Fans have been waiting a long time to see writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), which wrapped filming way back in 2021 and unveiled a teaser trailer near the end of 2023, around the time it had its world premiere screening – but we won’t have to wait much longer. At the start of the year, it was announced that Cineverse had acquired the distribution rights with the intention of giving the film a wide release, and we’ve since learned that they’re aiming for an August 29th theatrical release. Three years ago, the Motion Picture Association ratings boards gave the film an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity”… but never mind all that. The Toxic Avenger remake is being released unrated (so, presumably, anything that was cut for the R rating has been put back in), and new promo images reveal exactly why it’s going out unrated. You can take a look at them below.

These promo images reveal that the movie delivers “splatter laughter, monstercore, punk rock bandits, mops and toxic sludge exposure” as well as “ultra violent/toxic content, piss play, mutant nudity, hilarious harm and gnarly theater fun.” All this, plus there’s a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene.“

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger centers on Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Peter Dinklage plays Winston Gooze and is joined in the cast by Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; a group of lunatics / musicians called the Killer Nutz, who are “a rock and roll group where their presentation is theatrical evil, like KISS or Alice Cooper, but their moonlight gig is professional assassins”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade; Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”; Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”; Julia Davis as an unspecified character; and Blair as a guy named Dennis.

Dinklage doesn’t physically play Toxie. Instead, Luisa Guerreiro, an actor and movement artist, provides the physical performance of Toxie underneath the makeup and costume. Dinklage does still provide the character’s voice after Winston becomes Toxie. 

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. Are you looking forward to the movie, and are you glad it’s getting an unrated release? Let us know by leaving a comment.

The post The Toxic Avenger remake promo images reveal why the film is being released unrated appeared first on JoBlo.

Now let’s get into our 10 most anticipated horror movies of Summer 2025.

Clown in a Cornfield – May 9th

Based on the book series of the same name, you’re either down for a film called “Clown in a Cornfield” or you’ve already started scrolling. It’s a pretty basic concept about Frendo the Clown taking out teenagers in a midwestern town. Chris Bumbray reviewed this a few months ago, and I was lucky enough to see it already as well, and it’s an absolute blast. This is a slasher that general audiences can really latch onto. Slasherheads needs to go in with reasonable expectations, though, as it’s rather tame overall.

Final Destination: Bloodlines – May 16th

After 13 long years, the Final Destination series finally returns! Everything that’s come out so far makes it look like they’re flipping the formula on its head and changing some rules, so I’m going into this a bit more trepidatious than others. I’m a massive fan of the franchise (as evidenced by all the videos I’ve done on it on our Horror YouTube Channel) and just hope it gets a proper return that doesn’t ruin the films that came before it. I’m grateful to get a big screen send off for Tony Todd.

Bring Her Back – May 30th

The creators of Talk To Me are back with their follow-up film, and it already has the internet abuzz. With a unique marketing campaign and an absolutely stellar leading lady in Sally Hawkins, this horror film takes a look at a brother and sister, and the terrifying ritual their foster mother is putting them through. This looks genuinely creepy in a way that few films can achieve. Here’s hoping that the Philippou Brothers pull it off again.

Dangerous Animals – June 6th

This may just be my most anticipated film of the entire summer. A serial killer that uses sharks to kill his victims? Sign me right the fuck up! Jai Courtney and Hassie Harrison star in this gripping thriller about a surfer kidnapped by a deranged psychopath and tied up on his boat. She has to escape before being fed to the hungry sharks around the boat. I adore any kind of shark thriller as they tend to be really entertaining, even if the quality is questionable (we’ll get into that later). The FX work looks great here and it looks to have a great grasp on how to utilize the sharks without them looking fake and cheap.

28 Years Later – June 20th

Danny Boyle returns to the franchise (I guess we can call it that now) that he helped create. As the title states, this is set 28 years after the original film and its outbreak, zeroing in on a small island, separated from the infection. A father (Aaron Taylor Johnson) and his son leave the safeties of the island for some sort of…manhood ritual? That’s what the trailers make it seem like. Not much longer till we find out for sure, but it sounds like we won’t see Cillian Murphy showing up in this planned trilogy until at least the second film, as he’s been confirmed to not be in this one.

M3GaN 2.0 – June 27th

This is only here because of you people, and I am absolutely dreading it. This trailer plays before damn near every single movie that I see and it has become the bane of my existence. I hated the first film and can’t stand this “wink at the camera” style of filmmaking. The fact that they’re going the T2 route, having M-3-gen (sound it out) become a hero to take down a more advanced version just has me yawning. Here’s hoping the TikTok dance was worth our cinematic integrity.

Together – August 1st

Husband/Wife duo Dave Franco and Alison Brie star in this horror film that I’ve honestly been staying away from, ever since I heard it has body horror. So let’s look at what the brief description says: “After moving to the countryside, a supernatural encounter starts to transform a couple’s love, their lives, and their flesh.” Sign me right up.

Weapons – August 8th

Steeped in mystery, Weapons definitely has one of the best marketing campaigns of any of the films on this list. We recently got an awesome trailer, and we still know very little, just that a bunch of kids in Julia Garner’s class disappeared in the middle of the night, and it looks like the town is blaming her. This is one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer and for good reason: Zach Cregger is proving to be a formidable name in the world of horror.

The Toxic Avenger – August 29th

After what feels like eternity of waiting, we’re finally getting to see Peter Dinklage as Toxie in this reboot of the cult classic. Co-starring Kevin Bacon and Elijah Wood, Macon Blair’s remake transforms a downtrodden janitor into a gross and grimey superhero. People who have seen it seem to love it, and the trailer looks like the same kind of fun we got from the Street Trash remake last year.

The Shallows (2025) – ????

Everyone remembers the Blake Lively movie from 2016 right? It was a pretty decent shark thriller that left a decent impression on folks. So I’m sure none of us expected China to remake it, and give it a Groundhog’s Day-style twist, with the shark killing our protagonist over and over again. But that’s exactly what they did and it looks absolutely glorious. This is the only film on the list without its release date officially announced but come on: like they’re not going to release a shark movie in the summer?! Keep your eyes here on JoBlo.com for the eventual release announcement and review.

What Horror Movies are YOU looking forward to seeing this Summer? Did I miss any? Let us know in the comments!

The post 2025 Summer Horror Movie Preview appeared first on JoBlo.

Fans have been waiting a long time to see writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), which wrapped filming way back in 2021 and unveiled a teaser trailer near the end of 2023, around the time it had its world premiere screening – but we won’t have to wait much longer. At the start of the year, it was announced that Cineverse had acquired the distribution rights with the intention of giving the film an unrated wide release, and we’ve since learned that they’re aiming for an August 29th theatrical release. But before the new movie makes its way out into the world, Troma will be unveiling Mr. Melvin, a reconstruction of their original plan for their 1989 films The Toxic Avenger Part II and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie.

You see, The Toxic Avenger Part II and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie were written and shot to be just one movie, but directors Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz ended up with so much footage on their hands that they decided to turn it into two movies. They had plenty to work with: The Toxic Avenger Part II has a running time of 96 minutes (or 103 minutes in its directors’ cut form) and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie has a running time of 102 minutes. But now, our friends at Bloody Disgusting report that Andrew L. Miller and Adam Peltier have unearthed the original screenplay for the Toxic Avenger sequel and cut the existing footage together to match the script. Resulting in Mr. Melvin, which covers the events of Part II and Part III but wraps up in about two hours.

Mr. Melvin cut will premiere as part of Troma-Thon 2025 at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater in Lehighton, Pennsylvania on July 18-19. Tickets to the event can be purchased at THIS LINK.

Kaufman told Bloody Disgusting, “I always dreamed of reconstructing The Toxic Avenger Part II and III into the single epic we originally intended before the MPAA sliced it up like week-old sashimi. I’m extremely delighted this is finally happening before I croak. … It’s a very happy ending, and I’m proud to say Michael and I are leaving our mop in toxeriffic hands.” Miller said, “Honestly, it looks fantastic. The story makes way more sense, and in my opinion it’s a much better film than the other two individually. We’re going to be premiering the Mr. Melvin cut at Troma-Thon this year at The Mahoning Drive-In, our annual drive-in Troma movie marathon, and I think it’s going to be a really great experience for people to see this cut for the first time at the drive-in, the way it should be!” Peltier added, “This isn’t a restoration. It’s a resurrection. We’re taking Parts II and III and making them whole—one film, one story, told the way it was originally intended. After this, you won’t want to watch them any other way. Lloyd Kaufman is a true auteur. His work is important. It has meaning. I hope Mr. Melvin gives people—especially the naysayers—another chance to actually look at what he’s been doing all these years. Because Mr. Melvin isn’t just a goofy sequel—it’s a complex piece of work. It’s as much about Toxie trying to figure out his place in the world once there’s no more crime to fight as it is about Lloyd grappling with what to do after creating a surprise cult hit. Both of them—Toxie and Lloyd—are facing the same question: do I sell out to the corporate overlords, or do I keep fighting the good fight?“

Are you interested in seeing Mr. Melvin? What do you think of The Toxic Avenger Part II and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie being cut together into one two-hour movie? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Mr. Melvin cut combines The Toxic Avenger Part II and Part III into one film appeared first on JoBlo.

Fans have been waiting a long time to see writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), which wrapped filming way back in 2021 and unveiled a teaser trailer near the end of 2023, around the time it had its world premiere screening – but we won’t have to wait much longer. At the start of the year, it was announced that Cineverse had acquired the distribution rights with the intention of giving the film an unrated wide release, and we’ve since learned that they’re aiming for an August 29th theatrical release. Now, a new teaser trailer has arrived online, and you can check it out in the embed above!

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger centers on Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Peter Dinklage plays Winston Gooze and is joined in the cast by Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; a group of lunatics / musicians called the Killer Nutz, who are “a rock and roll group where their presentation is theatrical evil, like KISS or Alice Cooper, but their moonlight gig is professional assassins”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade; Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”; Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”; Julia Davis as an unspecified character; and Blair as a guy named Dennis.

Dinklage doesn’t physically play Toxie. Instead, Luisa Guerreiro, an actor and movement artist, provides the physical performance of Toxie underneath the makeup and costume. Dinklage does still provide the character’s voice after Winston becomes Toxie. 

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. The film has received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“ – and the gore includes a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene“.

Are you looking forward to The Toxic Avenger remake? Watch the new teaser trailer, then let us know by leaving a comment below!

The post The Toxic Avenger remake, starring Peter Dinklage and Kevin Bacon, gets a new teaser trailer appeared first on JoBlo.

