The Toxic Avenger Franchise (1984-2000)

[AlbertV]

Now that Legendary has scored the rights to remake the 1984 original film, I thought it would be fun to look at the Troma-tic original franchise from 1984 to 2000. This is a compilation of the trailers of all four completed films.

The Toxic Avenger (1984)
The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989)
The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989)
Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000)

 

Mitchell Cohen as the original Toxic Avenger.

Ron Fazio as the Toxic Avenger in The Toxic Avenger Part II, which featured shooting in Japan.

David Mattey as The Toxic Avenger in Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV

Trivia:

The name The Toxic Avenger wasn't named until the film had completed shooting. The original name of the film was Health Club Horror and in the original film, he is only referred to as "The Monster Hero".

As per with Troma, there are early appearances by actors who would go on to bigger (and better) things. 

• Patrick Kilpatrick, a veteran villain actor of films like Showdown and Free Willy 3: The Rescue, made his film debut in the 1984 original as Leroy, the gunshot toting member of the taco restaurant crew. 
• Marisa Tomei makes a blink and you'll miss it cameo in the original as one of the regulars at the Tromaville Health Club.
• Michael Jai White made his film debut as a member of Apocalypse Inc. in The Toxic Avenger Part II and even had some dialogue. He even served as an assistant action director alongside Kariim Ratcliff in the Tromaville shoot of the film.

Four weeks into making The Toxic Avenger Part II, Toxie himself, John Altamura was fired from the film. His "double" Ron Fazio (who also played a member of Apocalypse Inc.) would take over the role and it is Fazio's voice we hear in Part II and Part III. However, Lloyd Kaufman kept Altamura's scenes and thus, both men are credited with the role of Toxie. Sadly, Altamura died of a heart attack in May 2018.

There are loads of cameos in Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV including:

• The late great Stan Lee as the film's narrator 
• Twin comedians Randy and Jason Sklar as Tromaville news anchors Jason Gonzalez and Jason Diaz.
• Corey Feldman as Sarah's OB/GYN.
• Kevin Eastman, the co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and his wife at the time, Julie Strain, as a biker couple who in a newsreel scene, are killed by the doppelganger of the Toxic Avenger, the Noxious Offender.
• James Gunn, the director of Guardians of the Galaxy, as Dr. Flem Hocking, who tries to teach the viewer about alternate universes. Gunn got his start at Troma as a writer, scripting the renowned Tromeo and Juliet with Kaufman.
• Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf, from Howard Stern's former Wack Pack, as God. 
• Ron Jeremy as Tromaville Mayor Goldstein.
• Lemmy Kilmister from Motorhead as himself, a passerby seeing all the destruction from Noxie in Tromaville.
• Eli Roth, director of such films as Hostel and the Death Wish remake, as a "beautiful young boy" (WTF?!)
• The original Toxic Avenger, Mitchell Cohen, plays a redneck who gets his just desserts in a role of reverse racism in Amortville. 
• Mark Torgl, who played the original Melvin, has a cameo as "Evil Melvin" in the finale of the film.

The original cut of The Toxic Avenger Part II was over 4 hours long! Kaufman panicked, according to his book, How to Make Your Own Damn Movie!. His wife, Patricia Kaufman, was the New York City Film Commissioner at the time, suggested to her husband that he can make two films out of the footage, which he did. Thus, making both the second and third installments. 

Julian Walker as the Toxic Avenger with Troma founder and Toxie creator Lloyd Kaufman.

Julian Walker was set to play Toxie in a fifth installment of the series, which for a while, had titles such as Grime and Punishment and Saving Private Toxie. However, Kaufman has set the still developing 5th film as The Toxic Twins, which will revolve around the twin children of Toxie and his blind wife, Sarah. Walker did play Toxie in a brief promo style "trailer" for Troma (NSFW).

 

[AlbertV]

Here is a 2017 interview with Ron Fazio who played the Toxic Avenger in Parts II & III, replacing the late John Altamura. Fazio would also play a member of Apocalypse Inc. In Part II's opening fight, Fazio and Altamura appeared on screen together with Fazio decked out in tiger-striped paint who gets an Exorcist style punch by Altamura's Toxie.

Here is David Mattey preparing to become The Toxic Avenger for Citizen Toxie. Mattey also ppeared in Jackie Chan's The Spy Next Door (the Russian thug who flies through a wall in the finale) and in the sci-fi MMA film, Brutal, as a detective.

Before...and after. Mark Torgl and Mitch Cohen on the set of The Toxic Avenger

Rick Collins has had the distinction of appearing in all four Toxic Avenger movies. He played a biker thug harrassing Sarah in the first film, then played the Chairman/The Devil in Parts 2 & 3, and then as the Amortville Police Chief in Citizen Toxie

Here's the article about John Altamura's passing:
https://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2018/05/toxic_avenger_actor_altamura_passes.html

[AlbertV]

Michael Jai White and Soke Kariim Ratcliff in action in this clip. They are the duo decked out in the fancy suits using their martial arts skills. White doing the French bread beating was wrong but funny too

[AlbertV]

Here's an interview with John Altamura, who played The Toxic Avenger in Parts II and III before being replaced by Ron Fazio (they kept all his parts in and he's the one who faces a debuting Michael Jai White in the fight scene). Sadly, Altamura passed away on May 4, 2018 after suffering a heart attack.

For the proof-of-concept trailer for The Toxic Avenger 5: The Toxic Twins, Emmy award winning FX artist Josh Turi turns Julian Walker into Toxie. The project is still in development and have undergone numerous changes including the possibility of a Saving Private Toxie and Grime and Punishment being ideas for the 5th Toxic Avenger.

Also in development is the remake, which last heard had Macon Blair to write and direct for Legendary Pictures.

TV spot for the original film

 

 

[AlbertV]

Here's a 2011 performance from Andree Maranda, who played The Toxic Avenger's girlfriend Sara in the original 1984 film. She also had a song, "Work Out", on the film's soundtrack.

 

[AlbertV]

A documentary was released last year called Toxic Tutu about actor Mark Torgl, who played Melvin in the original Toxic Avenger. He had disappeared from acting for a long time until his triumphant cameo return in Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV in 2000. He recently made a cameo in Return to Return to Nuke 'Em High aka Vol. 2.