The Toxic Avenger (1984)

February 11, 2009

Netflix Live Stream, Seattle, WA

*** / ****

By Scott Muoio

The John Water’s bad taste aesthetic gets a New Jersey makeover in the 1984 cult classic, The Toxic Avenger.

The plot, a flimsy skeleton with which to hang the outrageous embellishments is simple yet effective. After a nerdy mop boy (Mark Torgle) at the local fitness club is humiliated in front of its members he dives out the window and accidentally lands in a vat of toxic waste. The result is the metamorphosis of the geeky pipsqueak into a Herculean Hunchback of Notre Dame, errr, New Jersey.

With his new powers and melting face the muscular monstrosity (now played by Mitch Cohen) goes on a citywide rampage defending the innocents of Tromaville from its dregs while inadvertently cleaning up decades of corruption. In the process, breasts are exposed, special effects mutilations run wild, and all manner of lousy acting peppers the surprisingly entertaining and unquestionably dated details of a film that knows what it wants to be and succeeds at becoming it.

No doubt the creeps, weirdoes, gluttons, fetishists, and all manner of monstrosity are on full whimsical display in this horror camp extravaganza. Whether this sort of bad taste is your cup of tea however will unquestionably be determined by the amount of tasteless geek horror show antics you can stomach. Either way, it is hard to ignore the creativity, ingenuity, and outrageous chutzpah on display.

I enjoyed the film because it was creatively obtuse. The effects were gruesome, the characters memorable, the dialogue silly/funny, the fight scenes very well choreographed, and everyone involved seemed to truly relish the perversity of it all. The way I figure, if it’s good enough for the perverts participating then it’s good enough for me.

Director: Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz

Producer: Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman, Stuart Strutin

Writer: Lloyd Kaufman, Joe Ritter

Starring: Mitch Cohen, Mark Torgl, Adnree Maranda, Pat Ryan Jr.

Cinematographer: Lloyd Kaufman, James London

Editor: Richard W. Haines