Troma, at this point, is almost a genre unto itself. Back in the day though, Troma was just another film studio out of New Jersey. Its biggest films were mostly softcore sex comedies, but 1984 changed all of that.
We open at the scenic Tromaville Health Club. Janitor Melvin Furd (Mark Togal) is your typical 98 pound of nerd. He tries to keep the place clean, but that is problematic as he is harassed at almost every turn by local bullies/hit and runs drivers Bozo (Gary Schneider) and Slug (Robert Prichard) and their girls Wanda (Jennifer Babtist) and Julie (Cindy Manion). Things come to a head when Melvin, tricked into wearing a tutu and kissing a sheep, falls from the second story of the club into an open container of toxic waste.
One transformation sequence later, puny Melvin is now the Toxic Avenger (Mitch Cohen). He makes a splash on Tromaville and its citizens, mostly by tearing the criminals and other assorted scumbags that plague Tromaville apart with his bare hands. This doesn't unnoticed, however, and soon the good people of Tromaville start to love their 'monster hero'. The bad citizens, including Mayor Peter Belgoody (Pat Ryan, Jr.) are less than pleased. Can Toxie protect his girlfriend Sara (Andree Maranda) when the National Guard is called out?
After all this time, does the film still hold up? It is low budget as all get out and the violence flows as much as the nudity, but damn if Lloyd Kaufman doesn't know how to shoot a scene. Cheesy, but a good kind of cheese.
