Pulpmovies Reviews

This is the story of Melvin Junko, uber-nerd and mop boy for Tromaville Health Studios. Melvin really is am unbelievably dorky character - so much so that it really is difficult to muster any sympathy for him whatsoever as he faces constant victimisation from the body obsessed jocks Bozo and Slug. Fortunately, these two, along with their girlfriends, Wanda and Julie, are an irredeemably villainous bunch, getting their kicks from hit and runs.

Melvin’s victimisation culminates with his being tricked into wearing a pink tutu and trying to get off with a sheep in front of a roomful of jocks. Finally, he snaps and ends up leaping out of a window…

… into a vat of toxic waste.

The effect of this is to turn him from 90lb nerd to the Toxic Avenger, a seven foot monster driven to find and destroy evil. And there is a surprisingly large amount of it in the sleepy New Jersey town of Tromaville…

The Toxic Avenger was the film that defined Troma Studios. Previously, they had made several sex comedies - and had some success. But, by the early eighties, bigger studios had started moving into the same territory with the likes of Porky’s, bringing with them higher production values and squeezing Troma out of their Niche.

Michael Herz, cofounder of Troma Studios had also started to become bored with the sex comedies and, now that they were becoming less commercially viable, was keen to try something new. Inspiration arrived with a copy of Weekly Variety and a headline that announced “The Horror Film is Dead”. So, looking for another trend to buck, Troma embarked upon their first horror film.

However, The Toxic Avenger isn’t really a horror film. It would be much better described as a superhero movie. Granted, the Toxic Avenger (or the Monster as he’s referred to throughout the film) does look like a monster and he does rack up a pretty respectable body count. On the other hand, he is the character with which the audience is expected to identify and he does spend the film chasing villains. Even with the nerd revenge scenes where he goes after Bozo, Slug, et al, it is because they are evil and not because of the way they treated Melvin.

We even have a master-criminal in the form of corrupt Mayor Belgoody, who decides to go after the Monster before it comes after him.

Of course, unable or unwilling to make a straight horror film - or a straight superhero movie, for that matter - Herz and Kaufman packed the script with jokes. Many of these are sick, a lot of them simply aren’t funny, but - proving that quantity is way more important than quality - the sheer number of jokes means that the film has enough laughs to keep the audience’s attention.

The Toxic Avenger did start out as a horror film and, as such, it has plenty of gore. As is often the case, I find the most wince-inducing scenes to be the ones that show the least - the human imagination is capable of filling in the gaps much more effectively than any special effects expert, especially one on low budget shocker such as this. The most memorable example of this, for me, is the murder (execution?) of the drug dealer. We have a (very) long build up in which we are shown, repeatedly, what is about to happen, followed by a cut to the aftermath… it’s a very hard scene to watch.

Although The Toxic Avenger initially bombed, it very quickly developed a cult following, and it’s not difficult to see why. It throws together three very popular genres (horror, heroes and humour) and as an additional bonus, the film provides an escapist fantasy for anyone who feels left out, bullied or excluded - which is pretty much all teenagers. Although Melvin is not much of an identification character, his nemeses, in the form of Slug and Bozo are easily recognisable as the sort of self-obsessed, cliquey types who most of us would like to see brought down a peg or two.

All in all, The Toxic Avenger is a lot of fun and great film to watch over a few beers… even if you’re not a Marylyn Manson fan.

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