Fans have been waiting a long time to see writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), which wrapped filming way back in 2021 and unveiled a teaser trailer near the end of 2023, around the time it had its world premiere screening – but we won’t have to wait much longer. At the start of the year, it was announced that Cineverse had acquired the distribution rights with the intention of giving the film an unrated wide release, and we’ve since learned that they’re aiming for an August 29th theatrical release. Now, a new image from the film has been unveiled by Collider, give us another look at Toxie’s face. You can check it out at the bottom of this article.

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger centers on Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Peter Dinklage plays Winston Gooze and is joined in the cast by Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; a group of lunatics / musicians called the Killer Nutz, who are “a rock and roll group where their presentation is theatrical evil, like KISS or Alice Cooper, but their moonlight gig is professional assassins”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade; Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”; Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”; Julia Davis as an unspecified character; and Blair as a guy named Dennis.

Dinklage doesn’t physically play Toxie. Instead, Luisa Guerreiro, an actor and movement artist, provides the physical performance of Toxie underneath the makeup and costume. Dinklage does still provide the character’s voice after Winston becomes Toxie. 

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. The film has received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“ – and the gore includes a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene“.

Are you looking forward to The Toxic Avenger remake? Let us know by leaving a comment below – and take a look at the new image while you’re scrolling!

The post The Toxic Avenger remake image gives a new look at Toxie’s face appeared first on JoBlo.

Back in 1984, Troma Entertainment brought the world The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), a film about “the first superhero from New Jersey.” That film spawned a franchise, leading to The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989), The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989), Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000), a stage musical, and an animated series called Toxic Crusaders. For a long time, we’ve been hearing that Troma wanted to make a Toxic Avenger 5 – but instead doing that, they have loaned out the rights to Legendary Pictures, allowing them to make a remake of the original film that’s set to reach theatres on August 29th, courtesy of Cineverse. In anticipation of the film’s long-awaited release, we have put together a list of Everything We Know About the Toxic Avenger Remake… and here we go:

WRITER / DIRECTOR

At the helm of this new take on The Toxic Avenger is Macon Blair, who is best known to many as an actor, due to his roles in the likes of Murder Party, Blue Ruin, Green Room, Oppenheimer, and more. He made his directorial debut with the 2017 comedy thriller I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore.

The original film centered on a dorky fellow named Melvin Junko, who worked as a janitor at health club in the town of Tromaville, New Jersey. When a prank gone wrong ends with Melvin taking a dive into a barrel of toxic waste, he’s transformed into the hulking, deformed hero known as the Toxic Avenger, who sets out to get revenge on the people who wronged Melvin, and to clean up the crime-riddled streets of Tromaville.

Blair’s take on the Toxie concept centers on Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced the film with Legendary Entertainment. When Dread Central asked him what level of input he wanted to have on the remake, Kaufman said, “Macon Blair knows Troma better than I do. He’s seen everything. He’s seen the cartoon, he’s seen the Halloween special, he’s seen everything. And he loves our movies like Troma’s War and Terror Firmer. I’ve read the script and it’s better than the original and I leave it to him. If I’m called upon, I’d be happy to jump in. I learned on the musical to leave the creative to the creative. I learned to let them ask so if they want me, I’m there. … If (Legendary) let(s) Macon Blair direct it, I think it will be terrific. He knows the Troma sense of humor, the combination of slapstick and satire with the environmental theme.“

CAST

Peter Dinklage takes on the role of Winston Gooze and is joined in the cast by Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; a group of lunatics / musicians called the Killer Nutz, who are “a rock and roll group where their presentation is theatrical evil, like KISS or Alice Cooper, but their moonlight gig is professional assassins”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade; Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”; Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”; Julia Davis as an unspecified character; and Blair as a guy named Dennis.

According to The Illuminerdi, the main villain is Bob Garbinger – Leonine hair and eerie plastic surgery. Evil head of the shady company Garb X. He has no regard for the well being of anyone but himself and embarks on a murderous spree to become as powerful as Toxie. His ego is bolstered by his standing amongst the towns official but in reality he lives in fear of the underworld gang he’s indebted to.

Bringing the original Toxic Avenger to the screen was a collaborative effort. Mark Torgl played Melvin Junko, then Mitch Cohen took over the role when the character became Toxie (and Kenneth Kessler provided the voice). There’s a similar situation here, as Entertainment Weekly revealed that Dinklage doesn’t actually physically play Toxie. Instead, “Luisa Guerreiro, an actor and movement artist, provides the physical performance of Toxie underneath all that makeup and costume.” Dinklage does still provide the character’s voice after Winston becomes Toxie. 

Blair told Entertainment Weekly that Winston is “singularly unqualified to be a hero. He’s not especially brave, he’s not especially crafty, but he has his heart in the right place, and he starts taking it to the limit when he’s pushed into a corner.” The Toxic Avenger design was kept under wraps for a long time, and Blair said “His look is closer to (The Toxic Avenger Part II and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie), and in terms of color palette we drew from the cartoon actually. But it’s practical effects. You can see all the goopy little boils and stuff like that. And we definitely stayed true to some of the really iconic elements: the tutu that’s melted onto his body, the janitor’s mop as his super weapon.“

The look of the character has since been revealed, along with images of several of the film’s other characters.

PRODUCTION & DELAY

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria – and fans have been waiting a long time to see it, because filming wrapped way back in 2021. After a long stretch of silence, a teaser trailer was unveiled near the end of 2023:

That was around the time it had its world premiere screening at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. After that screening, a lot of very positive first reactions made their way online. Viewers called it super gory, super silly, delightful, fun, twisted, gross, heartwarming, consistently insane, hilarious, goofy as hell, awesome, gnarly… pretty much every description you would hope to hear come out of a screening of a movie like this. And many of the people who got to see it said it remained faithful to its Troma roots.

Unfortunately, many distributors deemed the film to be “unreleaseable” due to its gore and graphic content. Fans were left wondering if they would ever have the chance to see the movie at all. Asked about the film’s status by ComicBook.com, Dinklage said, “I don’t know. I do want it to get out there into the world because it was a really big hit at Fantastic Fest in Austin, and Macon Blair, the writer/director who is also in The Thicket … He’s incredible. He’s one of my favorite people and favorite artists. So hopefully it will have its day in the toxic sun.“

Thankfully, at the start of 2025, Cineverse stepped in to acquire the distribution rights with the intention of giving the film a wide release, putting it on track for an August 29th theatrical release, kicking off Labor Day weekend. Macon Blair made a statement to Variety: “I’m beyond grateful to the team behind The Toxic Avenger who were so supportive and steady-handed as we searched for the perfect distribution partner for our film. It’s so cool that folks will have the chance to see this in theaters, it’s a fun rowdy movie you wanna see with a crowd. Mutant hero smashes bad guys with a mop: perfect entertainment for the whole family! Our goal was always to preserve the heart and spirit of the original Toxie (which was seared into my brain at a very young age) and try to make something that Troma fans would dig and at the same time do something with the character that feels fresh. Lloyd and Michael at Troma have been a blast to work with, absolutely everyone at Legendary are stars, and I can’t wait to start working with the champs at Cinverse to bring this version of Toxie to fans new and old.“

Cineverse chairman and CEO Chris McGurk added, “The Toxic Avenger isn’t just a great film; it’s an important one. Peter Dinklage’s transformative performance and Macon Blair’s fearless direction deliver a story that speaks to the anxieties of our time with outrageous humor and unflinching creativity. This is the kind of movie that major studios are averse to release because it dares to push boundaries, but Cineverse is rooted in championing bold, uncompromising storytelling. We believe audiences are ready – and eager – for films like this to take center stage.“

Soon after, another teaser trailer was released:

And then another one:

The film has received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“ – and the gore includes a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene.” Sound editor Casey Genton told Slash Film, “(The Toxic Avenger remake is) a really funny movie. Macon Blair, the director, I think did a really good job with it. Everybody was a dream on the film. I’m so surprised — for me personally, I had not seen the original Toxic Avenger until I had done this film. And it’s a huge cult classic, and I know people are really excited about it. When they have tested it, fans of the film have been over the moon with the film. […] It’s pretty out there. I think it’s a different crack. They’re giving the fans what they want, for sure. There’s no lack of — I know everybody references the little kid’s head getting run over and stuff (in the original). I think that there was an iteration of the film that didn’t have enough of that, so they made a very — I don’t want to ruin it. But it has, it’s been nicknamed the ‘butt guts’ scene, and it’s probably the best way to match that ‘head getting run over’ energy that everybody’s looking for. So it’s in line with the fan base, and I think it’s hilarious.“

In March, Cineverse decided to do some early marketing by sending the new film’s version of Toxie down the Chicago River on a boat, an appearance that coincided with the river being dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Video of Toxie’s boat ride can be seen in the X embeds below.

Toxie was also spotted helping clean up the streets of Los Angeles on Earth Day in April:

That’s everything we know about the Toxic Avenger remake right now, but with the release still five months away, we’re bound to learn more as the days tick by. In the meantime, keep scrolling down to see more of the images and promotional materials that have come out so far:

The post Everything We Know About the Toxic Avenger Remake appeared first on JoBlo.

Fans have been waiting a long time to see writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), which wrapped filming way back in 2021 and unveiled a teaser trailer near the end of 2023, around the time it had its world premiere screening – but we won’t have to wait much longer. At the start of the year, it was announced that Cineverse had acquired the distribution rights with the intention of giving the film an unrated wide release, and we’ve since learned that they’re aiming for an August 29th theatrical release. As we know, Peter Dinklage stars in the film as Winston Gooze, the character who becomes the new Toxic Avenger – but it was recently revealed by Entertainment Weekly that Dinklage doesn’t actually physically play Toxie. Instead, “Luisa Guerreiro, an actor and movement artist, provides the physical performance of Toxie underneath all that makeup and costume.” Dinklage does still provide the character’s voice after Winston becomes Toxie. Guerreiro’s involvement has gone overlooked in a lot of reports, so we figured we should help rectify that with an article pointing out her contribution to the film.

Guerreiro took to social media to say she “had an absolute blast working on this with a stellar cast and awesome crew… not to mention the insanely great practical effects! Anyone who knows me knows I love combat, prosthetics, acting, and stunt work (when I’m allowed – big respect to the stuntees out there)… so THIS JOB… being Toxie and being able to employ all these passions plus some… well… I am so grateful, appreciative, and proud! Just wanna go see it for myself now. The script had me crying with laughter, so I WAAAANNNA SEE IT ON THE BIG SCREEN!“

Geurrerio’s online biography notes that she’s “an Off-West End Award winner, and dynamic actress working on stage and screen. Born in Maida Vale, London, UK – Luisa trained at Royal Holloway, University of London & The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She is a physical comedy actress on the Cirque du Soleil database. She is also a professional puppeteer, performance capture artist, creature performer, musical theatre performer and highly proficient advanced screen combatant. She also works as a movement artist / choreographer and is executive producer at Old Lamp Entertainment.” Her previous credits include Tree Fu Tom, Teletubbies, A Discovery of Witches, and many video game roles. She also makes an appearance in the new live-action version of Snow White.

