Interview with THE TOXIC AVENGER Writer / Director Macon Blair

The Toxic Avenger is heading to theaters on this Friday, and I had a chance to catch up with writer / director Macon Blair to discuss his new take on Toxie, his influences, and the on-set experience.

Synopsis: "When a downtrodden janitor, Winston Gooze, is exposed to a catastrophic toxic accident, he’s transformed into a new kind of hero: The Toxic Avenger. Now, Toxie must rise from outcast to savior, taking on ruthless corporate overlords and corrupt forces who threaten his son, his friends, and his community. In a world where greed runs rampant… justice is best served radioactive."

Director's Statement: "In 1986 the way you typically discovered cool movies or cool music was someone’s older sibling would turn you on to it. So one day my buddy Andy’s big brother Mike comes around saying, “You have to watch this one,” and he shows us a VHS box with this weirdo mutant in a tutu on the cover, waving a mop in front of the American flag. What in the fresh hell is this? We immediately popped it in and what followed became seared into the formative layers of my brain in a way that endures today. It was not just the cartoonish hijinx or the lowbrow gross-out shenanigans or even the disarming sweetness that made The Toxic Avenger so appealing to my sixth-grade brain (though it was all those things) but the feeling that this movie was literally homemade, a thing that a group of friends could make in their own backyard with a video camera and some Karo-syrup blood. We hadn’t been exposed to that before and that’s more or less what we did. To have the opportunity to recreate (reimagine? retox?) this movie some bazillion years later with a group of such dynamite collaborators is both deeply surreal and incredibly fun. We’ve tried to out our own mop-print on Toxie while holding true to the spirit of this character that’s meant so much to Troma fans for so long. The goal was a silly, sloppy, bloody, knuckleheaded and heartwarming romp for the whole family and we sincerely hope you dig it. (I bet Mike will.)"

Distributed by Cineverse, The Toxic Avenger stars Peter Dinklage, Luisa Guerreiro, Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood, Taylour Paige, Jacob Tremblay, and Jane Levy.