PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I like remakes. I love the idea of a refreshed and updated version of a beloved (and sometimes unloved) movie gets remade and revamped and in turn, opens up these films to a more modern and broader audience. Maybe they checked out the original before or after watching the remake and fell in love with it. Or maybe they hated it. Either way, there’s eyes on it and you know what? The original still exists for you to enjoy. Liking and watching a remake didn’t make it disappear. And please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying, at all, that all remakes are good. We all know that’s not true (I’m looking at you, 2016’s Inside).
When Macon Blair’s (Murder Party) reboot of Lloyd Kaufman and Troma’s 1984 The Toxic Avenger was announced, I saw so many people complaining about it because Lloyd, Toxie and the original film are huge fan favorites. I really enjoyed Macon’s version though, and thought it was funny, gory, and extremely heartfelt. Could it be because I haven’t seen the original? Maybe, but I doubt it.
To celebrate the release of the film, I chatted with Macon about how he became attached to the new Toxie, raising money for Undue Medical Debt, horror movies, and more!
PopHorror: I really enjoyed The Toxic Avenger. I had a lot of fun with it. The gore was… I loved it.
Macon Blair: Nice! Good, good, good.
PopHorror: How did the project for this new version of The Toxic Avenger come about?
Macon Blair: Legendary, the studio, got the rights. They partnered with Lloyd and Troma, and then they were just soliciting pitches for the screenplay, and they asked me. At first, I was kind of hesitant and like, why? But then, it came down to I went back to how it felt for me being in sixth grade and watching that movie for the first time and it was foundational and inspiring for a couple of different reasons. It just seemed like, oh shit, this could be an opportunity to go back to those movies that my friends and I were making when we were in seventh grade but with a big studio behind it. That would be hilarious if we could pull it off; it’ll probably never work. But I pitched and then one thing led to another, and I got the job to write and then that turned into the job to direct and many years later, you and I are talking about it. It’s very surreal.
PopHorror: I love it! So, 1984’s Toxic Avenger is a huge fan favorite. It has such a big cult following that there was a lot of speculation about this new one and a lot of chatter about it coming out. Did you put a lot of pressure on yourself when making your version?
Macon Blair: Yeah, absolutely. Mainly it was like, you’ve got to be realistic. You know it’s not going to appeal to everybody, but my hope was to really have it feel like the fans of the original would not feel like this thing that is very precious to them had been taken away and driven into some strange, unfamiliar area. The whole reason they want to do a new version of Toxic Avenger is because it has this very devoted fan community, so I felt like if we’re going to do something that flies in the face of what they love about it, then why do it at all? So, to me, there was trying to figure out what was special and what people respond to about the first one and try to carry that forward, and I’m not talking about plot or story points, it’s more like a vibe and feeling and what people have in their hearts about it. If we could do that, and then create a new story, something that feels fresh to justify why we’re doing it all, then that would be the sweet spot. That’s what I was going for, and I certainly would think about that every day we were on set, to try to stay true to that intention and not have it get too far field. That’s where we’re coming from.
PopHorror: See, I like remakes. I think that they give an updated version of a beloved film to new fans.
Macon Blair: Yeah!
PopHorror: Me watching and liking a remake does not make the original cease to exist. It’s still there to love and enjoy as you always would, but now you have this new version with other people, different writers, different directors, to still enjoy and it gives you a different view of it. They’re very rarely ever scene by scene. I like to see it refreshed and a little different.
Macon Blair: Me too.
PopHorror: I know that Lloyd loved it. I interviewed him for Fantasia, and he just went on and on about your film, so that is like the highest confirmation that you did something right. You have his seal of approval.
Macon Blair: Yes! If he didn’t like it, he would tell you.
PopHorror: Something different about this Toxic Avenger, is that you partnered with Cineverse to initiate the unprecedented move of donating some of the marketing budget to Undue Medical Debt. Were you surprised by the amount of money that was raised by fans?
Macon Blair: I was delighted. I was delighted and I was very, very proud, and I thought that was really cool. Not cool like hip, but genuinely cool use of marketing money. It was not my idea. I cannot take credit for it. I was so proud to be associated with it. The folks at Cineverse partnered with Undue Medical Debt and I just felt like what a rad way to spend marketing dollars and I’m thrilled that that much was able to have been applied to that cause because I think that could have an impact on people’s lives significantly. Very proud to be associated with it nominally, even though I cannot take credit for the very cool idea of it.
PopHorror: That is super cool and it’s a great tie-in to the movie because of the reasoning why events of the film happened.
Macon Blair: Totally.
PopHorror: I have just one last question for you today. What is your favorite scary movie?
Macon Blair: Oh gosh. My favorite scary movie? I think the one I come back to the most is The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It’s one that I saw at a really young age and just sort of stuck with me. Maybe there are movies you could argue that are scarier or more horrific, but that one, there’s just something about the tone of it and the vibe of it that really got under my skin and I revisit it pretty frequently.
Thank you so much to Macon for taking the time to chat with us. The Toxic Avenger is now VOD, 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD!