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger centers on Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Dinklage and Geurreiro are joined in the cast by Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; a group of lunatics / musicians called the Killer Nutz, who are “a rock and roll group where their presentation is theatrical evil, like KISS or Alice Cooper, but their moonlight gig is professional assassins”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade; Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”; Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”; Julia Davis as an unspecified character; and Blair as a guy named Dennis.

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. The film has received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“ – and the gore includes a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene“.

Are you looking forward to seeing Luisa Guerreiro’s performance as Toxie in The Toxic Avenger remake? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Luisa Guerreiro plays Toxie in The Toxic Avenger remake appeared first on JoBlo.

Fans have been waiting a long time to see writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), which wrapped filming way back in 2021 and unveiled a teaser trailer near the end of 2023, around the time it had its world premiere screening – but we won’t have to wait much longer. At the start of the year, it was announced that Cineverse had acquired the distribution rights with the intention of giving the film an unrated wide release, and we’ve since learned that they’re aiming for an August 29th theatrical release. To help hold us over until that date arrives, a new teaser trailer for The Toxic Avenger remake has dropped online, and you can check it out in the embed above.

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger stars Peter Dinklage as Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Dinklage is joined in the cast by Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; a group of lunatics / musicians called the Killer Nutz, who are “a rock and roll group where their presentation is theatrical evil, like KISS or Alice Cooper, but their moonlight gig is professional assassins”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade; Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”; Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”; Julia Davis as an unspecified character; and Blair as a guy named Dennis.

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. The film has received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“ – and the gore includes a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene“.

Are you looking forward to The Toxic Avenger remake? Watch the new teaser trailer, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post The Toxic Avenger remake gets a new teaser trailer appeared first on JoBlo.

Fans have been waiting a long time to see writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), which wrapped filming way back in 2021 and unveiled a teaser trailer near the end of 2023, around the time it had its world premiere screening – but we won’t have to wait much longer. At the start of the year, it was announced that Cineverse had acquired the distribution rights with the intention of giving the film an unrated wide release, and we’ve since learned that they’re aiming for an August 29th theatrical release. This past weekend, Cineverse decided to do some early marketing by sending the new film’s version of Toxie down the Chicago River on a boat, an appearance that coincided with the river being dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Video of Toxie’s boat ride can be seen in the X embeds below.

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger stars Peter Dinklage as Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Dinklage is joined in the cast by Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; a group of lunatics / musicians called the Killer Nutz, who are “a rock and roll group where their presentation is theatrical evil, like KISS or Alice Cooper, but their moonlight gig is professional assassins”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade; Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”; Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”; Julia Davis as an unspecified character; and Blair as a guy named Dennis.

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. The film has received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“ – and the gore includes a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene“.

Are you looking forward to The Toxic Avenger remake? Take a look at the Chicago River videos, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post The Toxic Avenger remake promoted with a Toxie appearance on the Chicago River appeared first on JoBlo.

Fans have been waiting a long time to see writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), which wrapped filming way back in 2021 and unveiled a teaser trailer near the end of 2023, around the time it had its world premiere screening – but we won’t have to wait much longer. At the start of the year, it was announced that Cineverse had acquired the distribution rights with the intention of giving the film an unrated wide release, and we’ve since learned that they’re aiming for an August 29th theatrical release. Yesterday, the first clear images of the title character made their way online, and now a new poster has been unveiled. You can check it out at the bottom of this article.

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger stars Peter Dinklage as Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Dinklage is joined in the cast by Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; a group of lunatics / musicians called the Killer Nutz, who are “a rock and roll group where their presentation is theatrical evil, like KISS or Alice Cooper, but their moonlight gig is professional assassins”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade; Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”; Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”; Julia Davis as an unspecified character; and Blair as a guy named Dennis.

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. The film has received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“ – and the gore includes a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene“.

Are you looking forward to The Toxic Avenger remake? Take a look at the poster, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post The Toxic Avenger remake poster promises the film features the hero we need now appeared first on JoBlo.

Fans have been waiting a long time to see writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), which wrapped filming way back in 2021 and unveiled a teaser trailer near the end of 2023, around the time it had its world premiere screening. The film would go into a bit of purgatory, but the Toxic Avenger remake will finally be reaching theatres on August 29, kicking off Labor Day weekend! Now, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, you can get a good look at Toxie and his updated look.

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger stars Peter Dinklage as Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Dinklage is joined in the cast by Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; a group of lunatics / musicians called the Killer Nutz, who are “a rock and roll group where their presentation is theatrical evil, like KISS or Alice Cooper, but their moonlight gig is professional assassins”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade; Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”; Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”; Julia Davis as an unspecified character; and Blair as a guy named Dennis.

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. The film has received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“ – and the gore includes a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene“.

The post Get a clear view of Peter Dinklage as Toxie in the new Toxic Avenger remake appeared first on JoBlo.

Fans have been waiting a long time to see writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), which wrapped filming way back in 2021 and is now heading toward an August 29th theatrical release – but during this long wait, AHOY Comics has been bringing the Toxic Avenger character back to the world of comic books. They recently released a five-issue mini-series (which is being collected in a trade paperback with an April 1 release date), The Toxic Avenger Pinup Special (featuring work by a slew of incredible creators) will be reaching store shelves on May 14th, and June 11th will bring the first issue of a mini-series called The Toxie Team-Up – featuring multiple crossover stories, including one where Toxie crosses paths with Jesus Christ.

IGN reports that The Toxie Team-Up will team Toxie with characters from other AHOY Comics, like “Project: Cryptid‘s Jersey Devil, My Bad‘s Acid Chimp, The Wrong Earth‘s Dragonflyman and Stinger, Justice Warriors‘ Swamp Cop and Schitt, and, yes, Second Coming‘s Jesus Christ.” For anyone not familiar with Second Coming, they also gave some information on the book: “Second Coming sees Jesus return to Earth and become roommates with a superhero named Sunstar. Second Coming has garnered its fair share of both acclaim and controversy since the original series launched, and we doubt that’s going to change as Jesus and Toxie join forces.“

The Toxie Team-Up is coming from the creative team of writer Mark Russell and artist Richard Pace, which also happens to be the same team that’s behind Second Coming. Russell provided the following statement: “Toxic Avenger and Jesus Christ is the team-up that everybody has been clamoring for and I am not one to stand in the way. Just as in Second Coming, Christ shows that there are more tools in the box than just violence and that Tromaville, as strange as it is, is still a place that someone who grew up bullied by the jocks in the Roman Empire would recognize.“

AHOY Comics Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer added, “Having already spawned five films, a cartoon, action figures, a musical, and a Marvel comic book series, the Toxic Avenger is a pop culture icon. The only question is: why doesn’t he have a church of his own?“

Are you a fan of the Toxic Avenger, and will you be collecting the AHOY Comics featuring the character, including The Toxie Team-Up? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post The Toxie Team-Up comic book will see Toxie crossing paths with Jesus Christ appeared first on JoBlo.

Fans have been waiting a long time to see writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), which wrapped filming way back in 2021 and unveiled a teaser trailer near the end of 2023, around the time it had its world premiere screening. Earlier this month, it was announced that Cineverse had acquired the distribution rights with the intention of giving the film an unrated wide release later this year. Now, we know the exact release date. Deadline has learned that the Toxic Avenger remake will be reaching theatres on August 29th, kicking off Labor Day weekend!

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger stars Peter Dinklage as Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Dinklage is joined in the cast by Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; a group of lunatics / musicians called the Killer Nutz, who are “a rock and roll group where their presentation is theatrical evil, like KISS or Alice Cooper, but their moonlight gig is professional assassins”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade; Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”; Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”; Julia Davis as an unspecified character; and Blair as a guy named Dennis.

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. The film has received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“ – and the gore includes a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene“.

Are you glad to hear that the Toxic Avenger remake has an August release date? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post The Toxic Avenger remake secures an August release date appeared first on JoBlo.

It’s been close to two years since The Toxic Avenger reimagining debuted at Fantastic Fest. The first reactions were very positive, but the project had difficulty locking down a distributor, as it was deemed to be “unreleasable” due to its gore and graphic content. Thankfully, Cineverse has come to the rescue and will give The Toxic Avenger an unrated wide release later this year. Hurray!

“I’m beyond grateful to the team behind ‘The Toxic Avenger’ who were so supportive and steady-handed as we searched for the perfect distribution partner for our film,” said director Macon Blair in a statement to Variety. “It’s so cool that folks will have the chance to see this in theaters, it’s a fun rowdy movie you wanna see with a crowd. Mutant hero smashes bad guys with a mop: perfect entertainment for the whole family! Our goal was always to preserve the heart and spirit of the original Toxie (which was seared into my brain at a very young age) and try to make something that Troma fans would dig and at the same time do something with the character that feels fresh. Lloyd and Michael at Troma have been a blast to work with, absolutely everyone at Legendary are stars, and I can’t wait to start working with the champs at Cinverse to bring this version of Toxie to fans new and old.“

The Toxic Avenger stars Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood, and more. The official synopsis reads: “In this bold new chapter of the classic midnight movie franchise created by Lloyd Kaufman and Troma Entertainment; a shocking accident transforms downtrodden janitor Winston Gooze (Dinklage) into a mutant vigilante. Armed with his signature mop, the unlikely hero battles freaks, gangsters and corrupt CEOs while trying to save his relationship with his son.“

Cineverse chairman and CEO Chris McGurk added, “‘The Toxic Avenger’ isn’t just a great film; it’s an important one. Peter Dinklage’s transformative performance and Macon Blair’s fearless direction deliver a story that speaks to the anxieties of our time with outrageous humor and unflinching creativity. This is the kind of movie that major studios are averse to release because it dares to push boundaries, but Cineverse is rooted in championing bold, uncompromising storytelling. We believe audiences are ready – and eager – for films like this to take center stage.“

It’s fantastic that Cineverse will be giving The Toxic Avenger a proper theatrical release; I think Troma fans will be in for a gore-soaked treat with this one.

The post The Toxic Avenger remake will finally make its to theaters with a 2025 unrated release appeared first on JoBlo.

Last September, people finally got to see a bit of Macon Blair’s remake of the famous Troma film The Toxic Avenger as the trailer dropped online. The 1984 film is a cult classic that puts an over-the-top, irreverent, graphically violent spin on the superhero franchise and the remake aimed to keep the spirit of the Lloyd Kaufman original. This new incarnation would also sport an impressive cast with The Thicket‘s Peter Dinklage. He’s also joined by Kevin Bacon and Elijah Wood, who portray the big baddies in the film.

