The Toxic Avenger Part II

Dir: Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz

1989

***

The Toxic Avenger made Troma what is was, Class of Nuke 'em High was a great follow up and an interesting concept as it made the small town of Tromaville into a movie universe full of potential but why go back to Toxie when there were far more interesting avenues to explore? I think the simple answer is that, apart from gaining cult status, The Toxic Avenger was a great sensationalist b-movie name, especially when the world was becoming more and more environmentally conscious. Most fans hate the second Toxic Avenger film but I personally think its miles ahead of the first feature. It starts with one of the best and most outrageous fight scenes ever and ends with one of the best and most outrageous fight scenes ever. The blind jokes still aren't funny and Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz still find it hard to pull themselves away from their sex comedy roots (its shame Toxie's girlfriend Claire has turned into a pornstar) but it is by far one of the most inventive comedy/horrors of the 1980s - and that is really saying something. Toxic narrates the first part of the film, explaining that because he has rid the town of all bad guys, people generally live happier lives and spend most of their days dancing in the street or getting tattoos. However, an evil corporation called Apocalypse Inc. are determined to change all this and set about killing the The Toxic Avenger so they can bring about mayhem to Tromaville once more. They send a smorgasbord of henchmen (think the Village People but gone bad) to the home for the blind where Toxie volunteers and blow it to pieces. Once out of the wreckage, Toxie fights everyone, squashing them in wheelchairs, ripping off their ears and squashing a particularly muscly dwarf into a basketball. It's all rather fun. Toxie is then tricked into going to Japan to find his long lost father and ends up fighting Sumo Wrestlers and a man with a fish for a head. It's bizarre but brilliant. It's still rather gory but with far more humour than the first outing. Kaufman and Herz actually shot about four hours’ worth of film and realized they probably had enough for two films, so what we see in part two is actually only the first half of the story. This is where my problem with the film lies, it is far too long and never knows when to stop. It is rather telling that, after finding success with his comedy tuition series; Make Your Own Damn Movie!, Direct Your Own Damn Movie!, Produce Your Own Damn Movie! and Sell Your Own Damn Movie! he is yet to make Edit Your Own Damn Movie!. All great low budget b-movie horror films that are worth anything have all gained success thanks largely to their editing. Evil Dead is a very simple film, it is the amazing editing that really brought it to life. However, it is hard to resist a b-movie that is as ridiculous and absurd as this. It is hugely entertaining, it just needs a haircut.