| A- | Fantastic Fest 2023 |
World premiere at Fantastic Fest! In attendance were Macon Blair (director of this reboot) and Lloyd Kaufman (co-writer/co-director of the 1984 original, and all-around face of Troma Entertainment).
This is definitely a reboot, not a remake. I wish I had gone back and rewatched the original before seeing this version so I could pick up on more of the homages, though my sense is there were references to a whole lot of Troma properties beyond Toxie. Even if I wasn’t fully appreciating each one, many of them were fun in their own right.
The whole film was tremendous fun. Don’t expect much depth to the script–it’s not that kind of movie. Expect goofiness and comic-book gore–oh, the delightful kills…
Also expect higher production values and more self-awareness than you usually find in these films. A good number of tropes were delightfully upended, including the modern post-credits sequence. And I thought the opening minute was brilliant.
Finally, expect to enjoy watching Peter Dinklage (playing the lead human and mutant) and Elijah Wood in delightful roles. With Kevin Bacon, no less, as the villain. All adding to the fun…
