Melvin, a dorky teenager who works as a mop boy at the Tromaville health club, is harassed by his peers which results in him landing in a vat of toxic waste. He then transforms into The Toxic Avenger where he endeavours to fight crime and bring justice to Tromaville. Lloyd Kaufman got the idea of setting a horror movie at a health club when he was working as a pre-production supervisor for Rocky. He then set out with his friend Michael Herz to make the movie under the name 'Health Club'. This later developed into what we now know as 'The Toxic Avenger'.The Toxic Avenger is one of those b-movies that is so well done in its execution that you can't help but love it. From the outrageous and over exaggerated performances to its tongue and cheek writing to its extreme graphic violence, it's got everything you want from a movie of this kind. It's self-aware of its outrageous premise and has fun with it by satirising eighties culture and pushing the limits of controversial content. It spawned a plethora of sequels and spin offs, even infamously a Saturday morning cartoon for kids which also resulted in toys and other merchandise. However, the original The Toxic Avenger is NOT for kids. It has sex, swearing, drugs and violence that I can imagine many parents at the time were shocked to find out if they didn't look at the R rating on the cover of the VHS. The Toxic Avenger is an entertaining and hysterically funny film that I recommend to fans of superhero comedies.

A young, innocent boy rides his bicycle at night, before his fragile body is thrust against the violent face of a speeding car. He is purposefully run over by a maniacal group of masochist teens. The scene in which this atrocity occurs in "The Toxic Avenger" actually works as a comedic highlight.Yeah...it's that kind of movie.This is the cult classic posterchild of Troma's line of horror comedies, and it is certainly among the most memorable and chaotic cheesy flicks of the 1980's. Unlike many other ridiculous, low budget horror movies, "The Toxic Avenger" is an intentional comedy; a movie that mixes disturbing themes, black humor, occasionally sharp social satire, and absurd, surrealist HORROR MOVIE MADNESS! This is a movie that refuses to hold back any punches. Gore, drugs, sex, violence, masturbating to photos of dead children-it's all here, and it's all darkly hilarious!Recommended for those who enjoy B-movies, satirical black comedy, and shocking exploitation cinema.

I was put off at first by the title. I like pollution and go out of my way to pollute the planet so I wasn't sure whether or not this low-budget comedy would have some underlying hippie environmental garbage message or not. Nevertheless, I decided to buy it... Oh my god, it was hilarious! Melvin is a lonely, awkward, ugly geek working as a janitor in the local health club, in Tromaville (known as the toxic chemical capital of the world). During a harmless if not somewhat cruel prank on Melvin, he gets into an unexpected accident involving hazardous waste, and hurries, terrified, back to his mom's house, where he mutates. Unsure if he can survive in society, he lives in the garbage dump on the outskirts of town... but it isn't long before he dons his mop and literally cleans up the town, getting rid of psychos, perverts, pedophiles, drug dealers and corrupt cops. He also falls for a very nice girl, Sara, who happens to be blind and can't see his mutated appearance.Aside from the constant crude humor, which I found annoying and rude, The Toxic Avenger is a comedic movie you just can't hate. From the catchy 80's soundtrack to the weird sheep kiss prank played on Melvin, the acting, the gore effects, the very original idea, this is a movie you won't want to avoid! I don't recommend you let your kids watch it, there are a few disturbing scenes, some violence, sex jokes, nudity, a couple of racist/homophobic comments and a rather misleading and stereotypical portrayal of the blind girl. Adults can enjoy the film while knowing better than to say these things, but kids could easily pick up various phrases from the film. A children's version of the film, Toxic Crusaders, is the better thing to show your kids.I don't know if I'll be watching this film again but I'm certainly going to view the others in the series! If you want something comedic, action-packed, low-budget and original, you'll love this.

Oh man, I freaking' LOVE this movie! When I fist saw it, the movie blew my freaking mind! This is the movie that made me obsess over Troma! So, anyways, let's get on with the review! Melvin Ferd III (played by Mark Torgl) is a socially awkward geeky mop boy who works at the Tromaville Health Club. He is a 90 LB. weakling who isn't liked by any of it's visitors, but there are a certain number of visitors that REALLY hate Melvin, they take it too far by making him dress up in a pink tutu in order to kiss Julie (who pretended to be in love with him), Melvin is tricked and is laughed at bye all of the health club visitors. He runs away, and they chase him, up until he falls out of a window and lands in a barrel of toxic waste, thus making him become... The Toxic Avenger! And so on, Toxie stomps out crime, corruption, and finds a blind girlfriend! The movie is great! Mark Torgl's acting as Melvin is great! I especially love the facial expression he makes when he walks in on Slug and Wanda making love, just priceless! The action scenes are REALLY great (if you dig gore, I know you'll love it!), and the way Toxie kills off the baddies are great! The one line I'll always remember is when Toxie is killing Slug and Bozo. Slug gets thrown out of the car and killed, thus leaving only Bozo, Toxie gets close up to Bozo and takes control of the wheel, Bozo demands the wheel and Toxie says: "You want the wheel?", rips out the wheel, and says "Here! Take the wheel!" Classic! It's great! I give the movie 7.7/10 stars!