Thank you so much for sticking with me through all of the articles. I know I have had a bunch of movies I have called out that I think are gems, and I probably have had a few that are not your cup of tea. Well, this is a big one for me to write about. First, because I don’t think anyone would go out of their way to watch this. But secondly, I am a kid who grew up in New Jersey during the video store era. That is very significant to me, and to this. So, some back story here. Growing up, like I said, in New Jersey during the 80s, I lived in a town called Colonia. The little shopping mall very close to my house had just a handful of stores. I think the big box was Rickels or Channel. It was a hardware store. I will have to ask my father which one, but that’s not important. At one end, let’s say the end all the way on the right, was two stores. The Inman Deli, which was run by my neighbor, John Obie. The best New Jersey sub sandwich you could ever imagine. The best shredded lettuce and the vinegar and oil by the gallon. Shit, I miss that sandwich like you could not believe. I like to think the Jersey Mike guys went to Inman Deli and have been trying to recreate it ever since. Anyway, a great sub, and he had Jolt Cola as an option for your can of soda with the sub. Come on, how awesome! Okay, well, the next store over was a small jewelry store that I don’t think I ever went into, but then it was Magic Star Video. My place to find movies that, at the time, my parents would rent for me. At that time, I would mostly get wrestling VHS tapes, and my mom would constantly let me rent one after the next. Sorry for the trip down memory lane, but the video store was always my place. Even when Magic Star Video closed, we moved down the road to the next one next to Gennero’s Pizza. I, for the life of me, cannot remember the name, but the owner, being as nice as you could imagine, would give me all the posters they had. Yeah, so a 14-year-old kid had all the movie posters you could imagine. But then, as I got older, they opened a Palmer Video across the street. That was my place. That was where I was going to work. And when I was old enough, that was my job to have. Did I care that I had to wear a tuxedo as the uniform? Absolutely not. I could rent 3 movies a night. And did I. Every night I grabbed 3 new movies and grew my knowledge base that I have continued to this day. Even when the Palmer family sold to a larger chain and became West Coast Video, I still cranked through 2-3 movies almost daily. Which brings me to this article. Like I said, I am a New Jersey kid. And well, because of that, The Toxic Avenger is like Bruce Springsteen to me. The joke with New Jersey people is that everyone’s par- ent went to high school with The Boss. Well, I love the Toxic Avenger. And even more, I love Troma. So this article has been on my mind for a long time. But instead of doing the first Toxic Avenger, I am going to talk about the second: my favorite Troma film ever.
Alright, sorry about the history lesson. Let’s talk about The Toxic Avenger Part II. I think one of the best sequels ever made. It is extremely low-budget, insanely fun, and crazy gory. My perfect film. The plot of this one is fun. We are again following Melvin Junko, who is the Toxic Avenger. He is persuaded to leave Tromaville in search of his long-lost father, who is in need of help. And with that, Toxie/Melvin faces off with a ton of bizarre villains. Constant over-the-top gross-out humor and violence, with the perfect low-budget splendor that only Troma could deliver. But why do I love the second one more than Part One? I think because it doubles down on everything from the first one: the cheesy practical effects, the gore (oh the gore), the cheese-tastic dialogue, and the ridiculous scenarios. It is just perfect. I know it is not for everyone, but man, I love this.
Let’s talk about the cast. Seriously, this is a Troma film. No one is winning any Oscars in this film. But the cast is one hundred percent invested in this. At times, it looks like the random people in the scene were grabbed and forced into it, but they lean into every scene, giving their all. But let’s talk about a few: John Altamura plays the Toxic Avenger. Only real thing he ever did, and he passed away from a heart attack in 2018. He was Toxie in Parts 2 and 3. The voice of Toxie is Ron Fazio. He played in the NFL and voiced only Parts 2 and 3 like John. Weird, but just when they jumped from the first one to the next two, everything stepped up a bit. Claire, Toxie’s blind girlfriend, is played by Phoebe Legere. Again, not in much regard to films. Again, being in Parts 2 and 3. But I do know she was a Juilliard-trained musician and hung out with the likes of Warhol, Basquiat, Haring, and Bowie. That is pretty cool. The Troma legend Lisa Gaye is in this, which I believe is her first of like seven straight Troma films. The only other cool cast in this is Michael Jai White, this is his first film he ever stars in and does some cool kung-fu. And like everyone I mentioned above, he also stars in Parts 2 and 3.
How about the crew? This is directed by Lloyd Kaufman, Uncle Lloyd to the ones in the know. He started making films in 1969, but formed Troma in 1974 with Michael Herz. To make ends meet, he worked freelance on Rocky and Saturday Night Fever, but didn’t direct until 1979 with Squeeze Play. In 1985, he made The Toxic Avenger and then Class of Nuke’em High. And from that point, we have a true representation of what Troma films are. I guess it is really tough to say more about Lloyd and the crew of this film, because all Troma films felt like they were made with the same players that you see in all the other films. And as you watch more, the more faces you will recognize.
Let’s move to my favorite part of all movies. The quotes:
“After a long day of crime fighting, I like to play a little basketball.” – Toxie
“The park is condemned, kid” – Thug
“Tromaville’s number one citizen… The Toxic Avenger!”
“I am the Big Mac, I am the big cheese. You could say, I am the Big Mac with cheese!” – Big Mac
What more can I really say about The Toxic Avenger Part 2? Well, you don’t need to see the first one to understand what is going on with this one. I don’t think the original Melvin makes an appearance until Part 3, but you don’t really need to know that. I do know that, as I mentioned earlier, with all the Part 2 and part 3 cast being in both films, they were filmed, I believe, as a single film that was over 4 hours long. They found a middle and made 2 flicks. I also love that this film has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Imagine not getting the joke.
Where can you watch this? I know I always find it on Tubi, but it’s also eight bucks on Amazon. Wow, that is rather expensive. I own this digitally, and for a long time, I had these all on VHS, but I must have sold them. Need to buy them again. The only crummy part is that the VHS was pre- dominantly a cut box. If you know, you know. So the hunt is a bit harder. Anyway, I will grab about 100 singles because I know I will be owing peo- ple cash if they watch this.
Last thing to mention: August 29th, 2025, the remake will be coming out. I doubt it lasts longer than a weekend in the theaters. But to honor my buddy Mark’s birthday, this will be seen in a movie theater as it should be.
