r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • 21h ago
Article ‘The Toxic Avenger’ Star Elijah Wood on Cult Remakes and Why He Loves Weird Movies
https://gizmodo.com/toxic-avenger-elijah-wood-interview-2000644726190
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u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor 21h ago
Wood:
”It’s all circumstantial. That one [‘Maniac’], I was drawn to it because it was taking the source material and doing something really different with it. Remakes are tricky, you know, and both of these films [‘Maniac & Toxic Avengers’] are related in the sense that they made something new of the source material rather than regurgitating it in the same way.”
”I was really attracted to Maniac because… my character doesn’t really show up. It’s primarily a POV film. I love POV horror; it’s really interesting. There’s a great POV horror film from the ‘60s, Peeping Tom. It reminded me of Peeping Tom a little bit, about how wonderful to take this and put you sort of in the mindset of, or at least the POV of, the characters. That was the reason I wanted to do that. And I love the creative team behind that film.”
”And then this one, I mean, Macon [Blair, director of Toxic Avenger], I’ll do anything Macon asks; I’m a huge fan of his work. I worked with him on this movie called I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore, and so I’ll do anything for him. He’s a dear friend. And then to be asked to play a character like this in this universe was just a blast. I think it was clear that it was an approach to the original material that was very much its own but had total reverence for what Lloyd [Kaufman of Troma Entertainment] had created.”
”So it was circumstantial that these two things came into my life. I don’t know that I’m seeking these things out, but I love genre, and I’m always going to be interested in making something weird and funny and absurd.”
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u/Never-Compliant6969 20h ago
He was in one called “Cooties” that was actually quite fun. I love being around people who are watching it for the first time.
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u/MissingLink101 11h ago
I really enjoyed 'Come to Daddy' as well, plus his recent appearance in 'The Monkey' was great.
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u/Ur_Personal_Adonis 19h ago
Thank you for mentioning this, Cooties is a lot of fun, one of those movies you put on and have a good time with. It doesn't take itself too serious and has a great supporting cast, Cooties is just a blast, a fun ride. Doesn't star Elijah Wood, but another honorable mention and a movie that makes a great double feature with Cooties, Bloodsucking Bastards, a horror/comedy like Cooties from 2015. Starring Fran Kranz, Stoner dude from cabin in the woods, Pedro Pascal, and Joey Kern.
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u/Never-Compliant6969 19h ago
Don’t forget Emma Fitzpatrick! Bloodsucking Bastards is great. I was also recommending that one recently when someone was talking about how serious Pedro’s roles have been lately.
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u/nocontracts 16h ago
Elijah Wood seems to legitimately love cinema/film/movies and everything that goes into them. His production company, Spectrevision is awesome and he has a cool podcast called Visitations where he goes into the homes of filmmakers & creatives to interview them about their creative process.
Elijah Wood just kinda rocks and kicks ass, doing his thing his way.
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u/eggflip1020 20h ago
He was great in Deep Impact. I think this kid is going somewhere.
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u/ramenups 20h ago
I must’ve Eternal Sunshine’d that out of my brain because I don’t remember him in that or anything besides LOTR
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u/GentlemanOctopus 20h ago
Not even Back to the Future II?
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u/Pkittens 9h ago
I completely discarded this film since I thought it was another side-story to the MCU and The Avengers. That appears not to be the case, lmao
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u/chiefbrody62 5h ago
Lol what? The Toxic Avenger was a horror movie from decades ago, it's pretty famous, and has nothing to do with Marvel whatsoever. This is a remake that is still not linked to Marvel.
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u/Electrical_Quality_6 20h ago
my guilty pleasure is remakes
i do love original stuff but so often it fails and falls flat
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u/C4CTUSDR4GON 20h ago
But the remake worse 90% of the time, no?
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u/Careless-Dark-1324 17h ago
Honestly. For every good one there’s 10 bad ones that came and went, and nobody remembers they even exists lol
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u/CobrasMama 16h ago
I feel like it's gotta be closer to 25:1 than 10:1.
It's very rare that a remake is on par or better than an original. Of course, the original Toxie movies were fucking awful from a critical perspective, so it wouldn't be hard to improve upon them with remakes.
(Don't get me wrong, I worship the originals, but I'm self-aware enough to admit that I like campy, low budget horror flicks)
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u/rudyattitudedee 5h ago
I genuinely have a tough time thinking of movies or shows he’s done that aren’t weird, or that he didn’t play a weirdo in. Let’s start with North…
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u/Cerulean_IsFancyBlue 4h ago
I remember toxic avenger. I am a little surprised it’s gotten a remake, but, 80s nostalgia.
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u/Malkochson 20h ago
I'd like the think a lot more actors would be out there doing 'weird' movies if they did not have to worry about money or did not have the pressures of being the next "Mr./Ms. Blockbuster Hollywood Heartthrob" pushed on them by their management.
I really respect that both Elijah and Daniel Radcliffe basically got all the money and fame in the world through LOTR and Harry Potter while they were relatively young, so know they can just focus on making stuff that they like.
Perhaps coincidentally, both of these guys seem like they've managed to remain grounded, humble, and unafraid to experiment with their art.