Toxic Memory.

Below is a scene from The Toxic Avenger.

I’ll warn you: It’s gory as hell.

I randomly found it while searching for tonight’s movie and… God, I’m having a moment, here.

Until now, I thought that I’d never seen the original Toxic Avenger movie, barring a couple of clips here and there. As a teenager, me and some friends rented one of the sequels, and I was so grossed out by a particularly ridiculous scene that I kind of just wrote the whole series off as “not for me.”

But here’s the thing: I DID see the scene embedded above, and I’ve spent DECADES wondering if I’d just imagined it.

On some ancient evening, I was home alone with my sister, who’s around eight years older than me. She was having a small party with her friends, and naturally, I wasn’t invited. I’m guessing she was 14, which would’ve made me 5 or 6. So figure this was ‘86, or ‘87 at latest.

They were watching some horribly violent movie that I only now realize was The Toxic Avenger. Obviously a video rental. I remember them all sitting in our living room laughing over it, while I peeked in from a corner. The scene embedded above was the only portion I caught.

At that young age, I couldn’t believe that people watched this kind of stuff for the entertainment value. I was horrified. I distinctly remember wondering if that was what it meant to be a teenager — as if watching actors get run over was a rite of passage, or something. It seriously upset the shit out of me. (Ironic, considering how much I’ve grown to love horror!)

My mind is completely blown right now. I’ve solved a thirty-year-old puzzle!

So, I guess this lends itself to a survey:

What horror movies (or even just horror movie scenes) did you see before you were really READY to see them? How did they affect you?