The Toxic Avenger (1984 film)
| The Toxic Avenger | |
|---|---|
| File:Toxicavengeronesheet.jpg Theatrical One Sheet | |
| Directed by | Lloyd Kaufman Michael Herz |
| Written by | Lloyd Kaufman Joe Ritter |
| Produced by | Michael Herz Lloyd Kaufman Stuart Strutin (Associate Producer} |
| Starring | Mitch Cohen Mark Torgl Andree Maranda |
| Cinematography | Lloyd Kaufman James A. Lebovitz (As James London) |
| Edited by | Richard W. Haines |
| Distributed by | Troma Entertainment |
Release date | 1985 (USA) |
Running time | 110 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $500,000[1] |
The Toxic Avenger, first released in late 1985, is the most famous movie made by Troma Entertainment, known for producing low budget B-movies with campy concepts. Virtually ignored upon its first release, The Toxic Avenger caught on with moviegoers after a long and successful midnight movie engagement at the famed Bleecker Street Cinemas in New York City in late 1985.
The film was followed by three sequels. The Toxic Avenger Part II and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie were filmed as one movie, however director Lloyd Kaufman realized that he had shot far too much footage for one movie, so reedited it into two. The films were seen as disappointing by many fans, some of whom accused Troma of selling out, due to the films having far less violence and offensive humour when compared to the original film. In 2001 a fourth film, entitled Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger Part IV was released, which was far more violent than even the first film. There was also an animated TV series, Toxic Crusaders , where Toxie was the leader of a team of mutated superheroes who fought against evil alien polluters. The cartoon series was of a much lighter nature than the movies. Possibly due to Captain Planet debuting in 1991, the cartoon carried an ecological theme as Toxie and his group were environmental superheroes. New Line Cinemas had planned a live action movie based off the cartoon, but the deal was ultimately cancelled.
The Toxic Avenger has also been adapted to other mediums. Recently, Lloyd Kaufman wrote a novelization entitled The Toxic Avenger: The Novel. It was released on May 10, 2006 and was published by Thunder's Mouth Press. It was also adapted as a musical, entitled Toxic Avenger: The Musikill. It was written by Ira Kortum and premiered in Portland, Oregon.[2] Kaufman reportedly had nothing to do with the production.[3]
Plot Summary
Melvin Ferd, is a stereotypical geek. He works at Tromaville Health Club, where the customers (particularly Bozo, Slug, Wanda, and Julie) harrass him constantly. His tormentors get more and more violent until he is tricked into wearing a pink tutu and kissing a sheep. He is then chased around the health club by laughing witnesses of the event where he eventually jumps out of a second story window. He lands in a drum of toxic waste and is irradiated and deformed by the accident. He suddenly lights on fire and runs down the steet in a screaming ball of flames.
Later, a group of drug dealers, lead by Cigar Face are harrasing a police officer by the name of O'Clancy, trying to buy him off. When he refuses to accept the money, Cigar Face shows him how he got his name. He takes his cigar to Officer O'Clancy's forehead. Out of nowhere, a large creature (The Toxic Avenger) comes and saves the day, showing in a brutally violent way that he doesn't like evil in any form. When he is done taking care of them he puts a mop on all their faces, which becomes his call sign. Officer O'Clancy is initially terrified of the creature but soon learns he was only trying to help and will not hurt him. Toxie then tries to return home but his mother is terrified of him and will not even let him in the house. He then goes to the junkyard and builds himself a makeshift house.
Elsewhere in Tromaville, we see a gang of three men holding up a mexican food resturant. The men kill one of the patrons, and then attack a blind woman (Sarah). They kill her seeing eye dog and are about to rape her when The Toxic Avenger Comes and saves the day. The Toxic Avenger then has another bloody brawl with crime, taking care of the gang with unforgiving ruthlessness. The Toxic Avenger sees that Sarah is beside herself by the loss of her dog and the traumatic experience. He takes her back to his home the junkyard, where they begin to get to know one another and subsequently become involved.
When Toxie goes back to his crime fighting ways, he makes way for the health club. There, he takes care of Wendy who was involved in the plot that turned him into the creature he is now. Afterwords, he is relieving himself in a back alley when a limo pulls up and a pimp tries to push a 12 year old girl onto him. When he starts to fight back to save the girl, a group of men come out of the limo, lead by none other than Cigar Face. The men surround him all pointing guns at him. Right before they fire he jumps up to a fire escape and they end up shooting each other. Toxie returns to the health club and takes out the other tormentors who were responsible for what happened to him. He then confronts Bozo and Slug, ending in Slug getting thrown out of a moving car and Bozo driving off the side of a cliff.
The leader of the crime ring in Tromaville, who turns out to be Mayor Belgoody, is horrfied of what is happening to his goons. He is worried that it will lead back to him and wants The Toxic Avenger taken care of. The perfect opportunity arises when Toxie kills a seemingly innocent old woman in a dry cleaning store (she is in fact a leader of an underground white slave trade). The Mayor looks at this as his opportunity and calls in the national guard.
Back in his junkyard home, Toxie is terrified of what he has become. He and Sarah decide to move away from the city and take a tent into nearby woods. They are not there long before they are discovered. The Mayor and the National Guard come to kill him but the people of Tromaville will have none of it. Toxie saved them on numourous occasions and they are now his friends. The Mayor's evil ways are revealed, and Toxie takes care of him. The movie ends with a reassurance that wherever evil brews in Tromaville, you will find the Toxic Avenger.
Production
In 1975, Lloyd Kaufman had the idea to shoot a horror movie involving a health club while serving as the pre-production supervisor on the set of Rocky. At the Cannes Film Festival, Kaufman had read an article that said horror films were no longer popular, so he decided a horror film was exactly what Troma needed to do. The setting of the movie in a health club was a reaction to the hypocrisy of the early 1980's obsession with them..[3] The movie was given a working title of Health Club Horror.[1] He decided to make the horror film a comedy. Then Kaufman started writing the script with the help of Joe Ritter.
Trivia
- The seeing eye dog that was shot had been trained to glide across the floor on command and its "guts" were spaghetti covered in gray paint.
- In 2004, a stage musical adaptation of the movie debuted at the Blue Barn Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska, coproduced by Troma Entertainment, featuring a script by playwright/director Rob Urbinati and a musical score by Kevin Hayes.
- The character was referenced in Tiny Toon Adventures: some episodes featured Plucky Duck becoming The Toxic Revenger (an obvious play on the name) to stop the pollution from Montana Max's industries.
- A video game was created for the SEGA Genesis, Gameboy, and Nintendo under the name Toxic Crusaders and was released for SEGA June 1, 1992, for Gameboy September 1, 1992, and for Nintendo April 1, 1992.
References
Notes
- ^ a b Triva section of The Original Toxic Avenger on toxicavenger.com. By Troma Entertainment. Retrieved on August 1, 2006.
- ^ Motley, John. "Toxic Avenger: The Musikill". Portland Mercury.
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