The Toxic Avenger

August 7, 2001

Toxie made TROMA a household name.

My boyfriend bought me the Director’s Cut DVD, which fully restores all of the bloody glory that had been edited out in past versions. On top of that, there are deleted scenes. Ahhhhhh, the joy that is DVD.

Melvin Junko is a dorky mop boy at the Tromaville Health Club until he falls into a barrel of Toxic Waste and is transformed into the Toxic Avenger – though he is never referred to as the Toxic Avenger in the film – they call him the “Monster Hero.” I was quite impressed by the Toxie transformation special effects – they aren’t bad for 1985….too bad TROMA‘s special effects haven’t improved much since then. Hey, but why improve on a formula that works, right?

Oh, but to count the wonderful things Toxie does. He saves children from hit and run maniacs and helps little old ladies across the street. He rips off noses, arms and scalps. He deep fries, electric mixes and bakes the bad guys. He even dry cleans a midget!

It’s no wonder that Toxie is TROMA‘s most popular franchise – Toxie has spawned 3 sequels, a kiddie cartoon show and even action figures!