You know what I like? CITIZEN KANE.
You know what I like more? CITIZEN TOXIE: THE TOXIC AVENGER IV, the movie CITIZEN KANE wishes it could be.
After dismissing the previous two installments as "rotten" – fuck you, I like those installments! – and billing itself as the REAL sequel, CITIZEN TOXIE opens on Take A Mexican to Lunch Day at the Tromaville School for the Very Special. All is peace and tacos – until members of the Diaper Mafia burst in and begin shooting up the school. Of course, Toxie arrives with his sidekick, Lardass (Joe Fleishaker), to save the day. A bomb set by the Diaper Mafia explodes and creates a dimensional tear. Toxie passes through this tear into Amortville – while his evil doppleganger, Noxie, passes through to Tromaville. Now, Toxie must get home and stop Noxie from wreaking havoc upon the good citizens of Tromaville – as well as witness the birth of his child. Will Toxie succeed and live to be an awesome dad? Or will he be trapped in Amortville forever while Noxie lays waste to Tromaville and its citizens?
Right off the bat Troma shows they're not here to fuck around: the massacre of special needs children and Toxie's destruction of the Diaper Mafia features enough violence and gore to satisfy even the most diehard Tomaniacs. Disembowelments, head shots, crushed heads, and even a dude getting his head shoved OUT his own ass are just some examples of Troma going right for the jugular. And it doesn't stop there: the entire movie is peppered with carnage of this sort.
Troma's usual offensive humor is here as well – which is perfectly fine for the un-P.C. amongst us (myself included). The special needs children are referred to as "tards," Lardass is an obese dude who uses food as a weapon, the police chief is depicted as a Nazi (complete with Hitler 'tache), and you even get a BLACK Nazi. Yes, Troma clearly wanted to offend everyone they could. Troma's standard social commentary is here as parodies of the media and politicians abound, though it's not laid on too thick. The humor is, as usual for Troma, hit-or-miss – but the misses don't detract from the film's entertainment value, unlike some of Troma's other releases.
And hell, even if you think the movie sucks at least you get to play Who's Who as the film is chock full of Troma alumni and other famous people. We get Eli Roth, Ron Jeremy, Al Goldstein, Hugh Hefner, Stan Lee (the narrator), James Gunn, Tiffany Shepis, Corey Feldmen and – best of all – Lemmy!
Oh, and you get Sgt. Kabukiman (not played by Rick Gianasi, unfortunately), now a drunken pervert who's extremely fun to watch. And, for the curious ones, yes, his pubic hair IS shaped just like his real hair. You'll have to watch the movie to find out how I know this – ya know, assuming you just gotta know.
And we can't forget an appearance by the Troma Dick Monster. A Troma flick just isn't complete without that vicious member popping up.
All in all, CITIZEN TOXIE: THE TOXIC AVENGER IV is a welcome addition to the series and cinema in general, and will definitely please those put off by the previous installments – though they are still awesome, regardless of what anyone says – or just folks lookin' for something to watch on a lonely Friday night.
CITIZEN TOXIE: THE TOXIC AVENGER IV is available in a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack. Special features include three audio commentaries, the documentary APOCALYPSE SOON: THE MAKING OF CITIZEN TOXIE, a tribute to Lemmy, and more. – Evan Romero
Evan Romero is a regular contributor to the pages of ER and spends much of his time reading morally questionable books and watching movies no sane person would touch. He is the vocalist/bassist for the punk band Porno Holocaust (you can find them on Facebook and listen to some demos if you’re inclined). You can read more of his reviews at ReelAtrocities.com or at PopHorror.com. He last wrote about GODZILLA 1985 for VHS Wednesday.
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