However, after the online premiere of the Red Band trailer, there has been no word on official screenings as the studio behind it doesn’t deem it releasable with its straddling the very fine line of commercial and cult appeal. The status of the film appears to have it in limbo at the moment, but the movie’s lead, Peter Dinklage, is optimistic that it will eventually find its way to theaters. The Hollywood Reporter shares Dinklage’s optimism as he told ComicBook.com,

No, I’m not a producer on it. I don’t know. I do want it to get out there into the world because it was a really big hit at Fantastic Fest in Austin, and Macon Blair, the writer/director who is also in The Thicket … He’s incredible. He’s one of my favorite people and favorite artists. So hopefully it will have its day in the toxic sun.”

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger stars Peter Dinklage as Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Dinklage is joined in the cast by Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; a group of lunatics / musicians called the Killer Nutz, who are “a rock and roll group where their presentation is theatrical evil, like KISS or Alice Cooper, but their moonlight gig is professional assassins”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade; Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”; Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”; Julia Davis as an unspecified character; and Blair as a guy named Dennis.

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. The film has received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“ – and the gore includes a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene“.

The post Peter Dinklage shares his optimism that the unreleased Toxic Avenger remake will “have its day in the toxic sun” appeared first on JoBlo.

A red band teaser trailer for writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE) was unveiled back in September – you can watch it at THIS LINK – but we’re still waiting to hear of a release date for that one. In the meantime, AHOY Comics has announced (via The Hollywood Reporter) that they are bringing the Toxic Avenger character back to the world of comic books for a five-issue mini-series they’re planning to get out into the world this fall! The first issue is expected to reach store shelves on October 9th.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Matt Bors, the Pulitzer Prize finalist who founded the daily online political comics publication The Nib, and artist / caricaturist Fred Harper are working on the mini-series, which will be taking its cues from the 1984 version of The Toxic Avenger, not from the upcoming remake… but will also be giving the character a new origin story.

In the original movie, the Toxic Avenger starts out as a 98-pound janitor named Melvin Junko who, after falling into an oil drum filled with toxic waste, becomes an unlikely vigilante in his New Jersey town. In this comic book mini-series, Junko is a teen who is helping his parent run a junkyard in their boring New Jersey town, until train derailment of toxic waste transforms Melvin into a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength. He will fight the corporation named Biohazard Solutions, also known as BS, and its PR-spewing chairwoman, uncovering a vast conspiracy more far-reaching than he could have ever imagined as his faith in humanity doing the right thing tested in ways he never thought possible.

AHOY Comics’ editor-in-chief Tom Peyer told The Hollywood Reporter that he “believes the comic will give fans of Toxie, as the character is endearingly called, what they yearn for in such a story while still keeping one foot rooted in the franchise’s origins of environmentalism.” Peyer said, “The series has violent action, gross mutations, bursting pustules, eye-popping visuals, and trenchant humor.“

Bors provided the following statement: “This series will combine elements of the original films with the Toxic Crusaders cartoon and characters in familiar ways, updated to tell a story of environmental devastation, corporate control, and social media mutation. The Toxic Avenger is first and foremost an environmental satire, one about a small town and its unremarkable people trapped and transformed by circumstances they don’t control. The story Fred Harper and I are telling is about people frustrated by authorities telling them not to worry about their life, that things are fine, even as their dog mutates in front of their eyes. And at its core it is about a powerless boy, Melvin, who finds out he can be incredibly strong, hideously mutated, well-admired, and incredibly heroic… but still ultimately powerless over human behavior.“

Back in the early ’90s, there was a Toxic Avenger comic book from Marvel Comics that only lasted for eleven issues. In 2008, Troma teamed up with Devil’s Due for Lloyd Kaufman Presents: The Toxic Avenger and Other Tromatic Tales.

Will you be checking out the new The Toxic Avenger comic book mini-series from AHOY Comics? Let us know by leaving a comment below. Here’s a look at one of the covers:

The post The Toxic Avenger comic book coming from AHOY Comics this fall appeared first on JoBlo.

Troma Entertainment, the independent film production and distribution company that has been bringing us toxic waste-soaked insanity since it was founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974, has its own streaming service called Troma Now, which can be found at watch.troma.com – and the company has just announced that 4K restorations of several of their beloved classics, including The Toxic Avenger and Mother’s Day, are going to be released on the Troma Now service throughout 2024!

Here’s the announcement: Starting in February, Troma Now will premiere 4K restorations and new transfers from the original materials of a number of Troma Classics on the 15th of every month. On February 15, the new 4K restoration of The Toxic Avenger will be available to stream exclusively on Troma Now.

The Toxic Avenger (1984) will premiere in 4K on Troma Now on February 15th. The rest of the series will follow throughout the year. Rabid Grannies (1988) will be coming to Troma Now in 4K this year, in its original 96 minute uncut format, scanned and restored from its 35mm interpositive. Mother’s Day (1980), Charles Kaufman’s cult classic horror film, will premiere in April. Newly scanned and restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative. Bloodsucking Freaks (1976), Joel M. Reed’s equally celebrated and reviled film will premiere in 4K, scanned and restored from its 35mm internegative.

Other titles coming this year include The Last Horror Film in 4K, a newly restored transfer of Redneck Zombies, and more Troma classics like you’ve never seen them before! Stay tuned and follow Troma on social media for more details

Troma Now offers a free one month (30 day) trial, after which subscriptions cost $4.99 a month or $50 a year.

Are you a fan of Troma, and do you have a Troma Now subscription? Are you glad to hear that classics like The Toxic Avenger and Mother’s Day are getting 4K restorations this year? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

I’m glad to see it anytime movies like The Toxic Avenger, its sequels, Mother’s Day, and Redneck Zombies get some love.

The post The Toxic Avenger, Mother’s Day, and more 4K restorations coming to Troma streaming service appeared first on JoBlo.

Some cliche somewhere said that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ This has proven to be the case for me and especially when it comes to fan art. I have always sought out great fan art and have wanted to share it with as many people as possible. “Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net” is the outlet for that passion. In this column, I will showcase the kick-ass artwork of some great artists, with the hopes that these artists get the attention they deserve. That’s the aim. If you have any questions or comments, or even suggestions of art or other great artists, feel free to contact me at any time at theodorebond@joblo.com.

Carrie by Ted Hammond

Cereal Monsters by Dan Schoening

Child’s Play by Chris Miller

Christine by Loopydave

The Creature From The Black Lagoon by Mark Reihill

Disney’s Sleepy Hallow by Andy Walsh

Dracula by Satchel Couture

Elvira and The Monsters by Lrusso72

The Evil Dead Rise by Jack Owen

Five Nights At Freddy’s by ShadowBonnie2001

Halloween by Liza Shumskaya

Horror Icons by Patrick Brown

Jason X by Ryan Button

King Kong by Geoffrey Klepeis

Monster Squad by Corlen Kruger

Nosferatu by Carles Ganya

Psycho by Handy Kara

The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace by Cal Gee

Tales From The Crypt by John Dunn

The Toxic Avenger by Brett Parson

The Twilight Zone by Katieok

The post Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net: The 10th Annual Halloween Special appeared first on JoBlo.

The red band teaser trailer for writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE) made its way online this morning – and now you can check it out in the embed above! Don’t expect to see much more of Toxie himself than we’ve already seen in the shadowy publicity still… but it does show some of the gory damage he does to evil-doers.

This movie may have a much larger budget than the previous Toxie films, but it does look like Blair was able to retain the Troma tone and sense of humor.

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger stars Peter Dinklage as Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Dinklage is joined in the cast by Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; a group of lunatics / musicians called the Killer Nutz, who are “a rock and roll group where their presentation is theatrical evil, like KISS or Alice Cooper, but their moonlight gig is professional assassins”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade; Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”; Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”; Julia Davis as an unspecified character; and Blair as a guy named Dennis.

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. The film has received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“ – and the gore includes a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene“.

What did you think of the red band teaser trailer for The Toxic Avenger remake? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post The Toxic Avenger remake teaser trailer gives a preview of some bloody action appeared first on JoBlo.

Two years have passed since filming wrapped on writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE). We still don’t know when the movie is going to receive a wide release, but it did just have its world premiere at Fantastic Fest, which is running in Austin, Texas from September 21st through the 28th, last night… and the reactions that have come out of the Fantastic Fest screening are very positive! Posts on social media have described the movie as funny, gory, insane, and heartwarming – and you can read some of them in the embeds below:

Those posts make it sound like there must have been constant audible reactions going on in the screening room, but this one indicates that the film’s brand of humor didn’t go over well with everyone in attendance:

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger stars Peter Dinklage as Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Dinklage is joined in the cast by Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; a group of lunatics / musicians called the Killer Nutz, who are “a rock and roll group where their presentation is theatrical evil, like KISS or Alice Cooper, but their moonlight gig is professional assassins”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade; Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”; Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”; Julia Davis as an unspecified character; and Blair as a guy named Dennis.

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. The film has received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“ – and the gore includes a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene“.

Are you looking forward to The Toxic Avenger remake? What do you think of the first reactions? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post The Toxic Avenger remake: first reactions describe film as funny, gory, insane, and heartwarming appeared first on JoBlo.

Two years have passed since filming wrapped on writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), and while we still don’t know when the movie is going to receive a wide release, we do know that it’s going to have its world premiere as the opening night film at Fantastic Fest, which is set to run in Austin, Texas from September 21st through the 28th. With that premiere screening about to happen, Entertainment Weekly has unveiled several images from the film – and you can check them out at the bottom of this article!

Featured in these images are Peter Dinklage, whose character Winston Gooze becomes the new Toxic Avenger; Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; a group of lunatics / musicians called the Killer Nutz, who are “a rock and roll group where their presentation is theatrical evil, like KISS or Alice Cooper, but their moonlight gig is professional assassins”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; and Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade.

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger stars Dinklage as Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Blair told Entertainment Weekly that Winston is “singularly unqualified to be a hero. He’s not especially brave, he’s not especially crafty, but he has his heart in the right place, and he starts taking it to the limit when he’s pushed into a corner.” The Toxic Avenger design is being kept under wraps for now, but Blair said “His look is closer to (The Toxic Avenger Part II and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie), and in terms of color palette we drew from the cartoon actually. But it’s practical effects. You can see all the goopy little boils and stuff like that. And we definitely stayed true to some of the really iconic elements: the tutu that’s melted onto his body, the janitor’s mop as his super weapon.“

The cast of The Toxic Avenger remake also includes Julia Davis as an unspecified character, Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”, Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”, and Blair as a guy named Dennis.

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. The film has received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“ – and the gore includes a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene“.

Are you looking forward to The Toxic Avenger remake? What do you think of these images? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

There aren’t many filmmakers I would trust with a Toxie remake, but I think we’re in very good hands with Macon Blair.

