Troma is a god-damned freaky flick legend, and for decades the studio’s most popular creation has been the radioactive waste-spawned superhero; The Toxic Avenger!
With an impending (at the time of this wicked writing) re-make coming our way, the time is nigh to remaster Toxie’s misadventures and slap them in front of the eerie eyeballs of fanatics new and old… which brings us to this 4K/Blu-ray box set from Troma and MVD Entertainment!
Where better to begin than with the one that started the entire beastly ball rolling; 1984’s The Toxic Avenger!
Bozo (Gary Schneider) and his cretin cronies spend their time working out, fuckin’, and running over people with their car for shits n’ grins… but the one thing that really gets their rocks off is making life miserable for the local gymnasium’s nerdy janitor, Melvin (Mark Torgl).
After one such humiliation (involving a sheep in a bra, and Melvin in a tutu), Melvin ends up both on fire and covered in toxic waste (the latter causing the former to be more precise) before finally transforming into a mutant mound of muscle, and thus the monster hero, the Toxic Avenger (Mitchell Cohen, with voice provided by Kenneth Kessler… sometimes… other times it seems like they just used on set audio) is born!
Now everyone from the corrupt town government, to criminals, to bullies are poised to shit their respective trousers as Toxie rips them a new asshole (surprisingly not literally… though the justice he hands out is spectacularly violent).
All isn’t beatings and bloodshed however, as our hero finds time to start a romance with the mercifully blind Sara (Andree Maranda)… but will that sweet lovin’ be enough to tame the raging thirst for vengeance that threatens to overtake Toxie?!!
As goofy as it is gory, The Toxic Avenger proudly spits in the eye of political correctness while offering up a phantasmagoria of over-the-top violence that plays out like an issue of Mad Magazine if it were created by Go Nagai (the creator of Devilman, Cutey Honey, Violence Jack and many more wonderfully bizarre and insanely gory heroes… plus he has a cameo in The Toxic Avenger Part II)… and that’s just for starters…
Add in incredibly game actors (look for a brief appearance from a young Marisa Tomei), impressive stunts, and a surprising amount of heart and you have the perfect film for lovers of cinema that is more punk rock than Scorsese, and that is a beautiful thing indeed my cats n’ creeps…
Look, I could go on and on praising ol’ Toxie, but I envy anyone discovering this monsterpiece for the first time… I can remember finally getting my hands on (the seemingly perpetually rented out) videotape from my local Mom and Pop video joint back in the mid-’80s and I watched it one fine day when I feigned illness from school… and my mind was well and truly blown; not only because of the off-the-wall content, but by the fact that films could be created that weren’t the same ol’ Hollywood vomit… and anyone could make them!
Adding to the fun, this release features a bevy of bonus features which kick-off with a duo of commentary tracks; one featuring Troma head honcho (and this film’s co-director) Lloyd Kaufman (who takes us through the film’s production in often hilarious detail), and the other showcasing actors Schneider, Robert Prichard, and Dan Snow (which features plenty of first hand anecdotes of what it was like being on set as this madness was created).
Both of these commentaries also appear on the included Blu-ray edition of the film, along with archival interviews with actors Jennifer Babtist, Prichard, Cohen, Snow, and the other half of the Troma hierarchy (and co-director) Michael Herz.
Other archival material includes a suitably ridiculous featurette starring Torgl, a brief visual look at Troma’s history, and an image gallery of behind-the-scenes photos.
Also included are trailers for all four Toxic Avenger films (along with one for Return to Nuke ‘em High), and an introduction to the film from Kaufman.
Next up comes the 1989 sequel, The Toxic Avenger Part II…
After a new intro from Kaufman, and an absolute banger of a theme song, we find Tromaville transformed into a peaceful community. This leads Toxie (Ron Fazio… or maybe John Altamura… depends on the scene) to take a job at the local center for the blind where he can be close to his girlfriend (now named Claire instead of Sara with NYC singer/musician/performance artist Phoebe Legere taking over the role and truly making it her own).
