This film believe or not is one of my favorate films of all time, it's also kinda another one of my childhood gems, well more like my teen gems, I'll explain. It kinda was a gradual build for me, I first discovered this franshise from the cartoon show "Toxic Crusaders" which I thought was cool and I didn't even know at the time this was loosely inspired/based on the movie "The Toxic Avenger". I didn't see this film until I lot latter when I was a teenager about 16 and I'll admit it blew me away it wasn't entirely what I was expecting but that what made it all the better as it was outrageously fun and funny; watching it now as an adult is even more fun and funner than before. It's also one of the films that actually inspired me, yes I'm not kidding in writing and getting into the entertainment business.This film to me really turned things on their head let alone turned up the notch on violence, effects, comidy, and the superhero genere up to 11. The content and wild expressionism in this film wasn't common place at the time, it was defenantly before some of the TV shows "South Park", "The Simpsons" which are just as nuts, and that's part of what made the film great for me because it wasn't afraid of being what it wanted fun while doing what it wanted.This film was made on a low budget but I felt it was money well spent just showing that you can still make a good fun film despite limitations; as opposed to most big budget film where some tend to disappoint because they forgot one curcial element fun.The music is great it's one of my favorate movie soundtracks I really like the song "Body Talk" which is a catchy tune and a fun one to use if you ever want to do aerobics or fitness training.This film of course were in it for the action and comidy and like any well done floor it shines on both. The comidy is great the whole thing plays out like a live action Mad Magazine cartoon, it's rich in both verbal and visual humor. I also feel has a bit of replay value because sometimes watching this again I can pick up on more jokes that might have flied over me.The characters are fun, everyone in Tromaville are kinda live action Mad Magazine characters because not everyone is totally normal there is always something unusal about them or are just crazy. From villain despite unlikeable which is the point their still funny, like Cigarface as well as the two health club bullies Slug and Bozo whom are all true to their names, let alone the fact Bozo has got some real impulse problems as he gets easily stressed and angry over the smallest or stupidest thing, it cracks me up whenever he blows up.And Toxic/Melvin whom is a soild superhero. I really love the makeup design on him where he's ugly but actually plesent looking. The voice is great as it perfectly fits whom he is strong and authoritative, but also a bit quirky. But the funny thing about him is he's the only person in Tromaville that is actually sane which makes him sort of the straight man in the film. But what I really like about him is how acessable a hero he is as he's more of a local, he doesn't go to some Justice League or Avengers whom are always too busy fighting big threats from somewhere and for some reason never having time for common ones which is weard despite their money and resources. He stays in town to help out whoever is in trouble doing the best he can to make his home liveable, he has no fancy weapons he uses whatever he has to his advantage making him resourceful. But also what I like is how thoughout the film from his actions he not just makes Tromaville safer but he creates a sense of community which to me is the underlying message in the film about the power of the individual and community .I really like the use of satirical humor where it's pokes fun and is suttle in the subjects it's pointed out and underlined. From Pollution and how completely irresponsible and amoral companies are in handling hazadarious chemicals, thinking about how much money they'll make instead of the dire consequences they create. Urban crime and how not enough is being done because of corruption going on in the higher departments. As well as how powers that be trying to tyrannically control indiviuals and community.The action is great, the fights are well chorigraphed and the gore effects are on par. I really like how before the action begins it's a suspenseful build as we see an innocent/innocent bystanders are in trouble one reason or another as they are being terrorized and even slaughtered by these really awful evil people and your thinking he's coming, he's coming any minute now. And then just when it gets down to the wire Toxie comes in and I just cheer because he's coming in to clean up the scum of the Earth. One of my favorate battles of all time is the battle at the "Taco Time" like restarurant where he's battling this gang of three but has a martial arts one on one fight with one of them that takes out nunchus and even uses a katana. And of course the kills in this film are great the practical gore effects are top notch. The kills are creative, colorful, and a slight blackly comic edge sort of like Jason and his kills in the "Friday the 13th" films only difference is it's bad guys Toxie is killing whom all get what they deserve. My favorate kill is of course the legendary head crushing scene which in a way pertains to our subconscious fear of getting hurt or worse from exercise equipment.Well I've said enough, "The Toxic Avenger" is messy fun.Rating: 4 stars