The post The Toxic Avenger remake images feature Peter Dinklage, Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood, and Killer Nutz appeared first on JoBlo.

Two years have passed since filming wrapped on writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), and now the movie is finally about to make its way out into the world! We still don’t have a release date, but we do know The Toxic Avenger is going to have its world premiere at Fantastic Fest next month – and along with the news of that screening comes the unveiling of the first image of Peter Dinklage as the title character, and a bit of teaser art! You can check them out at the bottom of this article.

Sure, Dinklage’s Toxie is shrouded in shadow in the image, but it’s still more than we’ve seen of him up to this point. The teaser art comes courtesy of our friends at Bloody Disgusting.

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger stars Dinklage as Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Dinklage is joined in the cast by Jacob Tremblay (presumably as Winston’s son), Taylour Paige as the “female lead” (we haven’t heard any details on her character), Julia Davis and Elijah Wood as unspecified characters, Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”, Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”, and Kevin Bacon as the primary villain, a role Wood had originally been rumored for. Blair is also in the cast as a guy named Dennis.

According to The Illuminerdi, the main villain is rumored to be Bob Garbinger – Leonine hair and eerie plastic surgery. Evil head of the shady company Garb X. He has no regard for the well being of anyone but himself and embarks on a murderous spree to become as powerful as Toxie. His ego is bolstered by his standing amongst the towns official but in reality he lives in fear of the underworld gang he’s indebted to.

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. The film has received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“ – and the gore includes a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene“.

Are you looking forward to The Toxic Avenger remake? Let us know by leaving a comment below… and while you’re scrolling down, take a look at the first image and the teaser art.

The post The Toxic Avenger remake unveils first image of Peter Dinklage and teaser art! appeared first on JoBlo.

The eighteenth edition of the genre festival Fantastic Fest is set to be held at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, Texas from September 21st – 28th (badges are available now at FantasticFest.com), and this time around the festival is going to feature 29 world premieres, 24 North American premieres, and 18 U.S. premieres! Among the films in the lineup, which you can look over below, are The Toxic Avenger remake and the Pet Sematary prequel Pet Sematary: Bloodlines. The first two episodes of the Mike Flanagan Netflix series The Fall of the House of Usher will also be screened at the festival.

Festival Director Lisa Dreyer had this to say: “The Fantastic Fest team is ready to take you on a journey you won’t ever forget. We’ve taken the best week of the year and supercharged it: more movies, more parties, more fun. If you want to see the best new movies from around the world first with the best audience, Fantastic Fest is the place to be.“

Director Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger remake will be making its world premiere as the opening night film at Fantastic Fest 2023. The film “features an all-star cast including Peter Dinklage who will pick up the infamous mop to become the toxic hero that no one knew they needed (or wanted) as well as Jacob Tremblay and Taylour Paige with Elijah Wood and Kevin Bacon.”

Fantastic Fest will also host the world premiere of the Dan Brown-directed thriller Your Lucky Day, which features Euphoria‘s Angus Cloud in one of his final performances. Director of Programming Annick Mahnert said, “The Fantastic Fest team was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Angus Cloud. His performance in Your Lucky Day immediately won over our team, and we want to pay tribute to his talents and life at the festival.“

Director Nahnatchka Khan’s time travel slasher comedy Totally Killer makes its world premiere as the closing night film. “Starring Kiernan Shipka as a time-traveling teen out to stop the infamous Sweet Sixteen Killer, Totally Killer is equal parts comedic charm and tense thrills. Shocking kills will keep the Fantastic Fest audience on their toes, and the outrageous 1980s setting will be a fitting lead-in to the closing night festivities.“

Tim League, the founder of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and Fantastic Fest, provided the following statement: “We took 24 hours off after last year and dove straight into planning this year’s gonzo adventure; it’s going to be outrageous. First-timers to the festival, I suggest setting an annual reminder for the end of September for the rest of your life. Once you’ve tasted Fantastic Fest, you are family. We’ll see you at this year’s reunion.“

Here’s the Fantastic Fest 2023 lineup:

30 COINS (Season 2, Episodes 1 & 2)

Produced in Spain for HBO Europe, 2023. World Premiere, 110 min. Director – Álex de la Iglesia. Welcome to hell.

100 YARDS

China, 2023. US Premiere, 108 min. Directors – Xu Haofeng & Xu Junfeng. Shen An wages war on the streets of Tianjin after losing control of his martial arts academy in a humiliating duel with his father’s apprentice.

ACID

France, 2023. North American Premiere, 99 min. Director – Just Philippot. In a world messed up by climate change, a girl and her divorced parents must cross a devastated France under strange clouds pouring acid rain.

THE ALL GOLDEN

Canada, 2023. World Premiere, 64 min. Director – Nate Wilson. In veteran Fantastic Fest filmmaker Nate Wilson’s kaleidoscopic and labyrinthine deconstructionist satire, a laid-up polyamorous bicycle courier discovers that her older, scholarly boyfriend has been keeping a sinister secret in his closet.

THE ALTMAN METHOD

Israel, 2022. North American Premiere, 101 min. Director – Nadav Aronowicz. A struggling actress questions her husband’s account of a brutal act of heroism that has won him national recognition and saved his failing business.

THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

France, 2023. North American Premiere, 130 min. Director – Thomas Cailley. Emile’s dad moves him to southern France, where his mom is held in a facility for patients afflicted with an illness that mutates them into animals.

ANIMALIA

France, Morocco, Qatar, 2023. Texas Premiere, 91 min. Director – Sofia Alaoui. Separated from her husband during a state of emergency, pregnant Itto is stranded in a village, where she starts to experience mysterious phenomena.

BABY ASSASSINS 2

Japan, 2023. US Premiere, 101 min. Director – Hugo Sakamoto. The Baby Assassins have been suspended from the Assassin Guild and it’s hard to find a new job when you’ve got a fanboy assassin duo out to kill you.

BARK

Germany, 2023. World Premiere, 90 min. Director – Marc Schölermann. A businessman tied to a tree deep in the woods struggles to convince an outdoorsman to cut him free after the hunter sets up camp to watch him die.

BLONDE DEATH (Presented by Bleeding Skull)

USA, 1984. World Premiere of Restoration, 98 min. Director – James Dillinger aka James Robert Baker. Bleeding Skull presents a tale of death, drugs, and Disneyland in James Robert Baker’s essential chapter of queer cinema history.

BLOOD DINER

USA, 1987. 90 min. Director – Jackie Kong. A brain in a jar orders his cannibal nephews to dismember call girls in their diner’s kitchen to patch together a perfect body for an ancient goddess.

THE BOOK OF SOLUTIONS

France, 2023. North American Premiere, 102 min. Director – Michel Gondry. Michel Gondry returns with a tongue-in-cheek satire about an idiosyncratic filmmaker who will do anything to execute his vision.

BUGGED! (Presented by AGFA and Troma)

USA, 1996. 82 min. Director – Ronald K. Armstrong. Following a freak lab accident, a woman hires the Dead and Buried Exterminators to rid her house of some overgrown crickets but they all soon realize the bugs are radioactive beasties with a lust for blood!

CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT

USA, Italy, 1980. North American Premiere, 173 min. Art historian Thomas Negovan offers a new cut of one of the most decadent movies ever made, using outtakes to reconcile the film to its original script.

CENTIPEDE HORROR (Presented by AGFA and Error 4444)

Hong Kong, 1982. 94 min. Director – Keith Li. After his sister dies under mysterious circumstances while on vacation, Wai Lun decides to take matters into his own hands. Soon enough, he discovers a family curse, battling wizards, and centipedes.

COBWEB

South Korea, 2023. US Premiere, 135 min. Director – Kim Jee-woon. Director Kim Jee-woon’s ravishing and raucous tale of a director trying to finish his magnum opus in the censorship-prone 1970s Korean film industry.

THE COFFEE TABLE

Spain, 2022. North American Premiere, 90 min. Director – Caye Casas. Sometimes a gaudy coffee table is just a coffee table, and sometimes it’s the catalyst for a nightmarish descent into ruination.

CONANN

France, Luxembourg, Belgium, 2023. US Premiere, 105 min. Director – Bertrand Mandico. Fantastic Fest favorite Bertrand Mandico is back with his uniquely beautiful and bizarre time-traveling spin on the myth of Conan the Barbarian.

CONCRETE UTOPIA

South Korea, 2023. Texas Premiere, 130 min. Director – Um Tae-hwa. A magnetic Lee Byung-hun and Park Seo-joon lead this dark, high-stakes disaster parable of Korea’s fevered obsession with real estate and class forms.

THE CREATOR

USA, 2023. Texas Premiere, 133 min. Director – Gareth Edwards. From director/co-writer Gareth Edwards (ROGUE ONE, GODZILLA) comes an epic sci-fi action thriller set amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence.

CRUMB CATCHER

USA, 2023. World Premiere, 103 min. Director – Chris Skotchdopole. An anxiety-inducing chamber piece that will make you fondly remember the worst high-pressure sales pitch you’ve ever delivered (or endured).

THE CULT OF AGFA TRAILER SHOW (Presented by AGFA)

USA, 2023. World Premiere of 35mm Restoration, 77 min. Director – Joseph A. Ziemba & Bret Berg. The world premiere 35mm screening of AGFA’s wildest mixtape yet.

THE DEEP DARK

France, 2023. International Premiere, 100 min. Director – Mathieu Turi. A group of coal miners unintentionally free a bloodthirsty creature after accompanying a professor down to a hidden crypt discovered deep in the mine.

DIVINITY

USA, 2023. Texas Premiere, 88 min. Director – Eddie Alcazar. A mad scientist’s serum grants perfect bodies and immortality, but at a cost: rampant infertility leads to an undying society based only on pleasure.

DOOR

Japan, 1988. North American Premiere, 94 min. Director – Banmei Takahashi. A lonely housewife is held hostage in her own apartment by an increasingly deranged door-to-door salesman in this forgotten home invasion masterpiece.

EILEEN

USA, 2023. Texas Premiere, 97 min. Director – William Oldroyd. Set during a bitter 1964 Massachusetts winter, young secretary Eileen becomes enchanted by the glamorous new counselor at the prison where she works. Their budding friendship takes a twisted turn when Rebecca reveals a dark secret — throwing Eileen onto a sinister path.

ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE

USA, 2023. Texas Premiere, 94 min. Director – David Gregory. In the wake of Bruce Lee’s sudden death, film studios rushed to capitalize on the irreplaceable icon, and a new subgenre was born — Bruceploitation.

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (Episodes 1 & 2)

USA, 2023. World Premiere, 120 min. Director – Mike Flanagan. Roderick Usher, CEO of a corrupt pharmaceutical company, must face his past when brutal and mysterious incidents start affecting his family.

