10 Trashy Movies to Watch After The Toxic Avenger

Among the strangest reboots to grace the big screen is that of The Toxic Avenger. The cult classic film has been reimagined with Peter Dinklage as the lead character of the mutant hero. It embraces all the raunchy nature that came to define the B-movie created by Troma Entertainment decades ago.

With this new version of Toxie, an entire generation may be enticed to seek out the studio known for trashy movies. While they might initially discover the original Toxic Avenger films, there’s so much more to explore with the studio’s strange productions. For those who love trashy cinema, these are the Troma classics worth the dumpster dive.

10

Troma’s War

It’s not just the horror genre that gets the B-movie treatment from Troma, as the studio targeted action pictures with War. The film finds residents of Tromaville plucked out of their town and tossed onto a tropical island riddled with terrorists. They’re now forced to fight in a brutal, over-the-top battle with violence so brutal that the MPAA rejected it for an R rating.

It’s impressive to see how far Troma can go with satire in a genre they don’t usually favor. The results are pretty astounding for guerrilla warfare, which is given a glaze of the goofy and the edgy nature, with the wrapping of the AIDS epidemic into the villain scheme. For ridiculous violence that mocked the many Rambo replicators of the 1980s, Troma’s War is worth deploying on your screen.

9

Return to Nuke ‘Em High Volume 1

In this sequel to the Troma classic, Tromaville High School faces a new generation of mutants among its student body. The glee club has gone from singing to slaying when it is transformed into the mutant gang, The Cretins, created by the evil Tromorganic Foodstuffs Conglomerate. The only two who can stop this sinister threat to Tromaville are the bloggers Chrissy and Lauren.

Even for being a Troma film released in the 2010s, Return to Nuke ‘Em High Volume 1 proved that the studio’s penchant for shlock hasn’t diminished. The film is packed with plenty of gooey special effects, gross-out violence, and nudity aplenty. It’s just as edgy as the original Class of Nuke ‘Em High and ends up being a rather enduring B-movie for its blunt vulgarity and bravery for depravity.

8

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead

Zombie movies get a Kentucky-fried makeover in Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead. A fried chicken fast food restaurant incurs the wrath of zombie chickens after it turns out it was built on a Native American burial ground. The outbreak transforms humans into zombie chickens determined to lay eggs, pluck out eyeballs, and put deep-fried humans on the menu.

Poultrygeist has a lot of everything for being a dark comedy, gross-out zombie horror, fast-food satire, and even a musical. For whatever it may be worth, this is one of the grossest Troma films I’ve seen, with faces being forced through a meat slicer and a bathroom explosion of various substances. Watch it only if you’ve got an iron stomach, especially when it comes to greasy fast food, given both the greasy gags and the fact that the characters are all named after fast-food chains.

7

Surf Nazis Must Die

The beaches of California are invaded by neo-Nazis, led by their Führer of the new beach. Fed up with this gang assaulting the beach scene, Leeroy’s mama decides to wage a war against this surfer rise in national socialism. Fueled by the death of her son, her vengeance will be cutthroat among these over-the-top antisemites.

Surf Nazis Must Die embraces that absurdist desire for the wackiest antifascist action film. The post-apocalyptic setting is played up with Mad-Max-style pageantry, where familiar Nazi figures are retooled into cartoonish villains cruising for bruisings. Fighting Nazis has never been more Californian than battling them on the beaches and through the waves.

6

Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.

Harry Griswold is a New York detective trying to solve a series of murders involving Kabuki actors. Although he’s not the best at his job, he gains flight and tactical chopstick superpowers when kissed by a dying Kabuki actor. He’s no longer the clumsy cop Harry, but the ridiculous superhero Kabukiman.

Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D., much like The Toxic Avenger, is a superhero satire, but far more goofy. Rick Gianasi plays up the titular superhero as clownish enough to be the hero who defeats the mustache-twirling businessman Reginald Stuart and the demonic The Evil One. The special effects are lovingly low-budget, the slapstick is hilarious, and Gianasi’s performance is enough to make Kabukiman as enduring as Toxie, given that he would grace other Troma movies.

