The Toxic Avenger
Short description
Melvin is a janitor at a health club in the small town of Tromaville, where he is mocked and tormented by a gang of local thugs. A cruel prank goes wrong and sends him out of a third-story window and into a container of toxic waste. Instead of killing him, the chemicals transform him into a hulking mutant with extraordinary strength. Reborn as the Toxic Avenger, he sets out to rid his hometown of the criminals and bullies who prey on its residents.
The film was released in 1984 and runs 110 minutes. It mixes action, comedy, horror and science fiction, and was produced by Troma Entertainment. Lloyd Kaufman directed it alongside Michael Herz; for both, this was the first feature in the chronological list of their directing credits, and the pair also produced. Joe Ritter wrote the screenplay. Mitch Cohen plays the mutant hero, with Andree Maranda as Sara, Jennifer Prichard as Wanda, Cindy Manion as Julie, Robert Prichard as Slug and Gary Schneider as Bozo among the 37 credited cast members; 72 crew members are credited.
The film holds a critics' rating of 5.8/10 from 21 reviews, while on TMDB it has a rating of 6.2/10 from 690 votes. Kaufman and Herz went on to direct further entries in the series, including The Toxic Avenger Part II and Part III, and later films such as Tromeo & Juliet, Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV and Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.
What's left behind the scenes
- During the filming of one of the car stunts, the roll cage (which protects the driver and passengers in the event of a rollover) broke, and the stunt driver nearly died.
- The scene of the head being crushed was inspired by a real-life incident from the life of director and producer Lloyd Kaufman, when he once reversed out of a garage and accidentally hit his younger sister. She was fortunately unharmed, but he couldn't forget the incident for many years.
- Once during filming in Florida, a homeless man pulled a prop gun from a trailer and pointed it at the crew.
- Instead of a child's head, which is crushed in the film, they used a melon filled with corn syrup and red food coloring. A wig was attached to the melon, and the melon itself was attached to a mannequin. It was all inexpensive, but the effect was stunning.
- Patrick Kilpatrick, who played Leroy (the criminal in the Mexican restaurant), refused to continue filming after being forced to point a gun at a child in one scene.
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