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| Images courtesy of Troma Entertainment |
The Toxic Avenger has been the official mascot of Troma Entertainment for almost 40 years and spawned a media franchise consisting of four films, an animated TV series, a stage musical, a comic book run, and even a video game. Even as Troma's popularity has waxed and waned over the years, Toxie (as he is affectionally known by fans) has persevered. Now, old and new fans can check out Toxie in glorious 4K in a new set from Troma Entertainment!
The Toxic Avenger (1984)
Tromaville, New Jersey, is a typical city filled with an atypical populace. Melvin (Mark Torgl) is a nerdy janitor who works in the local Tromaville gym as a janitor. He's a nice enough guy, but he's the focus of some intense bullying by some of the gym patrons, particularly Bozo (Gary Schneider), Slug (Robert Prichard), Wanda (Jennifer Babtist), and Julie (Cindy Manion). Every day, they search for new ways to torment Melvin, who only wants to be their friend and mop the floor peacefully. One prank goes too far, and Melvin falls into a vat of toxic waste, and he is turned into a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength! The so-called Toxic Avenger now roams the streets of Tromaville, fighting evil wherever he finds it.
Out of all the films in the franchise, the original The Toxic Avenger has the deepest mean streak running through it. At its heart, it's an exploitation splatter film with a goofy exterior, with humor that would be found in the pages of Mad Magazine. In the early '90s, a cartoon was made using the Toxic Avenger, and I can imagine kids (or parents) being a fan of that show looking for the movies and being surprised by all of the nudity and blood. The movie goes from silly slapstick to intense gore at the drop of a hat, and there are some seriously sick sequences. In one scene, a character pleasures herself to photos of a hit-and-run victim, and in another sequence, The Toxic Avenger forces someone to deep fry their own hands in scalding hot cooking oil.
Outside of all the violence, there is an exploration of toxic masculinity and what it means to be the stronger person. Bozo, one of the bullies, seems to be truly psychotic, barely containing his white-hot rage. He is so pent up that he releases steam by driving around at night and running over pedestrians. On the other side of the coin, even though The Toxic Avenger looks gruesome, he is gentle on the inside, only using his powers when he is forced to protect others. Eventually, he gains a love interest, a blind woman named Sara (Andree Maranda), and they have an adorable relationship based on love and trust (and hot, steamy mutant lovemaking).
The Toxic Avenger also has a healthy distrust of politics and authority, as it turns out the mayor (Pat Ryan Jr.) is in cahoots with a local crime ring. This aligns with the ideology of Troma in real life, as they are famously against the Hollywood system and are champions of staying completely independent. This theme crops up repeatedly in the sequels of The Toxic Avenger and in other films produced by Troma.
When people talk about "cult classics," The Toxic Avenger pops up often, and for good reason, as it's a punk rock bit of filmmaking that stands the test of time and (in)decency.
Extras:
-Prologue by Director Lloyd Kaufman
-Audio commentary with cast members Robert Prichard, Gary Schneider, and Dan Snow
-Audio commentary with Director Lloyd Kaufman.
-Interviews with cast members Jennifer Baptist, Robert Prichard, Mitch Cohen, and Dan Snow;
-Interview with co-Director Michael Herz;
"Mark Torgl Talks About The Toxic Avenger" featurette
The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989)
With Tromaville safe from evil Toxie can finally relax and spend time with his blind girlfriend Claire (recast with musician Phoebe Legere). The absence of crime has given him a bit of ennui, and he struggles to find a purpose in life. The peace in Tromaville is short-lived as the evil corporation Apocalypse Inc. has set its sights on the city, and the only thing standing between the malicious company and the citizens is The Toxic Avenger!
Immediately, the tone of the second film feels less gritty and more like a Saturday morning cartoon (with ultra-violence). The film opens up with an extended fight scene that has Toxie throwing goons around, mixing silly hijinks with gruesome gore effects. The budget is much bigger than the first outing, and the action set-pieces have been expanded. Apocalypse Inc. feels like a real threat to Toxie, and they are comprised of many types of villains: drug dealers, lobbyists, anti-environmentalists, lawyers, and other corrupt types.
Apocalypse Inc. uses an undercover agent to convince Toxie to go to Japan to find his long-lost father, and thus The Toxic Avenger goes international. Watching Toxie wander around Tokyo interacting with the public is oddly wholesome and entertaining, and it's very respectful of the culture while simultaneously poking fun at certain tropes. Not only does Toxie get into a fight with a fish-headed monster, but we also get dating and culinary tips from famous manga author Go Nagai. This entire fish-out-of-water sequence is charming and is one of the best moments from the entire franchise.
Comparatively, the third act feels disjointed and anti-climactic. After Toxie finds his father (who suffers a grisly demise), he goes back to Tromaville and fights The Dark Rider, a goon hired by Apocalypse Inc. Everything gets wrapped up rather quickly and suddenly which is unsatisfying. When Lloyd Kaufman was filming this movie, he ended up with too much footage and decided to split it into two parts, which explains the truncated ending. Even with this negative mark it's worth watching this movie just to see the scenes in Japan.
