“The Toxic Avenger” might be the most notable cult classic film within the horror genre due to the gore, goop and grisly humor. Director Macon Blair had the chance to approach the film with his own take in 2023’s remake of the same name. The Daily Texan sat down with Blair to speak with him about the film. 

The Daily Texan: What drew you to the original “Toxic Avenger” film?

Macon Blair: I grew up in the 80s, so it was sort of like “What’s on the cover of the VHS box?” There was no internet. So when you see this guy with a tutu and a mop, half his face is melted (of course you’d be interested). (I was) in sixth grade, it was a little inappropriate, (and) we’re kind of watching it, hoping our parents don’t bust us. It felt like a dangerous elevation from the type of stuff I was watching at the time. I didn’t really think about it until much later but it was very, very formative to me as a young person. And now I get to direct it. 

DT: Since this is a remake, what things did you decide to keep and what did you take out? What was it like maintaining the tone of the original?

MB: I mean (it’s) sort of like Batman (who) has got the horns and the bats. There’s sort of fundamental origin story stuff that we wanted to keep. What we sort of veered off in our own way with this one was sort of like the main story was more about a dad having a hard time trying to connect with his son. In the original movie it was more about a nerd at high school trying to get dates and it had that high school movie thing which was fine. They had already done that and so having a kid who is not totally connected with you and then they’re doing everything you can up to and including becoming a mutant and fighting crime.

DT: In an era of superhero movies, how does “The Toxic Avenger” stand out?

MB: I think it’s really aggressively trying to be a comedy more than anything. We’re not trying to out-action, we’re not trying to out-spectacle, we’re not trying to out-special effects those movies, but we really tried to lean into just an enjoyable crowd-pleasing comedy, that it does have fights and it does have bad guys, and it does have the goofy stuff that you like, but it’s really just meant to be something that people can laugh and have a good time first and foremost. So hopefully, that’s what people take away from (my movie). Fingers crossed.