Intentionally a laughably trashy B-picture, "The Toxic Avenger" is more amusing than one might assume at first glance. Beginning as a poor-man's version of "Revenge of the Nerds" (also from 1984) set in a gym, the nerd of this one jumps out a window and, inadvertently, into toxic waste to escape the jock bullies and their bimbo girlfriends. Naturally, this turns him into a hideous superhero, and it turns out that there's plenty for him to clean up in the town of Tromaville, from the jock gang ripping off "Death Race 2000" (1975) by awarding themselves points for running people over with their car, all the way to a corrupt City Hall. All of which provides an excuse for repeated exposed bosoms and blood splatter in the tradition of a low-grade slasher flick. This ridiculous premise worked so well that the film has earned a cult status and even spawned a franchise of sequels and other merchandise--not unlike the following the monster-hero receives from the townsfolk within the picture. There have also been attempts to sanitize it by removing the gore and nudity, which seems counterproductive to me. What's the point of it then?
The frequently poor filmmaking only makes this more endearing. Far too much time is spent photographing the monster only from behind, to the point that the eventual reveal of his face is more of a relief than a potential fright. The fight scenes are silly, as well as grotesque. Cars explode upon impact and may be extinguished as quickly. The "Frankenstein" allusions range from blatant to confused, including reworking his relationship with a blind character into a romantic one. There's a running gag taken from "Dr. Strangelove" (1964) where the police chief is a Nazi, which is only humorous for how bafflingly flagrant the imitation is. The entire feature is a joke that's funny because it's in bad taste.
The frequently poor filmmaking only makes this more endearing. Far too much time is spent photographing the monster only from behind, to the point that the eventual reveal of his face is more of a relief than a potential fright. The fight scenes are silly, as well as grotesque. Cars explode upon impact and may be extinguished as quickly. The "Frankenstein" allusions range from blatant to confused, including reworking his relationship with a blind character into a romantic one. There's a running gag taken from "Dr. Strangelove" (1964) where the police chief is a Nazi, which is only humorous for how bafflingly flagrant the imitation is. The entire feature is a joke that's funny because it's in bad taste.