Is ‘The Toxic Avenger’ the perfect Halloween superhero movie?
Released in 1984 by the infamous, gore-obsessed B-movie studio, Troma Entertainment, “The Toxic Avenger” is one of the 80s most distinct cult icons. Later becoming the studio’s mascot and spawning three (rather atrocious) sequels, a stage musical and even a children’s cartoon series, the impact this film had is undeniable. But all these decades later, is this film really worthy of such a legacy or is this film literal garbage?
The story takes place in the fictional, not-so-subtlely named, Tromaville, a town full of corrupt politicians, violence around every corner and plenty of pollution, including harmful toxic waste. We are introduced to wimpy, health club janitor Melvin Ferd who is constantly bullied by the health club’s clientele.
One of their pranks goes awry, and Melvin is led to fall out a window and into a container of toxic waste being transported by a dump truck. This transforms Melvin from a meek weakling, to a massive, hideous beast. Along with his great strength, the “Monster Hero” which he is mostly referred to as in the film also has the ability to sense when evil is around due to his cells now containing “Tromatons.” With his new power, the monster goes about the town, ridding the community of violence and corruption one mop at a time, while simultaneously going after the people who wronged him.
Ultimately, this is a low-budget B exploitation film with plenty of elements that help identify it with that genre. However, whereas many of these kind of movies rely far too much on their exploitative nature, “The Toxic Avenger” stands out from the crowd by putting a surprising level of care into its world and story.
The film’s premise, while ridiculous in many places, works rather well. The story has the sense of a classic superhero story, much in the same veins of Spider-Man or Batman, but its setting makes it feel new at the same time. It also combines elements of slasher films with the titular hero usually brutally mutilating his enemies, as well as the side story of him going after his old foes, most of which are horny teenagers. The environment has a good amount of atmosphere and you can feel the grungy, urban style throughout. The low budget feel of it all makes it all feel much more real at times and succeeds at making you feel apart of it.
As expected with such a premise, however, the film is a ton of fun. It contains plenty of moments with extreme action and some serious gore that are well-handled and add to the entertainment value. Everyone involved in the production appears to be having a good time, with the actors completely chewing the scenery at times and never seeming to try to take things too seriously.
It is hard to find serious flaws of a film ultimately aimed to entertain and has such fun doing so, but there are a few that are present here. For one, some of the indie filmmaking is pretty apparent, particularly with the sound mixing and editing which can be somewhat distracting at times. Similarly, while some of the over-the-top acting helps add to the weird atmosphere, it can also prove to be a bit annoying. Also, this film makes no attempt to be subtle about its agenda. The “save the environment” aspect of this story is very apparent within the first few moments of the movie and does date it a bit.
“The Toxic Avenger” is just an all-around fun movie. Even if it isn’t the most timeless of stories and its production values are pretty bad, the sense of insane entertainment is never lost throughout that makes this a very re-watchable film. For fans of superhero movies or slasher films, this is a movie you can turn your brain off to and enjoy.