The Toxic Avenger (1986)

Troma's jewel in the crown of releases, for me, will always remain 1986s Toxic Avenger. This un-pc, violent revenge movie remains randomly stuck in my memory alongside 1973s Horror Hospital because I first viewed them back to back during a high school vhs-fest Friday in the 80s. Good times! The sequels, like much of Troma's output, do not hold much interest for me, but this one is a winner and hopefully will not be re-made as another shit stained, glossy Hollywood mess.

Combat Shock (1986)

The unflinchingly grim 1986 film Combat Shock (originally titled American Nightmares) is my favorite of all the Troma releases.

Writer/director Buddy Giovinazzo's film portrays a cold, violent world in which Frankie Dunlan (played by the directors brother Rick Giovinazzo) trudges through an absolute shit sandwich of a bad day, compounded by horrific flash backs to his time fighting and then being tortured as a P.O.W. in Vietnam. Betraying the Rambo-esque one sheet art, this film occupies the same dark places as both Eraserhead and Street Trash. It would make a sick double feature with either.

the feature