Things don’t stay peaceful for long however as evil corporation Apocalypse Inc. sends in their villainous (and completely preposterous) henchmen to blow up Toxie and the center so they can develop the land for their greedy ambitions.
Well, they are half successful as Toxie survives and completely goes shithouse on the underlings… but the aftermath throws the big lug into a depression which sets him off on a journey to Japan to re-connect with his estranged father, Big Mac (Rikiya Yasuoka).
Once there he continues his patented hyper-violent crime fighting, but when he has his big meet-up with Daddy Dearest things don’t go as expected (minus the grizzly gore, barred breasts, and total bat-shit lunacy of course)…
While the first film seemed like an underground comic book come to gruesomely gonzo life, it’s follow-up is like a Saturday morning cartoon for the demented, as the surreal qualities of the first go-around are upped to near unbelievable levels.
Everything from human sushi to sumo therapy to human basketballs gleefully parade before our putrid peepers, spiced-up with satire of corporate America and it’s evils, a great time-capsule view of late ‘80s Japan (as well as New Jersey), and plenty of that trademarked bloodshed that’s a hit with folks aged 8 – 67… it’s also not hard to see where the idea to turn Toxie into a full-fledged cartoon star two years later in the form of 1991’s Toxic Crusaders was born.
Additionally look for an appearance from Black Dynamite and Spawn’s Michael Jai White… actually you can look for him in the next film too…
As for special features, we get another in-depth convo with Kaufman as he details the production of the film which spanned two continents (as well as two Toxie actors)… as well as a host of archival material on the Blu-ray edition of the film which includes: a quick look at Toxie’s posh lifestyle, a brief interview with actress Lisa Gaye (who starts in the film as the top henchwoman of Apocalypse Inc., Malfaire), a look at the film’s production from Japanese TV, Kaufman’s intro from the DVD release of the film, a featurette showcasing the Radiation March, the same retrospective blurb on Troma’s history from Disc 1, and all of the aforementioned trailers (plus trailers for Troma’s War and Return to Nuke ‘Em High:Vol. 2).
Following that we get The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie, also from 1989:
Once again, ol’ Toxie has done too good a job of protecting Tromaville, and now crime is non-existent and the Monster Hero is on Welfare… and in desperate need of a job to pay for surgery to repair Claire’s (a returning Phoebe Legere) eyesight.
With every job he takes ending in dismal defeat, Toxie accepts a job offer from Apocalypse Inc. to be their spokesman (and whatever else they need) and help in their bid to takeover Tromaville (though our hero is too naive to realize their true motives). If ya can’t beat ‘em, hire ‘em!
Before long Toxie goes from mutant to yuppie, and damn near losses it all before coming to his senses… but will the true form of the Chairman of Apocalypse Inc. (Rick Collins who absolutely owns the role) spell Toxie’s damnation?!
I mean this as a compliment, this film is an even bigger cartoon than the last installment, and is filled to bursting with outlandish characters, goofy gore, rad creature suits, hell… there’s even a gnarly body melt involved!
We also get even more pointed satire of corporate America, love for the Mom and Pop video stores (the savior of monster-kids like me in the ‘80s and ‘90s), and plot points directly related to arcade games… it’s like a big bowl of ‘80s comfort food chased with a goopy gulp of neon-green toxic waste and it’s all deliriously entertaining while spiting a huge wad of frothy phlegm in the face of political correctness!
As before we get a host of special features with a duo of audio commentaries leading the way; one the now obligatory rundown of the film’s production delivered with Kaufman’s patented style, and the other an entertaining chat with longtime Troma mainstay, actor Joe Flieshaker.
And as before, the included Blu-ray edition features archival material which includes: a look at NYC’s Museum of Modern Art’s tribute to the studio, the third go-around for the 40 Years of Troma reel, Kaufman providing tips for low budget horror film-making (from the set of 2015’s Old 37), a comedic take on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol set at Halloween and starring Kaufman and Toxie, a faux infomercial for the Blu-ray release of Troma’s Rabid Grannies, the second go-around for the Radiation March, and the third appearance of the aforementioned trailer collection.