FALLING STARS

USA, 2023. North American Premiere, 80 min. Directors – Richard Karpala & Gabriel Bienczycki. Three brothers set out on the first night of Harvest to check out the desiccated remains of the witch that their friend has buried in the desert.

THE FANTASTIC GOLEM AFFAIRS

Spain, 2023. US Premiere, 97 min. Directors – Burnin’ Percebes. After his best friend falls to his death and shatters into pottery shards, Juan uncovers a secret world of living golems in this offbeat comedy.

FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL VOL. 10

USA, 2023. Texas Premiere, 85 min. Directors – Joe Pickett & Nick Prueher. Joe Pickett (THE ONION) and Nick Prueher (LATE SHOW) take you on a guided tour through their latest and greatest VHS finds.

FOUR’S A CROWD

Spain, 2022. Texas Premiere, 100 min. Director – Álex de la Iglesia. Two unexpected passengers complicate an Uber driver’s plan to declare his feelings for one of his regular customers during a 300 km drive to Madrid.

A GUIDE TO BECOMING AN ELM TREE

Ireland, 2023. North American Premiere, 75 min. Directors – Skye & Adam Mann. Padraig (James O Healy) is pulled into a dark world of Irish Mythology and magic as he struggles to deal with his past actions.

I’LL CRUSH Y’ALL

Spain, 2023. World Premiere, 92 min. Director – Kike Narcea. A retired boxing champion and his dog must defend his family’s country farm from wave after wave of gangsters in this bloody, bare-knuckle brawler.

IN MY MOTHER’S SKIN

Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, 2023. Texas Premiere, 97 min. Director – Kenneth Dagatan. A Filipino girl living under Japanese occupation learns the tragic consequences of making deals when a fairy’s gifts extract pounds of flesh.

THE INVISIBLE FIGHT

Estonia, Latvia, Greece, Finland, 2023. North American Premiere, 115 min. Director – Rainer Sarnet. After martial artists take out his Soviet post on the China border, a mechanic seeks kung fu mastery at a monastery in this wuxia-inspired comedy.

JACKDAW

UK, 2023. World Premiere, 97 min. Director – Jamie Childs. Former motocross champion Jack Dawson embarks on a dark odyssey through his decaying Rust Belt town after being double-crossed by the local kingpin.

THE JAR (CHARON)

USA, 1984. World Premiere of Restoration, 85 min. Director – Bruce Tuscano. After hitting an old man with his car, Paul is left with a jar holding a demonic creature that opens a portal to strange worlds and psychotic visions.

KENNEDY

India, 2023. US Premiere, 144 min. Director – Anurag Kashyap. Kennedy works as a contract killer for a corrupt police commissioner with the hope of exacting vengeance on the man who murdered his son.

KILL DOLLY KILL

USA, 2023. World Premiere, 79 min. Director – Heidi Moore. Dolly Deadly is out to win Serial Killer of the Year, and she’ll violate all sense of good taste to snatch the crown and look fabulous while doing it.

KILLING ROMANCE

South Korea, 2023. Texas Premiere, 107 min. Director – Lee Won-suk. A toxic masculinity-bashing karaoke musical phantasmagoria from the magical mind of LEE Won-suk, KILLING ROMANCE will stick in your head for months.

KIM’S VIDEO

USA, UK, France, 2023. Texas Premiere, 86 min. Directors – David Redmon & Ashley Sabin. An aspiring filmmaker with fond memories of browsing the shelves of a defunct NY video store attempts to rescue its singular collection of VHS tapes.

THE LAST STOP IN YUMA COUNTY

USA, 2023. World Premiere, 90 min. Director – Francis Galluppi. A traveling salesman and a waitress face down two murderous bank robbers while waiting for gas at the last pump before a hundred miles of desert.

THE LAST VIDEO STORE

Canada, 2023. World Premiere, 83 min. Directors – Cody Kennedy & Tim Rutherford. Blaster Video’s only employee teams up with his best customer’s daughter to fight off an onslaught of B-movie baddies made real by a VHS necronomicon.

LETTERS TO THE POSTMAN

UK, England, 2022. US Premiere, 61 min. Director – Felix Dembinski. A naive postman finds himself corresponding with a mysterious woman in Felix Dembinski’s auspicious and bewitching folk fable.

MANCUNIAN MAN: THE LEGENDARY LIFE OF CLIFF TWEMLOW

UK, 2023. North American Premiere, 124 min. Director – Jake West. A hilarious, action-packed documentary chronicling the fascinating life of indie filmmaker Cliff Twemlow and the industry he built in Manchester, UK.

MANHOLE

Japan, 2023. Texas Premiere, 99 min. Director – Kazuyoshi Kumakiri. The premise is a simple one: After a night of hard drinking on the night before his wedding, a man falls into an open manhole. How will he escape?

MESSIAH OF EVIL (Presented by AGFA and Radiance Films)

USA, 1974. World Premiere of 35mm Restoration, 90 min. Directors – Gloria Katz & Willard Huyck. AGFA and Radiance Films present a brand new, restored 35mm print of Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz’ artful nightmare.

MUSHROOMS

Poland, 2023. World Premiere, 75 min. Director – Paweł Borowski. An old lady stumbles upon a lost couple while picking mushrooms. They beg for help getting out of the forest, but she senses that something is off.

THE NEST (Presented by AGFA and Shout! Factory)

USA, 1988. 89 min. Director – Terence H. Winkless. Roaches have never tasted flesh… Until now.

NOWHERE

USA, 1997. Texas Premiere of 4K Restoration, 83 min. Director – Gregg Araki. A bunch of LA teens realize they’re witnessing the apocalypse as they seek out a wild party in this 4K restoration of Gregg Araki’s cult classic.

ONE-PERCENTER

Japan, 2023. North American Premiere, 85 min. Director – Yûdai Yamaguchi. An aging stuntman caught in a brutal feud between yakuza gangs finally shoots the pure action thriller he’s been obsessing over his entire career.

THE ORIGIN

UK, 2023. North American Premiere, 87 min. Director – Andrew Cumming. A group fights for survival against an unknown adversary in this stone age thriller.

THE OTHER LAURENS

Belgium, France, 2023. North American Premiere, 117 min. Director – Claude Schmitz. When his niece shows up at his door looking for help, shaggy-dog P.I. Gabriel Laurens is unwittingly drawn into his twin’s shady criminal underworld.

THE PEOPLE’S JOKER

USA, 2022. Texas Premiere, 92 min. Director – Vera Drew. The Joker finds new purpose in Gotham City after transitioning and opening an illegal comedy club in Vera Drew’s handcrafted superhero genre parody.

PET SEMATARY: BLOODLINES

USA, Canada, 2023. World Premiere, 87 min. Director – Lindsey Anderson Beer. In 1969, a young Jud Crandall and his childhood friends band together to confront an ancient evil that has gripped their hometown. PET SEMATARY: BLOODLINES is a terrifying prequel based on chapters from Stephen King’s novel “Pet Sematary.”

PROJECT SILENCE

South Korea, 2023. North American Premiere, 101 min. Director – Tae-gon Kim. A car pileup on a foggy bridge pits survivors against a pack of vicious dogs in this satirical horror pitched between THE HOST and TRAIN TO BUSAN.

PROPERTY

Brazil, 2022. North American Premiere, 101 min. Director – Daniel Bandeire. A gang of disenfranchised farmhands traps a traumatized woman in her armored car in Daniel Bandeira’s Brazilian take on the home invasion.

RAGE

Mexico, 2023. North American Premiere, 93 min. Director – Jorge Michel Grau. The only child in a rundown gated community mourns his mother’s death as suspicious events lead him to suspect that his father may be a werewolf.

RESTORE POINT

Czech Republic, 2023. North American Premiere, 108 min. Director – Robert Hloz. A detective investigates a double homicide in a near-future world where technology allows those who die violently to be rebooted from a data backup.

RIDDLE OF FIRE

USA, 2023. US Premiere, 113 min. Director – Weston Razooli. Three children go on an epic quest to uncover the password for their TV, finding themselves in their own video game-like adventure in the real world.

RIVER

Japan, 2023. US Premiere, 86 min. Director – Junta Yamaguchi. Kikaku Theater Group, the team behind our 2021 Audience Award winner BEYOND THE INFINITE TWO MINUTES, returns with more two-minute time loop hijinks.

THE SACRIFICE GAME

USA/CANADA, 2023. US Premiere, 100 min. Director – Jenn Wexler. Disillusioned demon worshipers end a string of grisly murders by interrupting a boarding school’s quiet Christmas in this ‘70s-era Satanic Panic romp.

SALEM

France, 2023. International Premiere, 115 min. Director – Jean-Bernard Marlin. A former gang member begins to believe that his daughter will be their slum’s new messiah after a rival curses the neighborhood with his dying breath.

SCALA!!!

UK, 2023. North American Premiere, 96 min. Directors – Jane Giles & Ali Catterall. The story behind London’s legendary Scala Cinema, which screened the most outrageous movies before it was sued and shuttered for showing A CLOCKWORK ORANGE.

SLEEP

South Korea, 2023. US Premiere, 95 min. Director – Jason Yu. Somnambulism takes on a frightful new meaning in this clever, claustrophobic Korean chiller from former Bong Joon-ho assistant director Jason Yu.

SO UNREAL

USA, 2023. World Premiere, 95 min. Director – Amanda Kramer. Amanda Kramer’s documentary collage looks back at the subgenre of films concerned with cyberspace, hackers, and the first days of the internet.

SPOOKTACULAR!

USA, 2023. World Premiere, 105 min. Director – Quinn Monahan. A new documentary tells the warts-and-all story behind America’s first horror theme park, Spooky World.

SRI ASIH: THE WARRIOR

Indonesia, 2022. North American Premiere, 133 min. Director – Upi Avianto. An aspiring boxer discovers she’s a reincarnation of the goddess Asih in this Indonesian superhero movie focused on punching terrible men in the face.

STOPMOTION

UK, 2023. World Premiere, 93 min. Director – Robert Morgan. A stop-motion animator puts up with her overbearing, sick mother in Robert Morgan’s haunting debut.

STRANGE DARLING

USA, 2023. World Premiere, 96 min. Director – JT Mollner. One day in the life of a serial killer.

THE STRANGLER

France, 1970. US Premiere of 2K Restoration, 95 min. Director – Paul Vecchiali. A killer and a detective cross paths as they hunt for an answer to their respective feelings of loneliness in the world premiere of the restoration of this 1970 Giallo.

SUBURBAN TALE

India, 2023. World Premiere, 89 min. Director – Stephen Alexander. A young woman reluctantly returns home for her estranged sister’s wedding only to discover that her family is hiding a possessed boy in their home.

