The Toxic Avenger, starring Peter Dinklage as Winston Gooze, who mutates into the titular vigilante, has earned an 83% from critics and a 86% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. The unrated movie is a remake of the 1984 black comedy. 

Reviewers praise the film’s unabashed camp and spirit. They recognize that its style is not for everyone, but appreciate that the movie successfully applies the 1984 film’s extreme special effects to current issues.

The Rotten Tomatoes scores are a relief for a film that has struggled in other areas: early reports alleged widespread walkouts fueled by the film’s onslaught of unapologetic gore, and the movie has yielded an underwhelming box office turnout (just 755,000 last Friday). The film also faced rumors that it was “unreleasable,” which director Macon Blair dispelled in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

When I saw that headline that said it’s “unreleasable,” it made it sound like it was so gross that it’s unreleasable. And in a way, that helps gets people interested, but it’s not that fucking movie. It’s a gentle R-rated movie. It’s not that extreme. So cutting sections out of it wouldn’t have really changed it anyway, and I think the mainstream outlets were just not digging the vibe of it. But I never got the sense that it was too extreme or the content needed to be reined in.

Following a difficult start since its release on August 29th, The Toxic Avenger‘s “fresh” Rotten Tomatoes score will likely increase its chances at reaching profitability.