After years of making forgettable sex comedies this was the horror/comedy superhero movie that put Troma on the map.

Melvin Furd is a 98-pound weakling who's constantly picked-on. One day the pranks go too far and he ends-up falling into a vat of toxic waste which transforms him into a (and I quote) "hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength" that proceeds to clean up the town of Tromaville of baddies by killing them in gory ways.

This cult classic soon become Troma's flagship title (and B-movie calling card) and it's easy to see why. Totally politically incorrect, filled with dopey sound effects, campy and loaded with juvenile humour this is exploitation Heaven for fans of irreverent, gory and just plain silly low-budgeters.

The whole thing is paced pretty well and successful at what it set out to be with lots of memorable moments (the main one being the scene set in the Mexican restaurant), a fair share of T&A and some really cool gore/make-up effects. Ends on a so-so note and has a love song montage that's just horrid (though in the R-rated cut it runs on longer than it does here) this is still a fun gem.

Review based on unrated director's cut which contains plentiful gore cut out of previous versions.

Followed by three sequels and spun-off into a mediocre kids cartoon, Toxic Crusaders.

Directed By: Michael Herz, Samuel Weil (Lloyd Kaufman).
Written By: Joe Ritter.

Starring: Andree Maranda, Mitchell Cohen, Pat Ryan Jr., Jennifer Babtist.

Picture Ratio: Full Frame.

Picture Quality: It certainly looks better than video but it has some grain and shimmers at times.

Extras: The extras here more than make up for the so-so picture as Troma packs this one full! There's 7 deleted scenes (most of them seen in the Lightning Video release), a decent commentary track by Lloyd Kaufman himself, the "Troma Test", A tour of the Troma building, a photo gallery, the pointless "Radiation March", an amusing "Death Of Toxie" skit, the "Auroma Du Troma" compilation of clips from their various releases, scene specific commentary by Mark Torgl (who played "Melvin"), a "Toxie 15 Years Later" skit that's okay, a director intro and finally 8 trailers (Toxie 1 & 2, Bloodsucking Freaks, Surf Nazis Must Die, Def By Temptation, Class Of Nuke 'Em High and Tromeo & Juliet).