COLLECTOR'S CRYPT - THE TOXIC AVENGER COLLECTION 4K UHD (TROMA)
Instead of your regularly scheduled written introduction, we have a special video introduction from Macabre Matty!
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
The Toxic Avenger
Tromaville has a monstrous new hero. The Toxic Avenger is born when meek mop boy Melvin falls into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers will have a lot to lose.
The Toxic Avenger Part II
The Toxic Avenger is tricked into traveling to Tokyo to search for his estranged father, leaving Tromaville open to complete domination by an evil corporation.
The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie
Toxie finds he has nothing to do as a superhero, as he has ridden his city of evil. He decides to go to work for a major corporation, which he discovers may be the evilest of all his adversaries.
Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV
The Toxic Avenger must defend his friends from his evil alternate universe doppelgänger, The Noxious Offender.
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HOW IS IT?
Given this isn't a traditional “single film” review but rather a review of an entire series, it’s only right to ensure we give each film a proper commentary. As such, we will give each film a proper, albeit slightly shorter review below!
The Toxic Avenger (1984)
The Toxic Avenger is a truly one-of-a-kind film in the vast landscape of cinema. It is a superhero film made explicitly for adults that has the same sense of humor as a vulgar middle school boy. It is a film that is easy to dismiss for its complete lack of concern for political correctness and the crassness of the characters, but it is also wholly endearing for the exact same reasons. The Toxic Avenger may be a divisive film, but it is also an important piece of independent cinema. The story of nerdy Melvin the “mop boy” who accidentally falls into a vat of toxic waste due to local bullies playing a trick on him. Not only does he transform into the Toxic Avenger, but he also cleans up the city of Tromaville and gets revenge on those who made him into the hero-monster he is today.
What makes The Toxic Avenger stand out is how it perfectly marries the adolescent comic book origin story with over-the-top violence and excessive amounts of adult material. At no point is any of this to be taken seriously, and that tone helps let the audience know it’s okay to laugh when Toxie disembowels a guy while also kicking a heavy named “Cigarface” in the dick. In tandem with the shocking violence and provocative comedy is a genuine sense of heart. Sure, the love story between Toxie and Claire is weird as hell, but it is also quite sweet. Perhaps it is because everyone behind and in front of the camera knows that what they’re making is silly, and still they give it their all to not let the informality of the world-building adversely impact the quality of the film. Praise aside, not everyone is going to enjoy this. The off-brand humor and low-budget qualities could turn away those who prefer to take their films seriously, but for most, you’d be hard-pressed not to find at least one thing in this movie that you won’t forget.
The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989)
5 years after the first film, The Toxic Avenger gets a sequel. This time, Toxie is having an existential crisis (a common theme in this series) because he lacks purpose due to being so good at crime fighting he has nothing to do. This leads him on a pursuit of his estranged father in Japan, all the while Apocalypse Inc. has seen to taking over Tromaville in Toxie’s absence. While the first series certainly didn’t take itself seriously, the sequels are an even more cartoonish affair bringing in a lot of Tex Avery / 3 Stooges style humor as well as a complete change of country. There is a lot to enjoy for die-hards of the series in this first sequel, but it also doesn’t come close to capturing the same magic as the first film. The shift to a more comedic tone doesn’t always work, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some truly fun AND funny scenes to keep you entertained.
One trend that the sequels all adhere to is having an outrageous opening scene, and Part II starts this trend in a way only Troma could. Bad guys are attacking the local School for the Blind, and Toxie has to take them down while also saving the people at the school. From wheelchairs squeezing people to death and slapstick fight choreography, the opening 15 minutes of Part II are audaciously absurd. This tone carries throughout the film, in particular when Toxie goes to Japan where the humor lands a bit better on account of how much fun the “toxic fish out of water” bit is. That said, the over-reliance on cartoonish comedy sometimes works against the film. It even impacts the brutality of the violence, as it comes off as almost abstract and silly here rather than shocking. To this sequel’s credit, there are two outstanding chase scenes with one involving a motorcycle and an airboat that are worth the price of admission.
The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989)
Released the same year as Part II, Part III feels like a continuation of the previous film in the best and worst ways. In this entry, Toxie yet again lacks a sense of purpose because things are going too well for him. Now, instead of fighting some big bad, he becomes the big bad. Joining forces with Apocalypse Inc. to secure funds to get vision-restoring surgery for Claire means Toxie is working for the enemy until he realizes that something isn’t right and he has to take down the evil chairman of Apocalypse Inc. himself. This really is more of the same from the last film, which is the most continuity the series will ever see even if that means it carries over some of the less interesting things about the last film. This is probably the lowest in the series as far as quality goes, but it isn’t without some merit, especially for fans of the character and Troma’s unique blend of “humor”.
