Review of The Toxic Avenger (1984) by Freddie F — 21 Feb 2010

Once again we delve into the ever-lovable archives of Troma Entertainment. "The Toxic Avenger" is arguably the company's most popular and successful film, lending its protagonist's face to the company's logo and inspiring several sequels.

The movie begins with a '98 lb.' nerd named Melvin working at the local health club, and boy, what a crazy health club! The whole place is full of these truly despicable people who disgust me more than any characters I've ever seen in a movie. Basically, a group of mean-spirited, good-looking young people hang out at this gym and at nighttime take delight in running over people with their car in some terrible game they play. They make cruelty into a sport, and they delight in making fun of poor Melvin and tormenting because he's so awkward.

If you don't already know the story, Melvin ends up in a drum of nuclear waste and transforming into the massive, super-strong and super-deformed Toxic Avenger. In a way it's your typical super-hero fare, especially the whole 'nuclear radioactive polluted waste' aspect. Like Spiderman, Daredevil or any other superhero, he decides to use his newly gained powers to defend the city from evil.

To say the least, the film is beyond charming. Watching it is like stepping in a time machine back to 1985, with the music, clothing and film techniques so dated they almost takeover the whole film. Almost. What lies at the heart of "The Toxic Avenger" is an age old story, one of inner beauty and that nearly cliched moral: "Don't judge a book by its cover.".

Did I mention that there's a bunch of great, gory death scenes? When The Toxic Avenger takes out a villain he doesn't just toss them in a cell, or even kill them, he absolutely destroys them, and once he does it, he shoves a mop in their face. I can't get over how lovable this film is! Yes, it is a horror, splatter and Troma film, but it really is charming!

The effects are great. Though there isn't as much gore as one might expect from Troma, what is here, is good. When I speak of the great effects though, I speak mainly of The Toxic Avenger himself. I applaud the makeup crew for their astounding work. The Avenger is done so well, I never once looked at him as a man in a suit or a guy covered in prosthetics, but rather as an actual character. This is why I am against CG for the most part. If a movie like this was made today but a big studio, The Toxic Avenger would be entirely computer generated, but what is done here could never be surpassed by any computer.

I've said enough. I don't want to go into detail on the acting or dialogue, because with Troma you know what you're going to get, and you know if you're going to love it or despise it. However, if you're a fan of these kind of movies, I know you'll love this one.