I have been informed that The Toxic Avenger is one of Troma's better films, so it was perhaps not the most appropriate introduction to their notorious catalogue that contains titles such as Nazi Surfers Must Die and Class of Nuke 'Em High.I was expecting gratuitous nudity and violence, and I was presented with it, but one thing I didn't expect was the pantomime acting. There's an array of absurd caricatures, including Bozo (Gary Schneider) a psychotic, gym frequenting idiot who enjoys running children over with his friends Slug (Robert Prichard) and Julie (Cindy Manion). Whilst at the gym, they antagonise the janitor Melvin (Mark Torgl), a ridiculously dorky moron who spends much of his screen presence squirming and baring his comedy-looking teeth. I thought there would be a good old fashioned revenge film to be found in The Toxic Avenger, and there is to a certain extent, however the relentlessly silly acting broke any modicum of investment I may have had in the characters to the point where it became almost unwatchable.Other characters include Mayor Belgoody (Pat Ryan Jr), the corpulent, corrupt mayor of 'Tromaville'; the German police chief (David Weiss), who accidentally exposes his closeted Nazism by compulsively performing the Nazi salute and referring to the mayor as his Fuhrer and Sara (Andree Maranda), the Toxic Avenger's attractive, blind girlfriend whose condition is often the subject of juvenile jokes, the most frequent one being her stick inadvertently making contact with Toxie's crotch.I'm sure most are familiar with the premise – during a particularly humiliating session of bullying, Melvin the janitor falls out of a window and into a barrel of toxic waste, transforming him into a super strong and super righteous mutant – The Toxic Avenger.Performed by Mitchell Cohen, the Toxic Avenger's, or Toxie's, screen presence is the film's chief merit. The prosthetics and makeup applied to Cohen's body are very good considering the budget and Troma's reputation. The scene in which Melvin transforms into Toxie is also appropriately painful looking and gruesome, reminding me of the transformation scene in An American Werewolf in London released three years prior.What I found particularly funny was the Toxic Avenger's voice. He initially only grunts and roars, I assumed he could no longer speak, however the toxic waste somehow provided him with a silky smooth mid-Atlantic accent (the voice acting provided by Kenneth Kessler). Kessler's diction is made for radio, it never gets old hearing it emanate from such a grotesque mouth. Amusingly, whenever Toxie speaks in this accent, his back is always facing the camera; this I thought was a reflection of the budget, so I was surprised when in the latter stages of the film you see Toxie speaking directly into the camera with no technical hitches at all – a sudden influx of money, perhaps?Like everything else in the film, the violence is amateurish. At times it reminded me of my friend and I's home movies. Using the 'DigitalBlue' camera, we created whole horror film franchises including the terrifying 'Oven Glove Man' series and homages to the infamous Jason Voorhees of Friday the 13th. Inevitably, the two characters eventually clashed in a Freddy vs. Jason fashion, my friend was the 'Oven Glove Man' and I, wearing a fancy dress hockey mask, was Jason Voorhees.If my memory is correct, the majority of the films followed the same format of a murder scene followed by a still shot of the victim covered in terrible blood and gore effects that I applied with relish using the software's paintbrush function. Now and again the film felt like this, there would be lengthy fight scenes with little in the way of tangible choreography and nothing in the way of viscera. The viewers' bloodlust is only given slight satiation when Toxie deals a finishing blow and the incapacitated victim's wounds are shown in often motionless close-up shots, some of which being very gory, particularly the scene in which Bozo runs over a teenager's head.With gore, scantily clad women and ridiculous campy humour, The Toxic Avenger has many earmarks of a Troma film, however, unlike most comparable films, there are enough laughs to make its 87 minutes bearable and at times somewhat entertaining.60%www.hawkensian.com

Troma movies are what got me into acting. Horrible video quality, terrible sound, awful actors and visual effects that are made in a basement....and its an amazing movie.A nerd turned superhero that has no limits. If you want to see a mutated superhero kill hundreds of bad guys and still hook up with the hot blonde in a red dress with red shoes this is your movie.Toxie delivers in every way possible. Ypu feel sorry for him, you cheer him on to kill more and more and you fall in love with the ridiculous and eccentric villains from the heath club, yes the Tromaville health club, Toxies true origin!Considered by many the greatest Tromaa movie of all time, I cannot recommend The Toxic Avenger enough! It really is one of my favorite movies.

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!