Finally comes 2000’s Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV…
After a re-cap provided by none other than Stan “The Man” Lee (in which Parts II and III are revealed to to be not cannon), we find Tromaville once more at the mercy of outlandish criminals.
During a hostage situation in a special needs class, Toxie (David Mattey, voice provided by Clyde Lewis) makes the scene (in disguise… which I’m not spoiling here), along with his sidekick Lardass (Joe Fleishaker) dispense violent justice… in between Toxie hurrying to his shack to try and impregnate his (once again) blind girlfriend Sara (Heidi Sjursen).. but ultimately all was for naught as a bomb takes out the school and Lardass… but, that’s not all as a rift between dimensions is opened and Toxie ends up in the evil version of Tromaville, Amortville to be precise, while his evil duplicate, The Noxious Offender, winds up going on a destructive tear through Toxie’s stomping grounds!
With Toxie now seemingly evil, the desperate government of Tromaville attempts to bring in replacement heroes (each more ludicrous than the last), while Toxie attempts to clean-up Amortville… but can he make it back to Tromaville, take care of Noxie’s evil reign, and save his unborn child?!
With the cartoon elements of the last few installments toned down a tad here, the overall vibe is a perfect match to the original The Toxic Avenger; things are back to being punk rock abrasive, ultra-politically incorrect, gory, nasty, and an absolute huge amount of fun for those that can vibe with what ol’ Troma is throwing down here.
Kaufman returns to the director’s chair, while Trent Haaga lays down the wicked words, and while the scope of this film is epic indeed, the budget (once planned to be around 5 million dollars, but actually ended up closer to 350,000 dollars) doesn’t necessarily get in the way with that… it just made all-involved get a lil’ more inventive with the affair… and the fact that they didn’t have to live up to investor demands allowed the filmmakers to go absolutely ape-shit with absolutely every ludicrous element resulting in a shock cinema masterpiece!
Adding to the fun, look for cameos from Eli Roth, Lemmy, James Gunn, Corey Feldman, Ron Jeremy (that didn’t age well), legendary scream queens Tiffany Shepis and Debie Rochon, Jason and Randy Sklar, Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf, Bill Weeden, TMNT creator Kevin Eastman (and his then wife, the late Julie Strain)… hell, even Sgt. Kabukiman (Paul Kyrmse) appears in both good and evil versions.
Also series regulars Dan York, Mitch Cohen, and Rick Collins appear among the mutant madness as well, along with appearances from original Toxie actor Mitch Cohen, and original Melvin (Mark Torgl).
As for bonuses we get another entertaining and off-kilter commentary from Kaufman, as well as tracks from screenwriter/actor Trent Haaga (along with actor/art director Michael Budinger, Joe Fleishaker, David Mattey, Heidi Sjursen, Paul Kyrmse), and editors Gabriel Friedman and Sean McGrath which all explain in detail what it took to bring this ambitious, low-budget monsterpiece to shocking, violent life!
Also present is a new intro to the film from Kaufman along with more archival material including the amazing, over two hours long behind-the-scenes “making of” documentary, Apocalypse Soon: The Making of Citizen Toxie, that truly gives us a fly-on-the-wall view of the film’s production, a tribute to Lemmy, our old friend the 40 Years of Troma reel, and a trailer collection that changes things up a bit with only the Return to Nuke ‘Em High trailers and one for Pro-Wrestlers Vs. Zombies present.
I should also mention that the transfers utilized here, 4K scans created from the films’ original camera negatives presented in their original 1.85:1 aspect ratio in HDR with English DTS 2.0 Stereo audio, look pretty damn great with plenty of detail and lurid color on display… to put it simply; I’m no tech-head (far from it), but these films look a damn sight better than I’ve ever seen them look over the years!
And, all of the above comes in a sturdy box that also contains a collectible Toxic Avenger postcard.
To put a beastly bow on it; The Toxic Avenger series is legendary both for it’s excessive gore and for it’s underground comics vibe and the whole surreal shebang should be in the creepy collection of lovers of psychotronic cinema post-fuckin’ haste!
