Class of Nuke 'Em High

People seem to unfairly dismiss most of Troma's output. True, on the surface there is enough melting mutants, gore and exposed female flesh to appeal to the lowest common denominator, however, most Troma movies (like most good movies) make a comment on the world we live in and following the tradition of 50's radioactive monster movies, CONH explores the fears society has towards expanding and growing youth cultures who reject the ideas of the generation before them, just like the fear Rock and Roll created in the 50's that has never fully subsided and our fears about the saftey of radiation, the media and our education system. Viewed as a piece of paranoid social commentry, Class of Nukem High is a classic.

If only my highschool was like this...eerily predicting a violent chaotic state of highschools in the future loaded with biker gangs and mutants. I first saw this movie on USA's "Up All Night" back in the early 90's when I was about 8 years old and it became one of my favorite late night viewings especially since I was very heavy into the Toxic Crusaders. Movies like this and the Toxic Avenger played a big part in my childhood and thanks to Lloyd Kaufman's influence I am the sick demented horror fan I am today...as if it's a bad thing. 10/10

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?

I'm glad I was part (I was very young but still) of the Troma boom. Troma is a production company well known for crappy and sometimes cheesy movies. This isn't the exception! Oh no, "Class of Nuke 'Em High" has the winning formula that has given Troma a name in the business. We have cheap but likable f/x, glorious and gratuitous nudity, kick-ass action, cheap music , and campy acting. This is my kind of entertainment. Thank you USA's "Up All Night" for educating me on crap cinema. I got majors thanks for it.

This movie has plenty of good black humor and intense action a la Troma. So you get a sui generis cheap action flick with the occasional mix of blood and boobs.

No, don't expect a typical high school although in my teenager years I expected my school to look like this! A classic in Troma. If you want to get in the ideology of this noble production company, watch "Class of 'Nuke Em High". Jeez, even the title fits with everything.

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.