Despite a roster of disreputable films that includes everything from Bloodsucking Freaks to Terror Firmer, Troma Films' crowning achievement remains its comic book tribute/parody The Toxic Avenger (1985) and its pair of 1989 sequels. The comedy/action/sci-fi effort, about a crime-fighting monster spawned from chemical sludge, is as proudly crude as Troma's other films, but also genuinely funny and competently directed by company chiefs Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz. The combination of slapstick and splatter helped earn the film the broadest audience recognition of any Troma film prior to Tromeo and Juliet––so much so, in fact, that several years later, the Toxic Avenger would be given his own Saturday morning cartoon. Troma's affection for Toxie is made abundantly clear with The Tox Box, a lavish (by the company's standards) four-disc package that contains the three features as well as four episodes of Toxic Crusaders, Toxie's animated adventures. Troma fanatics should note that that the discs for Toxic Avenger I and III are largely identical to versions that were released independently within the last few years, but the disc for Toxic Avenger II is a true "uncut" version (with more violence) that differs markedly from the previously released R-rated DVD. As with all Troma DVDs, each disc is packed with supplemental material, from Lloyd Kaufman's hilarious (and often unhinged) commentary to a wealth of excised scenes, trailers, and production stills. Toxic Crusaders even includes a pair of '40s-era serials in their entirety to fill out its scant running time. Cineastes may decry that lowbrow material such as this has been given the deluxe treatment, and even Toxie fans may wonder if this much Troma is good for their mental health, but DVD buyers must admit that The Tox Box is an embarrassment of riches. --Paul Gaita