Extras:
-Introduction by Director Lloyd Kaufman
-Audio commentary with Director Lloyd Kaufman
-"At Home with Toxie" Mockumentary
-An interview with cast member Lisa Gaye
-Japanese news report on the filming of The Toxic Avenger Part II
-"Radiation March," a short film directed by Lloyd Kaufman
-The American Cinematheque Honors 40 Years of Troma
The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989)
Life is getting to Toxie; he can hardly pay his bills due to the lack of crime to fight, and to top it all off, there is a medical treatment that can give Claire back her eyesight, and he has no health insurance. Unfortunately, the only way out of his money woes is to take a job with a chemical-spewing corporation that is funded by Apocalypse Inc., which is still around after the events of the second film.
Compared to the first two films, The Last Temptation of Toxie has a much more abstract, or dare I say, arthouse take on The Toxic Avenger. Toxie explores his inner feelings and has a lot of emotional baggage from before he mutated. There are a few sequences where he has extended conversations with Melvin, his past iteration, and he has a lot of deep-seated insecurity from the bullying he received. The title of the film is a play on Martin Scorsese's 1988 film The Last Temptation of Christ, which similarly follows Jesus as he works through different fears and tribulations in his life. It might seem funny to compare these two films, but they share many similarities.
The standout performance in this film comes from Phoebe Legere's turn as Claire, Toxie's longtime girlfriend. She is so bubbly and cheerful that it's contagious, and she steals every scene she is in, twirling and dancing around like a maniacal fairy. Although the focus is on her sexuality for much of the runtime, there are a few moments where she gets to show her musical chops, and she is a fantastic accordion player and has a beautiful voice. The most wholesome aspect of the entire franchise is Toxie and Claire's relationship, and it's rare to see a female character with as much agency as she has in an exploitation film.
Things get...weird in the third act. Toxie ends up fighting the Devil by playing real-life "video game" levels, with each subsequent level becoming more surreal. Its subtext is made literal with Toxie's spiritual quest coming to a head as he faces off against his shortcomings and his real and imagined fears. The concept of “Tromatons” wherein Toxie’s literal DNA controls his actions, is interesting, playing into the idea that Toxie cannot control his fate. For what it's worth, the special effects are excellent, with a particularly cool sequence with the Devil coming out of the main villain's chest. Kaufman does well with balancing metaphysical ideas with B-movie shlock, and though it doesn't completely work, it's the most intriguing of the four films.
Note: I had some trouble with the 4K disc freezing on my Sony UBPX700 4K player. The Blu-ray was unaffected.
Extras:
-Audio commentary with Director Lloyd Kaufman
-Audio commentary with cast member Joe Fleishaker
-Behind the Scenes of the "Return to Nuke 'em High Vol. 1" screening at MOMA
-The American Cinematheque Honors 40 Years of Troma
-"Make Your Own Damn Horror Film" - Behind the Scenes of Old 37 with Kane Hodder and Bill Moseley
-"A Halloween Carol" short film
-Infomercial for "Rabid Grannies" Blu-ray Release
-"Radiation March," a short film directed by Lloyd Kaufman.
Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000)
Citizen Toxie opens with a statement imploring the audience to forget the prior two sequels to The Toxic Avenger and that this film is the true sequel. Right away, it's obvious that it's channeling the over-the-top humor and gore of the original film and throwing aside any pretension or heartfelt moments. This is pure, unadulterated Grade-A Troma dumpster water, folks.
The setting is the Tromaville School for the Very Special, which houses young adults with special needs. Their Taco Tuesday is interrupted by the Diaper Mafia gang, a bunch of psychotic goons dressed like babies. After a bunch of shit-filled diaper shenanigans, the Toxic Avenger (David Mattey) comes to save the day with his faithful sidekick Lardass (Joe Fleishaker).
Anyone watching Citizen Toxie for the first time in 2023 is going to get a quick lesson in the sheer amount of "not giving a fuck" these movies had in the early '00s. The depiction of special needs children is, shall we say, dated, with liberal use of slurs that were common around that time. There is sexual assault played for laughs, copious amounts of every kind of body fluid imaginable, and racism (though the film is very much critical of it). One character is a talking decapitated head of a black man who was killed by being dragged behind a racist redneck's truck. Every millisecond of this film is crafted to be the most offensive piece of media ever concocted.
Throughout all of this politically incorrect mayhem, Kaufman never misses a chance to make political points. Whether it's ridiculing anti-abortionists, skewering bigotry, or lampooning school shooters, Citizen Toxie strives to go as far as it can, exploring taboo subjects and playing it off for cheap laughs. It also serves as a superhero multiverse crossover film a decade before it was fashionable in Hollywood, with characters from various other Troma films making cameos. Lloyd is truly an innovator!
If this ends up being the last Toxic Avenger sequel, it definitely went out with a bang!
Extras:
-"Apocalypse Soon: The Making of Citizen Toxie" Behind the Scenes Documentary
-Audio commentary with Director Lloyd Kaufman
-Audio commentary with editor Gabriel Friedman
-Audio commentary with cast member Trent Haaga
Tribute to Lemmy Kilmister
-The American Cinematheque Honors 40 Years of Troma
-Trailers
--Michelle Kisner