Class of Nuke 'Em High

Troma usually gives us demented violent comedies and they are really cool if very politically incorrect. I love them. This film is also cool. It has no real plot, but it's fun to laugh at the weird stuff going on. It is funny, but not as dark as the average troma film. If you were just trying to get into troma movies, this would be a good place to start. Not as gory as Toxic Avenger, Not as funny as Kabukiman, but still a cool movie.

When it comes to stupid trash films, Troma have no equal; and while the vast majority of their output is absolute rubbish, now and again you'll find a few gems in the rough; and unlikely as it may seem, Class of Nuke 'Em High is one such gem. The film presents a post-apocalyptic style similar to that seen in films such as The Warriors and Escape From New York, and blends it with the idea of a school being run by several students; which is reminiscent of the hit thriller Class of 1984. This is all then mixed in with stoner culture; as its toxic weed that causes all the problems, and you have a recipe for a successful trash flick. The film opens with a 'routine nuclear evacuation drill' at Tromaville High; a school situated next to a nuclear power plant. One kid goes mental, and it's not long before we see that a local gang are buying weed from a nuclear plant worker and selling it to the kids at school. The weed grows faster than normal; and there's a reason for that, as toxic waste has contaminated it and pretty soon the kids of Tromaville High start acting rather strangely...

If this film was made by any other production company; I'd probably say it has a point to make about the advent of nuclear power, but since this is Troma it's clear that they've simply lifted a common fear and turned it into a schlock film. There's absolutely no point to it; but seeing all the general carnage is a lot of fun, and director Richard W. Haines isn't afraid to go completely over the top, despite the obvious limitations of his special effects budget. The film plays out something like a zombie movie; although there are influences from other sources, and not all the afflicted characters turn into mindless beings. The gang at the centre of the film is an interesting troupe, and their style fits the jokey tone of the film very well. It's good to see a film like this that has a sense of humour, and absolutely nothing in the film is to be taken seriously; shown best by the fact that the central location is 'Tromaville', and is the 'toxic chemical capital of the world'! The special effects towards the end get a little silly, but it's all in good fun; and while this movie won't be to everyone's tastes, if you enjoy schlock horror - you'll love this!

Class of Nuke 'Em High is one of Troma's best loved and most seen films. This film helped to define the Troma formula that crap addicts the world over would grow to love - gory violence, gratuitous nudity and black humour, all mixed with a large dose of irony and an incredible lack of taste.

Class of Nuke 'Em High was released just after "The Toxic Avenger" and it shares a similar nuclear theme. In this case, a nuclear waste facility is leaking toxic goo into the local high school with some rather unfortunate consequences for the student body. Unlike the poor nerd in the film's brilliant opening sequence, our heroes are not directly exposed to the toxic waste. Rather, Warren and Chrissy smoke marijuana grown on the grounds of the nuclear power plant. This ultra-potent pot not only makes Chrissy incredibly horny, but mutates her unborn child and imbues Warren with super-human strength.

The film then focuses on Warren's rivalry with the Cretins (former honours students who have turned into freaks after smoking one too many toxic joints) and Chrissy's rampaging miscarried foetus (which lives in the toilet and hides out in a vat of toxic waste). These situations provide the filmmakers with plenty of opportunities for hilarious sight gags, gory violence and camp action - and they deliver.

As with much of Troma's early output, this film has been crafted with considerable care and attention to detail, despite budgetary restrictions. The plot has its own ludicrous sense of logic and the direction is captivating - Kaufman, Herz and Richard W. Haines all share a directorial credit but the action sequences reek of Kaufman's mercurial style. I love the scene where Warren literally punches one of the cretins through the mouth, down into his chest. The special effects also deserve a mention. The creature effects used for Chrissy's mutant foetus are hilarious.

The Class of Nuke 'Em High does not quite match "The Toxic Avenger" for originality or style, but it is a great example of what Troma does better than any other studio and why they are still around 20 years later.

Troma amuses me, no doubt, but I really like the older stuff better. "Class of Nuke 'em High" is a great example. Nowadays it's like Troma's gotten TOO good at what they do, which sort of kills the charm of their special brand of filmmaking (Though I anticipate "Citizen Toxie"). This one's pretty funny in just about every way, completely ridiculous all around. I love that the pot grows right outside the power plant and only 1 or 2 workers notice. I love how all the signs featured look like someone glued cut-out construction paper letters to a piece of poster board. I love the dialogue from the fat guy who runs the power plant. I love the Cretins' incredible overacting, and who couldn't love the monster? The heroine's pretty cute, too, and this is just that special brand of cheezy charm Troma used to bring us....I guess it's tough to recommend it to anybody who doesn't already have a taste for this stuff, but if you do and haven't seen it, rent it! And check out the narrator's voice in the trailer when he announces the title....

This movie opens with a shot of Manhattan Island and then never features New York for the rest of the running time. Much like this paragraph.

Nuke 'em High is a Tromaville hellhole populated by a diverse range of characters, some annoying, some funny. The Cretins (a punk gang in the vein of Griff Tannen's gang from BTTF Part II) have a deal with the neighboring nuclear power plant to deal toxic weed grown on the grounds. The sludge from the plant has already infected the school's water supply and is having a terrifying effect on the students. But the toxic weed causes horny feelings, speedy demon pregnancy, and sporadic superhuman powers (other students being completely unaffected by it is one of an infinity of logic errors).

Wholesome couple Chrissy and Warren, affected by the contamination and toxic weed, battle with the Cretins in a stupendously disjointed and senseless plot, but that's missing the point. Anyone watching a Troma film for serious art will no doubt be disappointed and confused. These movies barely hang together and were made by amateurs that make Ed Wood look like Orson Welles. The cinematography is wobbly and uncertain, the acting just about passable, the sound is barely audible, and for some reason generic 80s rock music plays in the distance during every single scene.

But it entertains. Class of Nuke 'em High may be trash of the lowest order, but it has a lot of energy, a lot of ideas (no matter how underdeveloped or misunderstood), crazy and interesting characters, is frequently intentionally funny, has mediocre-to-decent gore effects, has a gorgeous female lead in Janelle Brady (a sort of 80s Katherine Heigl, who has sadly massively deteriorated since then - missing and presumed dead in Las Vegas), and is never once boring.

If that is all the movie sets out to do then does that make it a huge success? It led to a sequel and a spin-off - so yes?