck, and it isn't a bad movie. It's great fun if you stop and relax and just enjoy the damn thing. Do yourself a favour (so long as you aren't squeamish or easily offended, anyway) and watch it. Give Troma a chance to do their thing, and you'll love it like I do.
  • jdwdfw
    January 27, 2010
    jdwdfw
    should have watched this when I was much younger
  • FilmAddykt
    January 10, 2010
    FilmAddykt
    Here comes the KIng of Sleaze and Trash! Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Lloyd Kaufman! "The Toxic Avenger"... What can be said about "The Toxic Avenger". This is one of the most bad-mouthed pictures in film history. I 've heard people talking about bad acting,boobies(I lost track how ...( read more)many of them) bad production values, cheesy lines, extreme unnecessary violence and so on. I always say to them: "Grow-down a little!" This is everything you wanted to see as a kid but couldn't! We should thank uncle Lloydy for kickstarting his revolutionary film company with such an amazing movie!

    "The Toxic Avenger" is indeed one of the greatest B-movies ever. In that value it is a masterpiece. Through this film you can see, you can sense the sheer enthusiasm that Lloyd Kaufman has for his movies. It's a product made with love and the spunk that a young filmmaker has. You can just tell by the way this is transmitted to the actors and the whole crew. You can see it in the beautiful home-made effects and make-up. Some of them are convincing, some of them are not but there is no doubt that the people responsible for these things were qutie inventive and passionate. You 'll understand what I'm saying when you 'll see a crushed head in the movie.

    But "The Toxic Avenger" goes beyond all this. This movie wants to provoke, to spoof and disqust. It succeeds on many level. This movie, as far the story and style goes, embodies all the rotten chliches of the 80's. It chews them up then spits them in our faces. It ends up being the most over the top of them all and the goal is achieved. Everyone that sees this movies and doesn't think about how ridiculous 80's comedies were has not seen an 80's comedy.

    Also it is a great addition to the horror genre of the time. The way that the over the top violence is mixed with the goodball cheesy comedy has spawned a greater legacy that one may think. I believe many of us have seen a little movie called "Braindead" haven't we? Watch this one and other Troma films too and see for yourself the seed of Lloyd Kaufman.

    Last but not least we must consider the circumstances under which the film was made. It was a new company, unknown, with a ridiculous movie. But they stood by their stuff and today I believe that can take more proud in calling himself an independent american filmmaker than Lloyd Kaufman. Films that are not controled by corporate heads is a big thing today and those guerrillas that stand their ground should be recognised and praised for that. That is the significance of the Toxic Avenger.
  • The80sExpert
    January 9, 2010
    The80sExpert
    If you like violence and gore to the point of absurdity, see this movie. If not, stay away from it at all costs.
  • wilmasuicideblue
    January 8, 2010
    wilmasuicideblue
    It just makes me laugh
  • gardintg
    January 4, 2010
    gardintg
    Poor Melvin Junko's world turns upside down when he falls into a vat of nuclear waste and becomes the Toxic Avenger! Filled with gore, blind babes and other nutzoid shit. A must see.

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  • MrGrimlock
    June 26, 2007
    MrGrimlock
    I was like 16 when I saw this movie,when he's got cigar face upside down in the trash can and starts punching his balls,that scene made me feel sick!
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The Toxic Avenger Trivia

  • What movie was shown in a scene from the movie Slither?  Answer »
  • What famous actress made her feature film debut in "The Toxic Avenger" (1984)  Answer »
  • What cult character, featured in four movies and a cartoon show, is frequently referred to as a "hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength"?  Answer »
  • Who directed the following movies: The Toxic Avenger, Tromeo and Juliet and Terror Firmer?  Answer »
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