‘The Toxic Avenger UNRATED’ – Review
Our beloved Toxie is back, and this time it’s pedal-to-the-metal in an all-out gonzo extravaganza of Z-grade shlock, heavy metal mayhem, and buckets of blood. The Toxic Avenger Unrated is pure Troma Entertainment unleashed on a big-budget canvas, and the result is utterly bonkers in the best way possible. This is gore-soaked, splatter-fuelled cinema that wears its trashy heart proudly on its sleeve, and it’s going to leave exploitation fans screaming with joy.
Set in a fantasy world, following janitor Winston Gooze, who, after a freak accident, transforms into a mutant vigilante known as Toxie. Armed with his mop, the unlikely hero battles freaks, gangsters and corrupt CEOs while trying to save his relationship with his son.
Troma Entertainment has been proudly peddling schlock cinema since 1974, with Lloyd Kaufman’s madcap vision paving the way for generations of demented filmmakers. From The Toxic Avenger (1984) onwards, Troma became synonymous with low-budget excess and gleefully tasteless grindhouse energy. With Macon Blair in the director’s chair, The Toxic Avenger Unrated marks a bold leap—translating Troma’s unfiltered chaos into a big-screen, big-budget spectacle without losing any of its gonzo DNA. The result? A gloriously deranged black comedy splatterfest that makes the original proud.
At the centre of the madness is Peter Dinklage, who brings a surprising amount of pathos to Winston Gooze. Dinklage is magnetic, balancing heartache, physical comedy, and grotesque body horror with ease. His Toxie is both a tragic monster and a heartwarming underdog, and Dinklage imbues him with genuine soul. Amidst the mop-wielding carnage and absurd violence, you actually care about him—and that’s no small feat.
Then there’s Kevin Bacon, who goes full ham as the villainous Bob Garbinger, the egomaniacal CEO of a corrupted pharmaceutical business. Bacon is vile, repugnant, and utterly hilarious as a Bryan Johnson-style tech-bro supervillain. He struts through the film with manic glee, spewing venomous one-liners and leaning into every ounce of cartoonish villainy. It’s one of his most gloriously unhinged performances, and he’s clearly having the time of his life.
But the real wild card here is Elijah Wood as Fritz, Garbinger’s twisted right-hand man. Sporting grotesque deformities, a Monstercore band/hit-squad at his disposal, and a gleefully psychotic edge, Wood embraces pure exploitation energy. It’s a bizarre, freakish performance that proves once again why he’s one of Hollywood’s most fearless actors when it comes to diving headfirst into the weird and the depraved.
And let’s be clear: The Toxic Avenger Unrated is not for the faint of heart. Blair embraces every ounce of the Troma aesthetic—offbeat humour, over-the-top violence, and enough gore to flood a stadium. Heads roll, guts spill, and mop handles are shoved in places mop handles should never go. It’s as gross, gory, and gleeful as exploitation cinema gets. There will be blood. And lots of it.
For the uninitiated, this film will likely be too much. But for the grindhouse faithful, The Toxic Avenger Unrated is pure goretastic nirvana. It’s loud, it’s messed up, it’s metal as hell—and at its core, it’s still a story about a mutant dad trying to be a hero for his son. That’s the Troma way: beneath all the slime and gore, there’s still heart.
If you’re a metalhead maniac with a love for over-the-top WTF cinema, this is your jam. Macon Blair, Peter Dinklage, Kevin Bacon, and Elijah Wood have conjured up a delirious, blood-soaked romp that’s destined for cult status.
Image: Umbrella
