The Scream Queen

After being stuck in release limbo for the past two years, Macon Blair’s remake of Troma’s 80s cult classic The Toxic Avenger finally managed to seep onto the big screen, finishing off the EIFF’s Midnight Madness run. And what a fitting end it was; The Toxic Avenger encapsulates everything the midnight movie should be, and more.

Winston Gooze (Peter Dinklage) is like most of us; he works hard, does what’s best for his family, and gets on with life no matter how shitty it may be (and it can be very shitty). He tries to do the right thing, even if sometimes its hard. And yet, he still never wins. Diagnosed with mere months left to live, Winston goes to his boss, and CEO of an evil chemical company, Bob Garbinger (Kevin Bacon). But, Bob is not as well-meaning as he may appear, and after an unfortunate incident, Winston is thrown into a vat of chemical waste a.k.a the Toxic Avenger is born. It’s a classic hero’s story, served with a gloopy b-movie edge that is all too lost in todays climate of over serious filmmaking. Although the narrative itself is an old tale, it is taken on with a ferociously passionate message about how we treat our world, skewering our present culture of beautifying chemical treatments à la The Substance.

The stellar cast do much of the heavy lifting here, and without them, the film would surely fall apart. Peter Dinklage brings an empathetic warmth to Winston that audiences will no doubt relate to; as I said, he feels akin to many of us. His journey from cowering in fear to ripping off heads is the most well thought out aspect of the film, and is paced to perfection. Similarly, Kevin Bacon is always a joy to watch onscreen, and his recent turn into campy horror, such as last year’s Maxxxine, seems like a natural progression from the beginning of his career, when he starred in Friday the 13th. Taylour Paige as investigative vigilante J.J. Doherty and Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade round out the main cast, although sometimes feel as though their characters are only there to keep the narrative wheels turning, and aren’t overly developed beyond that. However, aside from Dinklage, the true scene stealer is Elijah Wood as abused servant (and brother of Bob), Fritz Garbinger. Looking like a version of the Penguin from Batman, Fritz is a character whose arc is so well crafted that you can’t help but root for his redemption. Once again, his character is nothing new, but Elijah Wood instills a weirdness that never oversteps into creepy territory; Fritz is a people-pleasing loner, who ultimately helps save the day (and thankfully survives for the sequel).

For all its fun, The Toxic Avenger is not without its problems, many of which stem from it having too big a budget compared to the original. Although The Toxic Avenger aims to be a b-movie, it feels more like an imitation of one. The practical makeup for Toxie looks fantastically freaky, but the film is otherwise overloaded with bad CGI that kills many of the thrills a splatter show like this should be filled with. The film is being marketed as ‘Unrated’, which further disadvantages it in this sense, as it hardly feels like a radical step into the body horror or gore-fest territory, particularly considering the forays into these subgenre’s in recent times. The writing feels underdeveloped at some points, particularly nearing the anti-climactic third act, and the ending is a generic one which feels like a letdown compared to the fairly experimental first half. Nonetheless, it is great to see such gooey goodness on the big screen, particularly from an independent production company; one of the many underdogs that horror champions.

Final Verdict:

Oozing with campy fun, perfect throwaway one-liners, and genuine heart, The Toxic Avenger is a big triumph for the underdogs. Despite being stuck in release limbo, it finally prevailed, much like Toxie himself. Being a Midnight Madness release is a fitting way for this film to have premiered, as it owes much of its success to the weird and wonderful films that fans find and follow religiously. Although The Toxic Avenger doesn’t quite formulate the perfect cult classic, it comes pretty close in a climate where films feel far to serious. If all you want from a cinema screening is a good time, then The Toxic Avenger is your answer.