SUITABLE FLESH

USA, 2023. Texas Premiere, 100 min. Director – Joe Lynch. A casual, intimate encounter with a patient leads a psychologist into the cosmic, kinky world of Lovecraftian horror headlined by Barbara Crampton and Heather Graham.

THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE BARN

Norway, 2023. World Premiere, 96 min. Director – Magnus Martens. After inheriting an old cabin in Norway, an American family moves there with the intention of turning the adjoining barn into a bed and breakfast. They end up disturbing a barn elf who will go to deadly lengths to drive the family away.

TIGER STRIPES

Malaysia, Taiwan, France, Germany, Netherlands, Indonesia, 2023. US Premiere, 95 min. Director – Amanda Nell Eu. A dreamy horror fairy tale about a teenage girl who notices strange, transformative changes in her body soon after getting her first period.

TOTALLY KILLER

USA, 2023. World Premiere, 106 min. Director – Nahnatchka Khan. When the infamous “Sweet Sixteen Killer” returns 35 years after his first murder spree to claim another victim, 17-year-old Jamie (Kiernan Shipka) accidentally travels back in time to 1987, determined to stop the killer before he can start.

THE TOXIC AVENGER

USA, 2023. World Premiere, 102 min. Director – Macon Blair. A horrible toxic accident transforms downtrodden janitor Winston Gooze into a new evolution of hero: THE TOXIC AVENGER!

TRIGGERED

Philippines, 2023. North American Premiere, 113 min. Director – Richard V. Somes. Procuring a job as a night watchman as a re-entry back into civilian life, ex-soldier Miguel finds himself caught in a gun battle between a drug cartel and a corrupt police unit.

UFO SWEDEN

Sweden, 2022. North American Premiere, 115 min. Director – Victor Danell. A rebellious teenager seeks out the help of a disgraced meteorologist’s ufology society to locate her father years after he vanished into thin air.

THE UNCLE

Croatia, Serbia, 2022. US Premiere, 104 min. Directors – David Kapac & Andrija Mardešić. A family prepares for their uncle’s Christmas visit, but the festivities are dampened by the fact that he’ll return in a few days to celebrate again.

V/H/S/85

USA, 2023. World Premiere, 110 min. Directors – David Bruckner, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Natasha Kermani, Mike Nelson, & Scott Derrickson. The iconic found footage series returns with an array of explosive, bloody scares set in a decade obsessed with serial killers and the Satanic Panic.

VERMIN

France, 2023. North American Premiere, 100 min. Director – Sébastien Vaniček. A critter collector’s purchase of a venomous spider turns his entire apartment building into a death trap after it escapes from its shoebox enclosure.

VISITORS (COMPLETE EDITION)

Japan, 2023. World Premiere, 61 min. Director – Kenichi Ugana. A rock ‘n’ roll band drop in unannounced on a friend and find themselves plummeting into a wackadoo reverie of monsters and mayhem.

THE WAIT

Spain, 2023. North American Premiere, 99 min. Director – F. Javier Gutiérrez. The gamekeeper of a wealthy man’s rural hunting grounds accepts a bribe from the local hunting guide, which spirals downward into dire consequences.

WAKE UP

France, 2023. World Premiere, 90 min. Directors – RKSS. Gen Z activists are violently picked off by a deranged night watchman after sneaking into an environmentally destructive big-box furniture store.

WE ARE ZOMBIES

France, Canada, 2023. International Premiere, 80 min. Directors – RKSS. Canadian filmmaker collective RKSS returns with a hilarious, violent take on a post-apocalyptic world where zombies are misunderstood, unalive citizens.

WHAT YOU WISH FOR

USA, 2023. US Premiere, 101 min. Director – Nicholas Tomnay. A down-and-out sous-chef gets more than he bargained for when he steps into the life of an old culinary school pal, a private chef for the über-rich.

WHEN EVIL LURKS

Argentina, Uruguay, 2023. US Premiere, 99 min. Director – Demián Rugna. Two brothers uncover a deadly secret festering in their village and are soon in a race to contain a demon threatening to extinguish their community.

WHERE THE DEVIL ROAMS

USA, 2023. US Premiere, 92 min. Directors – John Adams, Zelda Adams, & Toby Poser. After a fatal trespassing incident, Eve steals a terrifying artifact from a fellow carnival performer in the hope of bringing her parents back.

YOU’LL NEVER FIND ME

Australia, 2023. Texas Premiere, 96 min. Directors – Josiah Allen & Indianna Bell. A strange woman desperate for shelter from a harrowing storm picks the wrong trailer to seek refuge… or did she choose exactly right?

YOU’RE NOT ME

Spain, 2023. World Premiere, 98 min. Directors – Marisa Crespo & Moisés Romera. Aitana shows up at her estranged parents’ home for a surprise Christmas visit and discovers they’ve replaced her with a strange live-in caretaker.

YOUR LUCKY DAY

USA, 2023. World Premiere, 89 min. Director – Dan Brown. After a dispute over a winning lottery ticket turns into a deadly hostage situation, the witnesses must decide exactly how far they’ll go—and how much blood they’re willing to spill—for a cut of the $156 million.

What do you think of the Fantastic Fest 2023 lineup? Will you be attending the festival this year? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

The post Fantastic Fest 2023 lineup includes The Toxic Avenger, The Fall of the House of Usher, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines appeared first on JoBlo.

Troma Entertainment, the beloved independent film distributor and production house, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year – and as part of the celebration, they’re bringing their iconic Toxic Avenger franchise to 4K in an eight disc “Tox Box” collection! Also known as the “Tox Set”, the collection is available for pre-order on Amazon (get it HERE) and has a release date of August 29th.

For this collection, all four films in the Toxic Avenger franchise have been given new 4K scans and restorations from the original camera negatives. They’re presented in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio in HDR with English DTS 2.0 stereo audio. Lloyd Kaufman, the President of Troma Entertainment and creator of The Toxic Avenger, has recorded new introductions for each movie. And the set also comes with a collectible Toxic Avenger postcard.

Here’s the list of bonus features that will be found in the Tox Box / Tox Set:

THE TOXIC AVENGER [Unrated Director’s Cut] 4K Ultra HD

Prologue by Director Lloyd Kaufman; audio commentary with cast members Robert Prichard, Gary Schneider, and Dan Snow; and audio commentary with Director Lloyd Kaufman.

THE TOXIC AVENGER [Unrated Director’s Cut] Blu-ray

Introduction by Director Lloyd Kaufman; audio commentary with cast members Robert Prichard, Gary Schneider, and Dan Snow; audio commentary with Director Lloyd Kaufman; interviews with cast members Jennifer Baptist, Robert Prichard, Mitch Cohen, and Dan Snow; interview with co-Director Michael Herz; a “Mark Torgl Talks About The Toxic Avenger” featurette; Behind the Scenes; Photo Gallery; Trailers.

THE TOXIC AVENGER PART II [Unrated Director’s Cut] 4K Ultra HD

Prologue by Director Lloyd Kaufman; audio commentary with Director Lloyd Kaufman.

THE TOXIC AVENGER PART II [Unrated Director’s Cut] Blu-ray

Introduction by Director Lloyd Kaufman; audio commentary with Director Lloyd Kaufman; “At Home with Toxie” Mockumentary; an interview with cast member Lisa Gaye; Japanese news report on the filming of The Toxic Avenger Part II; “Radiation March,” a short film directed by Lloyd Kaufman; The American Cinematheque Honors 40 Years of Troma; Trailers.

THE TOXIC AVENGER PART III: THE LAST TEMPTATION OF TOXIE [Unrated Director’s Cut] 4K Ultra HD

Prologue by Director Lloyd Kaufman; audio commentary with Director Lloyd Kaufman; audio commentary with cast member Joe Fleishaker.

THE TOXIC AVENGER PART III: THE LAST TEMPTATION OF TOXIE [Unrated Director’s Cut] Blu-ray

Audio commentary with Director Lloyd Kaufman; audio commentary with cast member Joe Fleishaker; Behind the Scenes of the “Return to Nuke ’em High Vol. 1” screening at MOMA; The American Cinematheque Honors 40 Years of Troma; “Make Your Own Damn Horror Film” – Behind the Scenes of Old 37 with Kane Hodder and Bill Moseley; “A Halloween Carol” short film; Infomercial for “Rabid Grannies” Blu-ray Release; “Radiation March,” a short film directed by Lloyd Kaufman.

CITIZEN TOXIE: THE TOXIC AVENGER PART IV [Unrated Director’s Cut] 4K Ultra HD

Prologue by Director Lloyd Kaufman; audio commentary with Director Lloyd Kaufman; audio commentary with editor Gabriel Griedman; audio commentary with cast member Trent Haaga.

CITIZEN TOXIE: THE TOXIC AVENGER PART IV [Unrated Director’s Cut] Blu-ray

“Apocalypse Soon: The Making of Citizen Toxie” Behind the Scenes Documentary; audio commentary with Director Lloyd Kaufman; audio commentary with editor Gabriel Friedman; audio commentary with cast member Trent Haaga; Tribute to Lemmy Kilmister; The American Cinematheque Honors 40 Years of Troma; Trailers.

Troma’s 50th anniversary celebrations will also include special theatrical screenings of the new 4K transfer of The Toxic Avenger and its sequels at Alama Drafthouse locations across the United States, starting in August. So if there’s an Alamo Drafthouse near you, check with them to see if they’ll be showing any Toxic Avenger movies soon!

Are you a Troma fan, and will you be buying the Toxic Avenger 4K collection? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Toxic Avenger and its sequels reach 4K in a new collection from Troma! appeared first on JoBlo.

Back in 1991, Troma‘s Toxic Avenger franchise – which is full of nudity and vulgarity, and soaked in bodily fluids – unexpectedly got a kid-friendly spin-off with the animated series Toxic Crusaders… and a few months ago, Retrowave announced that they’re bringing the Toxic Crusaders back in a beat ’em up video game that’s described as a “radical, radioactive romp for a new era, featuring awesome action, crushing combos and more toxic waste than you’ll know what to do with!” The Toxic Crusaders game is expected to reach PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, and Xbox One sometime in 2024, and today a trailer for the game has arrived online! You can watch it in the embed above.

Here’s the set-up for the Toxic Crusaders video game: When the evil Dr. Killemoff attacks, only one team of hideously deformed creatures of superhuman size and strength stands between him and his plans for global pollution: the Toxic Crusaders, Earth’s last, greatest and ugliest hope for survival!

And here’s some more information: Developer and publisher Retroware has teamed up with Troma Entertainment to bring the Toxic Crusaders back, for an all-new, all-action beat ’em up for one to four players! Grab your mop, tutu and attitude, and get ready to clean up the mean streets of Tromaville, one radioactive goon at a time! Battle across seven disgusting levels rendered in vibrant pixel art as you defend Tromaville from hordes of Radiation Rangers, mutated thugs and zombie chickens. The odds might be stacked against you but with awesome powers, a winning personality, and up to four-players on your side, the Smogulan Empire’s days are numbered!