5

Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV

There were a few Toxic Avenger sequels, but the best one is, rightfully, Citizen Toxie, with Stan Lee’s opening narration admitting that the past two sequels were awful. The film finds Toxie concerned about taking his relationship to the next level (Toxie babies) while being transported to the mirror universe of Tromaville. Toxie will have to find a way back home and stop the evil version of himself, Noxie, from destroying the city Toxie has been protecting.

Citizen Toxie is nearly as wild as the first film, boasting a stranger concept and featuring a clever crossover with Sergeant Kabukiman (as well as an evil version of that character). The cast assembled is top-notch, with a roster that boasts Corey Feldman, James Gunn, Julie Strain, and Hugh Hefner as the President of the United States. Featuring everything from fetus battles to a diaper mafia, it’s just as absurd as the first film and goes the extra mile with its edgy comedy to be a worthy Toxic Avenger sequel.

4

Terror Firmer

Troma got very meta with their astute filmmaking satire in Terror Firmer. The film features director Lloyd Kaufman as a blind film director with a big ego who creates a brutal work environment for the production assistant Jennifer. As she is torn between her love for the boom operator and the special effects operator, the production goes awry with a serial killer slaughtering on set.

Terror Firmer is one of the more extreme Troma films, given the hefty amounts of sex and violence thrown at the screen. The casting even includes some surprises with Kerri Kenney (Reno 911), Eli Roth (Inglorious Basterds), Trey Parker (South Park), and adult film star Ron Jeremy. While the film is as funny and vulgar as other Troma pictures, it also has a heavy punk vibe with its rocking soundtrack and clashes with the police during filming.

3

Class of Nuke ‘Em High

Tromaville hasn’t been the same since the meltdown at the local nuclear power plant. The toxic waste has leaked into the water supply and started affecting the students of Tromaville High School. The honor society is transformed into violent psychopaths as the school turns into a chaotic landscape of gangs and monsters.

Released during an era of uncertainty about nuclear power, Class of Nuke ‘Em High played up those fears of contamination with a hefty dose of gross-out horror and comedy. Although delightfully goofy and trashy, the film also boasts some impressive special effects for the meager budget. So, if you ever wanted to see a mutant massacre inside a high school, Nuke ‘Em High will fulfill that very specific desire with gusto.

2

Tromeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare gets a wild and raunchy treatment with his revered romance reframed as Tromeo and Juliet. It is the tale of the star-crossed lovers Tromeo Que and Juliet Capulet, coming from feuding families, threatening to tear their romance apart. The story remains relatively close to Romeo and Juliet, but with the Troma touch of ramped-up sex and violence, most absurd and grotesque.

Directed by Troma president Lloyd Kaufman and co-written by James Gunn (yes, the same director of the recent Superman film), Tromeo and Juliet weirdly plays as the most refined of Troma productions for drawing from a classic play. The performances by Jane Jensen and Will Keenan are so good that it’s enough to believe these two morons are made for each other. With a revised ending from the original, you won’t find a more wildly divergent and delightful retooling of the theatrical tragedy.

1

The Toxic Avenger

As one of the earliest Troma films, The Toxic Avenger left a lasting impression as a B-movie mutant hero. When the wimpy janitor Melvin Ferd falls into some toxic waste, he transforms into a towering mutant with super strength and a drooping eye. His heroism, however, involves brutalizing the many vicious gangsters and corrupt politicians that pollute his city far more than his dump of a new home.

The Toxic Avenger remains the most bombastic superhero satire movie ever made on a budget. The gory violence is delivered in an over-the-top manner, the sex is absurd, and the gags are exceptionally vulgar. As a fusion of monster movies and superheroes, few films are more darkly hilarious and uproariously vulgar than this Troma classic of the 1980s.

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Troma movies are special because they are self-aware trash that delightfully explore the most absurd aspects that can be exploited in a low-budget film. They’ve come a long way from being a springboard for James Gunn to a hilarious detour for familiar actors like Peter Dinklage and Elijah Wood. All of it started with looking at the grossness of mutants and toxic waste, finding the pleasure in the putrid for the most charming B-movie absurdity.