Fourths Of July: CITIZEN TOXIE: THE TOXIC AVENGER IV (2000)
We repeatedly hear that such and such movie, television show, or work of art could never be made in this more socially conscious era. More times than not, I can’t help but think what a bullshit statement that is. Most of the creative output that people are talking about was outsider content anyways.
For instance, I can’t even comprehend how many times I’ve heard that about John Waters’ early work. Sure, it’s gross, weird, and outrageous, but if you pay attention to any sort of current genre entertainment, you’ll see that much of the sex has been co-opted and the violence seems tame.
So, after mentioning how much I hate when others say this…I’m going to genuinely declare that CITIZEN TOXIE: THE TOXIC AVENGER PART IV could never be made today. If you are familiar with Troma Entertainment you will know that you are going to get gratuitous amounts of sex and gore, but you still may not be ready for the pull-no-punches, in-your-face, offensive humor.
In the fourth installment of the Toxic Avenger franchise, the Toxic Avenger (David Mattey) is blasted through time and space trading places with his evil twin “The Noxious Offender” (also played by David Mattey) in a world called “Amortville”.
The rest of the movie, Toxie tries to get back to Tromaville, help the citizens of Amortville, and defeat his evil self. While all this is going on Toxie’s blind wife Sarah (Heidi Sjursen) is impregnated by evil Noxi, and the twin evil and good fetuses have to fight it out inside her to see who will be the dominant child.
I remember when I first saw TOXIC AVENGER IV, I was mainly going because Lloyd Kaufman was going to be there in person. I had no expectations for the film. Literally, part two and three are some of the worst films I had ever seen. One of the first jokes in CITIZEN TOXIE is a self-aware jab making fun of how bad those two sequels are, and my mind was set at ease. So, when the opening scene is of “take a Mexican to lunch Day” at the “Tromaville School for Special People” I knew that this was going to more of a return to the classic un-PC world of Troma that I so dearly loved as teen…and then some.
Yeah, I probably should have felt uncomfortable with how many times they dropped the word “retard,” or made homophobic, and racist jokes, but honestly, I didn’t. Looking back, the early 2000s was a time of pushing boundaries. Watching it now, 22 years later, the whole thing is a bit more cringe.
CITIZEN TOXIE: THE TOXIC AVENGER PART IV could be dismissed as being edge lord fodder, but I feel as though that would be missing the point. The film is also very topical dealing with issues ranging from school shootings, abortion, and media manipulation. Director Lloyd Kaufman went about it in the obscenest way possible, but he made those topics much more palatable for punks and cinema scumbags to digest.
If blood, gore, sex, violence, and offensive humor aren’t your bag…you may still dig this. Why? Because if you are any sort of nerd you’ll pop for the cameos.
Everyone shows up in this. Porn icons Ron Jeremy and Al Goldstein play politicians, filmmaker James Gunn plays scientist Dr. Flem Hocking (an obvious poke at Steven Hawking), ‘80s child star Corey Feldman plays Sarah’s gynecologist.
Rock n’ roll legend Lemmy Kilmeister plays himself just hanging out, Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee is the narrator, Playboy creator Hugh Hefner does the voice of the president, and if you keep your eyes peeled you’ll even see a young Eli Roth as an extra in the crowd.
CITIZEN TOXIE: THE TOXIC AVENGER PART IV is absolutely problematic, but it’s all in good fun. I absolutely feel that this is one movie that could not be made in today’s socio-political climate, and that’s okay. It’s already been made and I’m glad of that. This movie isn’t for everyone, but if somewhere in your sick and twisted brain you still get off on the type of humor that would trigger any decent human, then like myself…you’ll still enjoy THE TOXIC AVENGER PART IV.
