Tromaville has a monstrous new hero. The Toxic Avenger is born when meek mop boy Melvin falls into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers will have a lot to lose.Tromaville has a monstrous new hero. The Toxic Avenger is born when meek mop boy Melvin falls into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers will have a lot to lose.Tromaville has a monstrous new hero. The Toxic Avenger is born when meek mop boy Melvin falls into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers will have a lot to lose.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Mitch Cohen
- The Toxic Avenger
- (as Mitchell Cohen)
Jennifer Babtist
- Wanda
- (as Jennifer Baptist)
Pat Ryan
- Mayor Peter Belgoody
- (as Pat Ryan Jr.)
Patrick Kilpatrick
- Leroy
- (as Pat Kilpatrick)
Michael Russo
- Rico
- (as Mike Russo)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFuture Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei appears as an extra (coming out of a shower). She was 18.
- GoofsDuring the love montage there is a scene where Toxie jokingly puts a pylon on his head and Sara laughs, Sara's character is blind.
- Quotes
The Toxic Avenger: You fat slob. Let's see if you've got any guts.
[Toxie then punches the mayor in the stomach and rips out his guts]
The Toxic Avenger: Officer O'Clancy, take care of this toxic waste.
- Alternate versionsThe Norwegian DVD titled Unrated Director's Cut runs 91 minutes. It includes the smashing of the head of the biker boy, and also includes the scene where the female leads are shown as survivors at the police station. This version also has some strange montages with résumés from earlier in the movie with the soundtrack looping.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Stephen King's World of Horror (1986)
- SoundtracksBasement Chase Transformation
Composed and Performed by Christopher Burke
Featured review
Toxic Amusement
Intentionally a laughably trashy B-picture, "The Toxic Avenger" is more amusing than one might assume at first glance. Beginning as a poor-man's version of "Revenge of the Nerds" (also from 1984) set in a gym, the nerd of this one jumps out a window and, inadvertently, into toxic waste to escape the jock bullies and their bimbo girlfriends. Naturally, this turns him into a hideous superhero, and it turns out that there's plenty for him to clean up in the town of Tromaville, from the jock gang ripping off "Death Race 2000" (1975) by awarding themselves points for running people over with their car, all the way to a corrupt City Hall. All of which provides an excuse for repeated exposed bosoms and blood splatter in the tradition of a low-grade slasher flick. This ridiculous premise worked so well that the film has earned a cult status and even spawned a franchise of sequels and other merchandise--not unlike the following the monster-hero receives from the townsfolk within the picture. There have also been attempts to sanitize it by removing the gore and nudity, which seems counterproductive to me. What's the point of it then?
The frequently poor filmmaking only makes this more endearing. Far too much time is spent photographing the monster only from behind, to the point that the eventual reveal of his face is more of a relief than a potential fright. The fight scenes are silly, as well as grotesque. Cars explode upon impact and may be extinguished as quickly. The "Frankenstein" allusions range from blatant to confused, including reworking his relationship with a blind character into a romantic one. There's a running gag taken from "Dr. Strangelove" (1964) where the police chief is a Nazi, which is only humorous for how bafflingly flagrant the imitation is. The entire feature is a joke that's funny because it's in bad taste.
The frequently poor filmmaking only makes this more endearing. Far too much time is spent photographing the monster only from behind, to the point that the eventual reveal of his face is more of a relief than a potential fright. The fight scenes are silly, as well as grotesque. Cars explode upon impact and may be extinguished as quickly. The "Frankenstein" allusions range from blatant to confused, including reworking his relationship with a blind character into a romantic one. There's a running gag taken from "Dr. Strangelove" (1964) where the police chief is a Nazi, which is only humorous for how bafflingly flagrant the imitation is. The entire feature is a joke that's funny because it's in bad taste.
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- Cineanalyst
- Oct 1, 2020
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $475,000 (estimated)
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