The Toxic Avenger
A meek janitor turned radioactive powerhouse must battle the sadistic gang that created him before his newfound power destroys the whole city.
“He was 98 lbs. of solid nerd until he became...the Toxic Avenger!”
Synopsis
A gang of thugs devises a cruel hoax that goes horribly wrong when Melvin, a nerdy, emaciated janitor at the local health club, is thrown through a third-story window into a vat of hazardous toxic waste.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 41+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Richard W HainesShot by Lloyd Kaufman
Box Office
1984 · Box office
⚖️ Fell short of break-even — grossed 1.6× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$800K
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Also known as
- Atomic Herode
- Il vendicatore tossicoit
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Cast & Crew
41 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Andree Maranda
as Sara
Mitch Cohen
as The Toxic Avenger
Jennifer Babtist
as Wanda
Jennifer Prichard
as Wanda
Cindy Manion
as Julie
Robert Prichard
as Slug
Gary Schneider
as Bozo
Pat Ryan
as Mayor Peter Belgoody
Mark Torgl
as Melvin
Dick Martinsen
as Officer O'Clancy
Chris Liano
as Walter Harris
David Weiss
as Chief of Police
Supporting cast
19Dan Snow
as Cigar Face
Doug Isbecque
as Knuckles
Charles Lee Jr
as Nipples
Patrick Kilpatrick
as Leroy
Larry Sulton
as Frank
Michael Russo
as Rico
Norma Pratt
as Mrs. Haskell
Andrew Craig
as Fred
Ryan Sexton
as Johnny
Sarabel Levinson
as Melvin's Mom
Al Pia
as Tom Wrightson
Reuben Guss
as Dr. Snodburger
Kenneth Kessler
as Toxic Avenger's Voice (voice)
Barbara Gurskey
as Barbie
Rick Collins
as Bully
Randy Schein
as Bozo's Friend
Richard Duggan
as Ice Cream Man
Donna Winter
as Mayor's Secretary
Marisa Tomei
as Health Club Girl (uncredited)
Directors
2Writers
4Producers
2Other crew
6Parents Guide
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