Players will be able to pick from seven different playable characters, including Toxie, No-Zone, Junkyard, Major Disaster, and Headbanger – plus, for the first time, play as Toxie’s musically “gifted” girlfriend Yvonne, and the mother of all mothers, Mrs. Junko, Toxie’s mom!

The Stream listing notes that fans of Troma will also get to enjoy cameos from gore-filled classics such as Class of Nuke ‘Em High, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, and Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. – reimagined in the Saturday morning cartoon style that made this franchise so unforgettable!

What did you think of the Toxic Crusaders video game trailer? Are you looking forward to playing this game next year? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

This game looks like a good time to me. You can check out the official site HERE, and wishlist the game on Steam!

The post Toxic Crusaders trailer: beat ’em up video game arrives in 2024 appeared first on JoBlo.

Here is some awesome news for fans of the independent film production and distribution company Troma Entertainment: Troma has just announced that they’re teaming up with Renaissance Content Group add some of their cult classic films to Amazon’s Freevee streaming platform. The films will be available to stream free-with-ads on Freevee, on all streaming devices.

Troma didn’t provide a full list of the titles that will be added to Freevee. If they did, we’d be here going over the list all day, because according to the company they will be putting “hundreds of films” on Freevee! They did mention some specific titles, and we’ll hand it over to them so they can share the information:

Over the next few months, hundreds of films will be coming to the channel. The list includes iconic Troma films such as the entire Toxic Avenger series, Class of Nuke ’em High, Combat Shock, SGT Kabukiman NYPD, Tromeo and Juliet, and Trey Parker’s Cannibal! The Musical. Newer Troma titles, such as The Slashening: The Final Beginning, Mutant Blast, VHS Massacre, and Return to Nuke ’em High Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 will also be included. The list of fiercely independent films ranges from horror and action films to documentaries and comedies.

Founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974, Troma is primarily known for its slime-coated horror comedies, but the company has produced and/or distributed all sorts of movies over the decades. Their most popular release is The Toxic Avenger… and that one’s so popular, it even has a remake on the way that stars Peter Dinklage, Kevin Bacon, and Elijah Wood.

Are you a fan of Troma Entertainment, and are you glad to hear that hundreds of their titles are coming to Amazon’s free-with-ads Freevee platform? Share your thoughts on this news by leaving a comment below.

If you’d rather pay to watch your Troma movies, the company also has their own streaming service called Troma Now. Fans can subscribe to the service for $4.99 a month or $50 a year after a 30-day free trial. They also have movies available for individual digital purchase.

The post Troma will be adding hundreds of films to Amazon’s Freevee appeared first on JoBlo.

I didn’t realize it has been so long, but a year and a half has already gone by since writer/director Macon Blair wrapped production on his remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE). Almost a year has passed since the movie received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“. But while we continue to wait to hear a release date for this new take on The Toxic Avenger, sound editor Casey Genton, who is currently doing the press rounds for his work on John Wick: Chapter 4, said that fans will be “over the moon” for the remake, and teased a scene the cast and crew have referred to as “the butt guts scene”.

Genton told Slash Film, “(The Toxic Avenger remake is) a really funny movie. Macon Blair, the director, I think did a really good job with it. Everybody was a dream on the film. I’m so surprised — for me personally, I had not seen the original Toxic Avenger until I had done this film. And it’s a huge cult classic, and I know people are really excited about it. When they have tested it, fans of the film have been over the moon with the film. […] It’s pretty out there. I think it’s a different crack. They’re giving the fans what they want, for sure. There’s no lack of — I know everybody references the little kid’s head getting run over and stuff (in the original). I think that there was an iteration of the film that didn’t have enough of that, so they made a very — I don’t want to ruin it. But it has, it’s been nicknamed the ‘butt guts’ scene, and it’s probably the best way to match that ‘head getting run over’ energy that everybody’s looking for. So it’s in line with the fan base, and I think it’s hilarious.“

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger stars Peter Dinklage as Winston, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Dinklage is joined in the cast by Jacob Tremblay (presumably as Winston’s son), Taylour Paige as the “female lead” (we haven’t heard any details on her character), Julia Davis and Elijah Wood as unspecified characters, Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”, Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”, and Kevin Bacon as the primary villain, a role Wood had originally been rumored for. Blair is also in the cast as a guy named Dennis.

According to The Illuminerdi, the main villain is rumored to be Bob Garbinger – Leonine hair and eerie plastic surgery. Evil head of the shady company Garb X. He has no regard for the well being of anyone but himself and embarks on a murderous spree to become as powerful as Toxie. His ego is bolstered by his standing amongst the towns official but in reality he lives in fear of the underworld gang he’s indebted to.

The Toxic Avenger was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced the remake with Legendary Entertainment.

Are you looking forward to the remake of The Toxic Avenger and the butt guts scene? Let us know by leaving a comment below. I can’t wait to check this movie out.

The post The Toxic Avenger remake features a moment referred to as “the butt guts scene” appeared first on JoBlo.

Back in 1991, Troma‘s Toxic Avenger franchise – which is full of nudity and vulgarity, and soaked in bodily fluids – unexpectedly got a kid-friendly spin-off with the animated series Toxic Crusaders. More than thirty years later, the Toxic Crusaders are back in a beat ’em up video game from Retrowave that’s described as a “radical, radioactive romp for a new era, featuring awesome action, crushing combos and more toxic waste than you’ll know what to do with!” You can check out the video game’s official site HERE, and wishlist the game on Steam!

Here’s the set-up for the Toxic Crusaders video game: When the evil Dr. Killemoff attacks, only one team of hideously deformed creatures of superhuman size and strength stands between him and his plans for global pollution: the Toxic Crusaders, Earth’s last, greatest and ugliest hope for survival!

And here’s some more information: Developer and publisher Retroware has teamed up with Troma Entertainment to bring the Toxic Crusaders back, for an all-new, all-action beat ’em up for one to four players! Grab your mop, tutu and attitude, and get ready to clean up the mean streets of Tromaville, one radioactive goon at a time! Battle across seven disgusting levels rendered in vibrant pixel art as you defend Tromaville from hordes of Radiation Rangers, mutated thugs and zombie chickens. The odds might be stacked against you but with awesome powers, a winning personality, and up to four-players on your side, the Smogulan Empire’s days are numbered!

Players will be able to pick from seven different playable characters, including Toxie, No-Zone, Junkyard, Major Disaster, and Headbanger – plus, for the first time, play as Toxie’s musically “gifted” girlfriend Yvonne, and the mother of all mothers, Mrs. Junko, Toxie’s mom!

The Stream listing notes that fans of Troma will also get to enjoy cameos from gore-filled classics such as Class of Nuke ‘Em High, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, and Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. – reimagined in the Saturday morning cartoon style that made this franchise so unforgettable!

You can get a sample of what the Toxic Crusaders video game is going to look like by watching the announcement video below. This game sounds (and looks) like a lot of fun to me. Is this something you would like to play? Let us know by leaving a comment.

The post Toxic Crusaders video game coming from Retrowave appeared first on JoBlo.

Longtime readers of Arrow in the Head will probably remember the article series The Test of Time. Now The Test of Time has been revived as a video series, and you can check out the new episode in the embed above! With this one, we’re looking back at Troma’s 1984 cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE). Does it still hold up nearly forty years after its initial release? Find out by watching the video embedded above.

Directed by Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman from a screenplay by Joe Ritter (based on a story by Kaufman), The Toxic Avenger has the following synopsis: What’s faster than a spreading germ… more powerful than Mr. Clean… and more lethal than nuclear waste? Is it a floorcleaner? Is it a waste site? No… it is the TOXIC AVENGER, the first super hero from New Jersey! He french fries his foes… dry cleans the dastardly. Watch out, bad guys! Truth, Justice, and The American Way is on a righteous rampage – it’s Melvin, alias THE TOXIC AVENGER, and he’s gonna getcha! Transformed from wimp to warrior by a dip in a chemical pool, Melvin (“Tox” to his friends) battles corruption and crime in a small American town. But can even an industrial-strength super hero survive a showdown against an army of tanks and troops? Thrill to the action, adventure and yes, romance, of this hilarious tongue-in-cheek hit. WARNING: Explosively funny. May cause irritation to the excessively serious.

The film stars Mitch Cohen, Mark Torgl, Andree Maranda, Pat Ryan Jr., Sarabel Levinson, Dan Snow, Dick Martinsen, Gary Schneider, Robert Prichard, Jennifer Babtist, Cindy Manion, Chris Liano, David N. Weiss, and Patrick Kilpatrick. If you watch the director’s cut, you might spot Marisa Tomei in there as well.

The Test of Time series has the following description: We all have certain movies we love. Movies we respect without question because of either tradition, childhood love, or because they’ve always been classics. However, as time keeps ticking, do those classics still hold up? Do they remain must-see? So… the point of this series is to determine how a film holds up for a modern horror audience, to see if it stands the Test of Time.

This episode of The Test of Time was Written by Andrew Hatfield, Narrated by Niki Minter, Edited by Mike Conway, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

What do you think of The Toxic Avenger? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

A couple of the previous episodes of The Test of Time can be seen below. To see more, click over to the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!

The post The Toxic Avenger (1984) – The Test of Time appeared first on JoBlo.

A release date has yet to be announced for I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), which finished filming last August, but here’s a good sign: the film has been screened for the ratings board at the Motion Picture Association and has officially earned an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“.

So if you’ve been worried that this take on The Toxic Avenger was going to end up being PG-13, worry no longer!

Blair’s version of the concept stars Peter Dinklage as

Winston, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Dinklage is joined in the cast by Jacob Tremblay (presumably as Winston’s son), Taylour Paige as the “female lead” (we haven’t heard any details on her character), Julia Davis and Elijah Wood as unspecified characters, Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”, Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”, and Kevin Bacon as the primary villain, a role Wood had originally been rumored for. Blair is also in the cast as a guy named Dennis.

According to The Illuminerdi, the main villain is rumored to be 

Bob Garbinger – Leonine hair and eerie plastic surgery. Evil head of the shady company Garb X. He has no regard for the well being of anyone but himself and embarks on a murderous spree to become as powerful as Toxie. His ego is bolstered by his standing amongst the towns official but in reality he lives in fear of the underworld gang he’s indebted to.

The Toxic Avenger was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced the remake with Legendary Entertainment.

Blair said he was aiming to honor the original Toxic Avenger with his version of the story, and judging by the reasons given for its R rating it sounds like he has.

Are you glad to hear that this version of The Toxic Avenger has been rated R? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post The Toxic Avenger remake has been rated R for strong violence and gore, plus language and nudity appeared first on JoBlo.