In case you haven’t heard, they’re finally getting ready to release, the remake, of “The Toxic Avenger”. It’s been a while since I was excited about a film, and no, it’s not as if I’m any kind of die-hard fan. I’ve just always loved the underdog. Without going into a whole history lesson, Troma, the company that originally created the character, has always been on the outskirts of filmmaking and everything they’ve produced makes Bruce Campbell seem solem and reserved. It’s over the top, it’s graphic and trashy, and most importantly, it’s authentic. They knew that their work was never going to be mainstream so they decided to get as weird as they wanted and focus on developing an underground cult following. You’ve either never heard of em, think they’re garbage or love them because they’re garbage.
Now that I think about it, I’ve only seen the original once.
It was at a friend’s place and was on in the background; we were stoned and I wasn’t even paying attention. The dude was a mini Tarantino who had spent years working in a video store and building a collection. Everytime I stopped by, he would always have some weird shit playing that I didn’t appreciate at the time but that he swore was important for reasons I didn’t understand. I had seen “Desperado,” but he was the guy who showed me the original called “El Mariachi”. The point is the guy had great taste in films and despite this, loved Troma.
Then I got to see it as a musical.
While in Hawaii in the fall of 2012, I was camping with this chick for a week and touring the Island when a nasty storm rolled in. We hopped in the rental car, hoping to stay dry, and decided to drive around and see if there was anything to do indoors for a bit while the rain cleared. The marquee was lit up on a little spot called the Aloha Theater, on the main highway between Kona and Captain Cook, The Toxic Avenger, tonight at 7. It was 6:45 and there was a crowd of people outside so of course we pulled over.
When we went to get tickets, they were $30 each, which was a little much for a showing of a B-movie. The gentleman realized that we were confused and explained that it was a local group doing a live musical of it and that there were something like 6 or 7 actors playing 27 different roles. We were still on the fence so he said “Listen, go in for the first half, dry off and relax, if you enjoy it and want to stay, you can come pay for tickets.” so we decided to take a chance.
It was fucking amazing.
The production value was dirt poor but God damn the enthusiasm was off the charts. It was clear that the set pieces had been hand-painted on someone’s driveway, most likely by one of the actors, but you could feel the love. The costumes were bargain bin at best but they got the job done. These folks went full fucking tilt and were not taking it seriously at all. This sounds bad but given the material, it was perfect. The energy on stage was electric and it spread through the crowd, which only fueled the actors.
Listen, I’ve seen hundreds of shows but this one stands out as one of the most memorable. They weren’t pros by any means and yet they had the crowd worked into the kind of frenzy that normally costs hundreds of thousands of dollars in lighting and pyro. I mean yeah, they had rehearsed it and they had their timing and costume changes down but it wasn’t Shakespeare, nor was it supposed to be. They took one the weirdest fucking movies ever put out and made it into a musical. It wasn’t supposed to work, it shouldn’t have worked and yet the crowd ate up every line and gag they threw at em.
When intermission came, we couldn’t wait to give the guy our money and say thanks.
The rain had cleared up and people were crowded outside. It was obvious that we were far from the only people floored by what the fuck we were witnessing live on stage. Her and I just wanted to kill some time and now we were invested in this experience.
I think even the actors were a bit surprised. Granted, the fact that half of the audience was high as fuck helped but these folks were getting a genuine response.
During the second half, the crowd got a bit rowdy. A few of us even jumped up from our seats cheering as Toxie was kicking ass. One guy even screamed, “Hell yeah, fuck him up!!!” and the crowd cheered for him. Meanwhile, the actor playing the bad guy was struggling to stay in character and not laugh with the audience as the Toxic Avenger beat him with a mop.
Of course they got a standing ovation, a long one. You could tell by the way the actors were looking at each other that they were in shock, as if none of them could believe what was happening.
I don’t know this for a fact but I’m assuming that someone had the idea and it was just crazy enough to get a few other people on board. Because it’s Hawaii, someone knew someone and they were able to book the venue without issue. They figured they might sell a few tickets to friends and family and have a bit of fun while doing something out of the ordinary. I don’t think they expected people standing and screaming at the end of the show.
I think that’s why it was so good, it was art that was done purely for the sake of art without any expectations of accolades. It was raw, it was authentic and it didn’t take itself seriously and because of that, it resonated with the audience. Because of that, it’s probably one of the most Punk things I’ve ever witnessed.
Now that I think about it, I don’t need to see the new movie since I doubt anything else can tell the story the way those kids did.
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