One of the problems that both of the first two sequels have is that they are wildly uneven when it comes to pacing. As always, the intros are outstanding and this entry is no different as we get a truly outstanding scene where Toxie uses a guy's intestines as a jump rope while fighting other heavies in a dingy video store. Still, the story feels like a carbon copy of the last one, and the runtime could stand to shave at least 15 minutes to make things tighter. This one also has a lot of jokes that really haven’t aged well. While Troma is known for this kind of thing, this script had a lot more cringe moments than some of the other films. This is, however, a Toxic Avenger movie through and through. So if you’re a fan of the cartoonish antics, absurd violence, and outlandish characters this entry is sure to not disappoint. And while this wasn’t our favorite of the series, there is a great ending involving a Toxic golden shower that is something so Troma it hurts.
Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000)
After 11 years, at the dawn of the new millennium, the world got what Lloyd Kaufman considers to be the “true” sequel to the original Toxic Avenger film. In some ways, Citizen Toxie is as pivotal for Troma as the original film was for the independent studio. It cemented the tone of Troma heading into a new century, which is both triumphant as well as trivial. There is confidence in the approach to this intentionally inflalmmatory material, which makes it occasionally funny and almost always uncomfortable. Like a demented family member who says racist things without realizing it, you know Troma means no malice, but it also distracts from what can be very poignant social commentary.
Citizen Toxie is a celebration of Troma, and not just the character of the Toxic Avenger. We get cameos from other Troma characters like Sgt. Kabukiman, as well as some other auxiliary characters who harken back to the previous two sequels in their level of cartoonishness. This time we get a Toxie Multiverse where Noxie and Toxie swap places causing the usual “Freaky Friday” style shenanigans. Just like the last two films, the opening scene here is A LOT. In many ways, it lets the viewer know right away that nothing and no one is off-limits here. Even more fascinating though, is that juxtaposed to this is subtle commentary about violence in schools and access to weapons. This is the unofficial theme of the Citizen Toxie, heaps of transgressive humor piled atop slivers of social critique. It’s a balance that the film sometimes handles well and other times doesn’t. This is also part of its charm. It is provocateur chaos manifest on celluloid that bluntly offends anything and anyone without any regard, which is both exciting and exhausting. Still, you can’t help but either admire or abhor the film for all of its antics, lack of continuity, and dedication to depravity.
HOW DOES IT LOOK?
4K UHD transfers are so hot right now (Mugatu voice) and Troma doesn’t disappoint with this set. Part of the reason these transfers are as great as they are is because Troma entrusted the fine folks at Vinegar Syndrome to handle the restoration and mastering. As such, we not only get the most complete cuts of each film, but they are also the best these films are ever going to look. Much like other restored releases, the only caveat here is that on Toxic Avenger Part II, some of the original negative footage was lost and the highest quality digital masters were used. All the films are presented in their original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and you can see images from the remastered blu rays below and throughout the review:
The Toxic Avenger
The Toxic Avenger Part II
The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie
Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV
HOW DOES IT SOUND?
Unlike the visual elements of these films, the audio options have remained the same from the last release in 2015. All of the films have their original 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo mixes and they all sound fine. While they are serviceable audio tracks, it would have been nice to at least get a 5.1 surround soundtrack for the first and fourth film, or at least new audio masters from the original sources. Still, they aren’t bad audio options as much as they are slightly underwhelming considering this is likely to be Toxie’s last physical media frontier.
ANYTHING SPECIAL?
When it comes to special features, films that have had multiple “special edition” releases in the past often shoot the whole wad early on, and such is the case with The Toxic Avenger Collection. Do not mistake this observation as critique, or at least not entirely, as all the previously released special features from the DVDs and blu rays have made it onto these discs as well. This is good news for those who haven’t purchased any of the disc releases, and for others, this means that the supplementary side of things isn’t going to offer anything you haven’t seen before. Considering the Toxic Avenger is celebrating its 40th anniversary next year, it would have been nice to have some newly commissioned interviews, retros, and fan perspectives considered. Nevertheless, if you’re a fan of Toxie there is a lot to enjoy on each of these discs.
Each film contains multiple audio commentaries, all ported from previous releases, although Lloyd Kaufman did record new special introduction videos for each film which are delivered with his unique brand of zany humor in a New York accent. While most of the special features are promo material, trailers for other Troma movies, and some spoofy content we do want to draw your attention to the 2-hour and 17-minute documentary on the Citizen Toxie disc. This is again a recycled feature from the original DVD, but it does a wonderful job showing the ins and outs of how Troma makes movies. For independent filmmakers, this is sure to give you equal parts motivation and dread as you embark on your own independent feature. You can see a list of special features on each disc in the images below:
LAST RITES
The Toxic Avenger Collection is the ultimate Toxic Avenger box set. Not only have these films received a lovingly wonderful visual restoration in 4K UHD, but all of the previous material for prior releases is aggregated here to make this the only Toxic Avenger collection you are ever going to need. While it does suffer from sparse new supplemental material and some mediocre sound options, that shouldn’t deter any self-respecting fan from grabbing this set faster than Melvin grabs a mop!
THE GORY DETAILS
Thank you to the fine fiends over at MVD ENTERTAINMENT for providing a review copy for the crypt! The Toxic Avenger Collection is available NOW and can be purchased via MVD DIRECT and TROMA DIRECT!
