3 out of 5

Director: Lloyd Kaufman

Ah, Troma. Ah, Toxic Avenger. TA has the amazing ability to always be dated and never be dated, and can be watched over and over again without getting boring… because none of it really sticks. But thats part of the charm. With its first horror outing, Lloyd Kaufman and Troma gave everyone with semi-awareness a reference point for schlocky B-movies. Toxic Avenger doesnt try to hide things with clumsy characters: gym jocks are named Bozo and Slug and they enjoy trying to run kids over with their car so their spandex-wearing girlfriends can take pictures of the ensuing gore and touch themselves to them. OMG! Shocking! And yet, for all of the grandma beating, baby-threatening, blind-raping that goes on here, something never makes it seem tasteless since its all very, very ridiculous. The Toxic Avenger starts as the pool-cleaning boy before getting dumped into… toxic waste… and emerging as the titular hero, and even he isnt really trumped as a hero: Hes a dork, then hes the toxic avenger, living in the woods with his sexy ladyfriend. Social commentary? Sure. That movies can be silly, and offensive, and gory, and popcorny, and just good general fun. 3 Stars because… as I hinted… the nature of this is that you forget the actual content soon after viewing, but its definitely a cultural landmark and an easy definition of b-movie.