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The Toxic Avenger

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The Toxic Avenger

R

Released Apr 11, 1985

1h 22m

Horror

Comedy

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Popcornmeter

70%

Tomatometer

20 Reviews

64%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

A 98-pound nerd (Mark Torgl) from New Jersey lands in a vat of toxic waste and becomes a benevolent monster (Mitchell Cohen).

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Critics Consensus

A silly and ribald superhero spoof, Toxic Avenger uninhibited humor hits more than it misses.

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Cruddy, primal, extremely violent, and fairly entertaining, it captures some of the snot-flicking spirit of the old EC comics.

Mar 28, 2007

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Variety

An outlandish mix of gory violence and realistic special effects.

Mar 28, 2007

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Geoff Andrew

Time Out

It all falls apart after an hour, chunks of the preceding entertainment reappearing as random montages.

Feb 9, 2006

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

It sports a frenzied and freewheeling attitude that none of the follow-ups were able to recapture.

Rated: 3/4

Oct 28, 2023

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Watching The Toxic Avenger isn't about literalism or taking the material seriously as a text; it's about identifying with Troma's defiance of good taste and low culture, therein celebrating its excessive forms of deviancy in all their many violations.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 11, 2022

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

The humor is not merely sophomoric and silly, it's aggressively so, and the bargain basement gore effects are over-the-top and excessive.

May 4, 2017

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Bryan M

For a grade B cheese flick this is an amazing film. Pokes fun at the superhero genre by having the main character a skinny wimpy janitor named Melvin who is bullied at work turn into a mutant crime fighting superhero. Classicly cheesy lines and dialogue along with over the top action and gore. What more could you ask for ?

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/26/25

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Jeffrey P

More horrifying than one would expect because it is so over the top ridiculous in ways that young people of today cannot even imagine.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/23/25

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Nick O

The flick that put Troma on the map! I dare you to find another romantic comedy with this much slime, gore or gratuitous violence. A true gem!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/22/25

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Mark B

Pretty uneven movie and is problematic with todays sensibilities but overall some fun moments and a fairly good time.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/31/25

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Omar G

The Toxic Avenger (1984). The best thing about the movie is the three sexy girls in the movie, Andree Maranda, Cindy Manion and Jennifer Prichard are very hot. The truth is that there are people as evil in real life. The way they trick Melvin was like in Bergman's Hour of the Wolf (1968). Then there are revenge of all the insults that he didn't avoid at the time. When he rips off the arm of one of the three thieves it's like in Yojimbo (1961) Sanjuro cuts off the arm of one of three thugs. Lloyd Kaufman's is a Jewish-American vision of a comic book on film. The film have many sex, violence, drugs, corruption. When he saves the 12-year-old girl from being prostituted it's like in Taxi Driver. I like when he questions the actions of the authorities.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/28/24

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Jules N

Je comprend le délire du film mais ce n'est pas vraiment ce que j'aime : mal joué, beaucoup trop de ridicule même pas drôle et une histoire un peu trop prévisible

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

10/27/24

Full Review

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Michael Herz

Director

Lloyd Kaufman

Director

Andree Maranda

Sara

Mitch Cohen

The Toxic Avenger

Mark Torgl

Melvin Junko

Jennifer Prichard

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Synopsis

A 98-pound nerd (Mark Torgl) from New Jersey lands in a vat of toxic waste and becomes a benevolent monster (Mitchell Cohen).

Director: Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman
Producer: Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman
Screenwriter: Lloyd Kaufman, Joe Ritter
Distributor: Troma Films, Lightning Video, Cinepix Film Propertes Inc., Creative Axa Co. Ltd. [jp], Beam Entertainment Inc.
Production Co: Troma Entertainment Inc.
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 11, 1985, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 21, 2015
Runtime: 1h 22m

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