The Toxic Avenger (dir. Macon Blair)

by Jack Martin | Aug 27, 2025

Certificate: 18

Running Time: 102 mins

UK Distributor: Signature Entertainment

UK Release Date: 29 August 2025

WHO’S IN THE TOXIC AVENGER?

Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood, Sarah Niles, Julia Davis, Julian Kostov, David Yow, Macon Blair, Rebecca O’Mara, Jonny Coyne, Jane Levy, Luisa Guerreiro

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Macon Blair (director, writer), Alex Garcia, Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman and Mary Parent (producers), Brooke Blair and Will Blair (composers), Dana Gonzales (cinematographer), Brett W. Bachman and James Thomas (editors)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A hideously deformed janitor (Dinklage) becomes an unexpected hero…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON THE TOXIC AVENGER?

Ever since its founding in 1974, Troma Entertainment – the production company and distributor co-founded by Lloyd Kaufman – has dedicated itself to making and putting out some of the most outlandish and creatively grotesque independent B-movies of all time, most notably its 1984 classic The Toxic Avenger which, even by mid-80s standards, could never have been made within the Hollywood system. But despite its far-from-mainstream appeal, the film quickly became a cult favourite for its eccentric sense of dark humour and shocking gore, establishing the tongue-in-cheek formula that Troma would become synonymous with in the years to come.

Ironically, for a film that prides itself on being independent from the studio system, The Toxic Avenger managed to spawn its own franchise, complete with sequels, a cartoon show and even a stage musical, all of it now leading to a reboot, written and directed by Macon Blair, that is by far the closest this series has come to embracing full-on Hollywood aesthetics. Yet, in its own twisted way, Blair’s take on The Toxic Avenger retains the completely unserious Troma spirit without sanitising much of what made this franchise so unique in the first place, in a fun and utterly bonkers film that, like the original film, is destined for late-night screening goodness.

Set in the crime-ridden city of St. Roma’s Village (geddit?), Winston Gooze (Peter Dinklage) is a lowly janitor at a chemical factory who also cares for his teenage stepson Wade (Jacob Tremblay) after his mother dies from cancer. Winston soon learns that he too is dying, and the medication that could save his life is untouchable on his health insurance, but upon approaching his boss, crooked businessman Bob Garbinger (Kevin Bacon), to ask for help, Winston soon finds himself dumped into a pool of toxic waste and hideously mutated into a superstrong mutant armed with an equally powerful mop. Despite his unappealing new form, Winston quickly becomes a local hero when he uses his new abilities against gangs and mobsters, earning him the titular moniker – or “Toxie” for short – but also the curiosity of Bob, who sends his goons to capture him and exploit his powers.

One needs only to look at the cast of rather notable faces – beyond the likes of Dinklage and Bacon, you also have Taylour Paige playing it fairly straight as a whistleblower on the run, and Elijah Wood in a role that’s like if you mutated Crispin Glover with Danny DeVito’s Penguin from Batman Returns – to determine that this version of The Toxic Avenger is a far more mainstream product, which does dilute a bit of the original’s independent charm. However, Blair keeps the overall tone of his movie very much in line with classic Troma insanity, with plenty of cheesy dialogue and hammy performances (all intentionally so), as well as violence so graphic and gruesome that it caused the film to sit on the shelf for almost two years after debuting at festivals. It mostly works, because Blair never takes things too seriously and embraces the absurdity of both the premise and the heightened world in which it takes place, recognising that this is first and foremost a comedy universe with as much of an anything-goes vibe as The Naked Gun (though in terms of consistent laughs, that recent reboot has this one more than beat).

The filmmaker also employs some impressive effects to accentuate the borderline cartoonish gore that Toxie dishes out to his numerous enemies. The make-up used on the title character is a lot of fun, because while you can clearly tell that it’s a suit – with stunt performer Luisa Guerreiro inside of it with Dinklage’s voice dubbed over – they get good mileage out of its design and features, whether it’s one of his eyeballs constantly being plucked out and used as a telescope, or acidic urine that comes all too much in handy when characters find themselves imprisoned. At times, there are some dodgy CGI effects during some of the gorier moments, which again can take you out of the movie in a different way than a wonky practical effect would (mainly because, well, at least it’s actually there), but there is still enough passion behind it to give such things their own sense of demented charm, especially in scenes where Toxie is whacking people’s jaws off with his mop and pulling intestines out from particular orifices.

It’s definitely an acquired taste, as was the original movie, though even if you can stomach it better than others, the movie can sometimes be a bit too much to digest. Its brand of overt and far-from-subtle comedy is the kind of silly that may tend to irritate after a short while, especially when it’s spelling out the joke for the audience. Case in point, Dinklage’s Winston has a literal save-the-cat moment early on in the film, and in case you didn’t already piece together what that moment was, there’s a voice in the background that impressively remarks how he “saved the cat”. There’s a lot of jokes like that in the movie, some of which work better than others, and while that’s just the kind of film that it is, where it really goes out of its way to be purposefully dumb, it can nonetheless test your patience if this style of comedy isn’t what you’re used to.

Those who weren’t already won over by this franchise, or indeed Troma as a whole, may not find themselves converted here. But if you’re after an amusingly grotesque update that does its own thing while honouring the formula it helped spawn, The Toxic Avenger is fun enough to forgive some of its less appealing qualities.

SO, TO SUM UP…

The Toxic Avenger is a fun update of the Troma cult classic that retains much of the grotesque tongue-in-cheek charm of the original with mostly impressive gore effects and amusing, if not consistently funny, moments of dark comedy.