First released in 1984, The Toxic Avenger takes place in Tromaville, New Jersey, which is perhaps the ugliest city in …. well, honestly, it’s probably the ugliest city in the world.  The streets are strewn with trash.  The walls are covered in graffiti.  The majority of the citizens are either bullies or idiots.  The mayor is corrupt and totally willing to sell out his city to anyone willing to cut him a big enough check.  Is it a surprise that Tromaville is also the “toxic waste capitol of the world?”

(“Forget it, Lisa.  It’s New Jersey.”  Hey, I hear you, Paulie.)

Tromaville is also the home of Melvin Ferd Junko III (Mark Torgl), who is so nerdy that even I was immediately annoyed by him.  Melvin has a job working as a janitor at the local health club.  Melvin doesn’t want to bother anyone but four members of the gym still decide to trick him into wearing a pink tutu and nearly having sex with a sheep.  In typical Troma fashion, this leads to Melvin falling out of a second story window and into a vat of toxic waste.  Melvin bursts into flames and jumps into a bathtub to douse the fire.  However, when he emerges from the bathtub, he is no longer Melvin.  Now, he is a grotesque and muscular mutant (and he’s now played by Mitch Cohen).

It’s time to get some justice!

Of course, since this is a Troma film, Melvin’s idea of justice may not be everyone’s idea of justice.  Yes, Melvin does stop a lot of muggings and he does break up a drug ring.  Of course, he does that by killing those criminals and allowing their guts to graphically splatter all over the street.  (Cheap as this film is, it’s obvious that some care was put into creating the gore.)  However, Melvin also stalks the bullies who were responsible for transforming him into the Toxic Avenger and he murders them with a sadism that is equal to their own.  And again, it’s not like the bullies don’t deserve to suffer.  I mean, one of the bullies is actually named Slug and he lives up to the name!  (That said, you’re kind of dooming your child to a certain fate when you give him a name like Slug.)  But still, it’s hard not to notice that The Toxic Avenger is a super hero who is as destructive as the villains he’s taking down.  It’s a good thing that Tromaville seems to be exclusively populated by scumbags.

Actually, there are two good people in Tromaville.  One is Marisa Tomei, who appears for a split second in one of her earliest roles.  I simply can’t imagine that Marisa Tomei would have supported bullying Melvin.  The other good person is Sara (Andree Maranda), who is blind.  After the Toxic Avenger saves her from a rapist, she falls in love with him.  Eventually, Sara even touches his deformed face and declares him to be beautiful.  The city may be worshipping their new hero and the corrupt mayor (played by Pat Ryan Jr.) may be desperately trying to take the Avenger down but ultimately, The Toxic Avenger just wants to escape the city and be with Sara.  Indeed, the saving grace of The Toxic Avenger is that Sara and the former Melvin really are a sweet couple and you really do hope things work out for them.

The Toxic Avenger, with its mix of comedy, horror, and gore, was one Troma’s first big hits and it remains one of their most popular films.  (Macon Blair has directed a remake, which should be opening soon.)  Personally, for me, the film is a bit too repetitive and the humor is pretty much hit-and-miss.  There’s a lot of scenes, especially in the health club, that were obviously only included to pad out the film’s running time and, as such, the film takes a while to really get going.  It may better than the average Troma film but that’s not exactly a hard bar to clear.  That said, I did like the relationship between Sara and The Toxic Avenger.  For all the crudeness and gore, the movie works best when its sentimental.