Plot[]
Melvin Ferd Junko III is a 98-pound janitor at a health club in the fictional town of Tromaville, New Jersey, where a group of unknowingly murderous customers (Bozo, Slug, Wanda and Julie) regularly harass and bully him.
One day, the group tricks Melvin into wearing a pink tutu and unknowingly hugging a real sheep who he thought was Julie. He is ridiculed and chased around the health club. He ultimately jumps out of a second-story window and falls into a drum of toxic waste, which was on a flatbed truck parked outside. The toxic waste burns his skin and sets him on fire. After running away down the street, Melvin returns home to get relief in his bathtub. However, the chemicals transform him into a hideously deformed mutant with superhuman size and strength.
Meanwhile, a group of drug dealers, led by Cigar Face, are trying to bribe a police officer. When he refuses to accept the money, Cigar Face and his gang prepare to castrate him. Melvin suddenly appears and kills the criminals, and then leaves a mop on their faces as a calling card. Cigar Face escapes, promising to take revenge.
When Melvin returns home, his mother is terrified of him and will not let him in the house. He subsequently builds a makeshift home in the local junkyard.
A gang of three men hold up a Mexican restaurant and attack a blind woman, named Sara. They kill her guide dog and attempt to rape her, but are stopped by Melvin when he attacks them. Melvin then takes Sara back to her home, where they get to know one another and become romantically involved.
Melvin continues to fight crime, including drug dealers and pimps for underage prostitutes. As Melvin gives aid to the people in the city and is celebrated as a hero, Mayor Belgoody grows worried. It turns out the Mayor is the leader of Tromaville's extensive crime ring and fears having the truth exposed. He wants Melvin gone.
A group of men, led by Cigar Face, eventually surround Melvin with guns. Just before they fire on him, he leaps up to a fire escape so they shoot each other instead.
Melvin takes revenge on the four health club bullies who caused his transformation. He first attacks Wanda in the health club's sauna and burns her backside on the heater. He then returns to the club later, pursues Julie into the basement, and cuts off her hair. He finally confronts Bozo and Slug after they beat a woman and steal her car. They attempt to run Melvin down, but he leaps onto the roof and throws Slug out of the moving car. Melvin then gets in and pulls off the steering wheel, causing Bozo to drive off the side of a cliff. The car explodes, killing Bozo. Melvin climbs out uninjured and walks away.
When Melvin kills a seemingly innocent old woman in a dry cleaning store (who was, in fact, a leader of an underground human trafficking ring), Belgoody calls in the United States National Guard. Back in his junkyard home, Melvin is horrified at what he has become. He and Sara decide to move away from the city and into the nearby woods.
Melvin and Sara are eventually discovered, and the Mayor and the National Guard come to kill him. However, the people of Tromaville step in, and Melvin's mother identifies the mutant as her son. The Mayor's evil ways are revealed, and Melvin rips out his organs to see if he has "any guts." Hailed as a hero, the Toxic Avenger continues to combat crime in Tromaville.
Cast[]
- Mitch Cohen as Melvin Ferd Junko III/The Toxic Avenger
- Mark Torgl as Melvin Ferd Junko IIl
- Kenneth Kessler as The Voice of Melvin Ferd Junko III/The Toxic Avenger
- Andree Maranda as Sara
- Pat Ryan Jr. as Mayor Peter Belgoody Goldberg
- Sarabel Levinson as Mrs. Ferd Junko
- Dan Snow as "Cigar Face"
- Dick Martinsen as Officer O'Clancy
- Gary Schneider as "Bozo"
- Robert Prichard as "Slug"
- Jennifer Babtist as Wanda
- Cindy Manion as Julie
- Chris Liano as Walter Harris
- David Weiss as Chief of Police
- Doug Isbecque as "Knuckles"
- Charles Lee Jr. as "Nipples"
- Pat Kilpatrick as Leroy
- Larry Sulton as Frank
- Michael Russo as Rico
- Al Pia as Tom Wrightson
- Dennis Souder as Drug Dealer
- Steven Zmed as Gaseous Maximus, The Human Trash Can
- Xavier Barquet as Man Shot In Restaurant
- Reuben Guss as Dr. Snodburger
- Matt Klan as Boy Hero
- Dominick Calvitto as Skippy, Boy On Bicycle
- Marisa Tomei as Girl In Locker Room (director's cut only)