Atomic Hero (1984)

Atomic Hero: Directed by Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman. With Andree Maranda, Mitch Cohen, Jennifer Babtist, Cindy Manion. Tromaville has a monstrous new hero. The Toxic Avenger is born when meek mop boy Melvin falls into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers will have a lot to lose.

“As a child I loved to stay up late and watch u0026quot;USA Up All Nightu0026quot; (with Gilbert Gottfried or Rhonda Shear, I wasnu0026#39;t picky). This allowed me to sample pretty much every major Troma movie, and I discovered the meaning of the phrase u0026quot;guilty pleasureu0026quot;. As I got older I stayed away from Troma, as their movies radiated the kind of feeling you get from wearing a shoddy Halloween mask too long and getting nauseous inhaling the cheap rubber fumes. But after sampling the delightful u0026quot;Tromeo u0026amp; Julietu0026quot; I decided to return to my roots and check out the directors edition of the classic u0026quot;Toxic Avengeru0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhile I was right in remembering the films as the guiltiest of pleasure, the cheap charm of the film was undeniable, and there was a ton of gore in the movie that I never saw on T.V. Arms are severed, guts are ripped out, seeing-eye dogs are shot, and childrenu0026#39;s heads are crushed- and it all looks pretty good! Some of the acting will make you wince, some of the jokes are atrocious (there are mother-in-law jokes), and some scenes go on too long (the idiotic out-of-control-car sequence) or too short (Toxie taking his revenge on his tormenters is strangely gore-free, which is explained in the directoru0026#39;s commentary), but I canu0026#39;t bad-mouth a movie that has itu0026#39;s hero stuff a little old lady in a washing machine. If youu0026#39;re a gore fan with a high thresh hold for bad taste, then give the Toxic Avenger another shot- I did, and Iu0026#39;m a better person for it. I think.”