Return to Nuke 'Em High Volume 1

The Troma Team and Lloyd Kaufman have been on a roll ever since the 1997 release of Tromeo and Juliet. That film spawned a second golden age of Troma which gave us Terror Firmer, Citizen Toxie, and Poultrygeist. These are all some of the very best, most inspired films that the famed independent studio has put out in its nearly 40 years of existence. This golden age might have come to an end with Return to Nuke 'Em High Volume 1.

This remake (I guess?) of Troma's 1986 Class of Nuke 'Em High certainly has all of the signature Troma elements in place. Gore, gross-out humor, gratuitous nudity, and social satire are present in abundance. Something seems to be missing this time around, however. Perhaps the writing is not as sharp this time. I can't quite put my finger on it. The film is also noticeably slicker than Troma's usual efforts. Lloyd Kaufman is a noted devotee of 35mm film and all of his previous directing efforts were shot on film. I'm not sure about Return to Nuke 'Em High. It almost looks like it was shot digitally. There are also a number of CGI effects this time around, which I think is a first for Troma. The cast was quite good and the actors did their best with the uneven script. I liked the soundtrack quite a lot also.

To sum up, Return to Nuke 'Em High Part 1 will not rank among Troma's best. It does not compare to The Toxic Avenger, Terror Firmer, Citizen Toxie or Poultrygeist. It just didn't knock my socks off like those films did. However, it is an entertaining film with a few moments of brilliance. It is certainly better than Class of Nuke 'Em High Parts 2 and 3. Here's hoping that Part 2 is an improvement. The trailer looks promising.

This fourth installment of the Class of Nuke Em High series is another schlocky Troma movie that is made for fans of the production company and for fans of B-movies. Just like the other movies from the series, this one is best to be understood as a comedy, with perhaps a little bit of gore (but actually not too much). There's a lot of meta references to other Troma movies, so I recommend watching the Toxic Avenger series and the other Class of Nuke Em High movies first. There's also a lot of funny pop culture references, as well as several nods to current political issues.

In terms of production values, the new digital look I think suits Troma movies. The visuals are very colorful, making you feel like in a campy 90's high school flick. There's a lot of ingenuity in the jokes, but also a lot of slap stick.

A lot of folks don't like the new Cretins—which sing(!)—but I didn't mind them too much. The singing is so absolutely nonsensical that it just seemed right for a movie like this, which, after all, tries to be deliberately random.

What really makes "RETURN TO NUKE 'EM HIGH VOLUME 1" stand out within the oeuvre of Troma movies is the excellent cast. The two female leads are very relatable, and the two of them together have some real energy. I also felt that Clay von Carlowitz's deliberately over-the-top performance as Eugene was absolutely hilarious, with a good sense of physicality.

All in all a nice, short-lived, campy session of good-old Troma entertainment.

I will say I've never seen any of the other movies in this series, though I'm familiar with the Toxic Crusader cartoon from the 90s. This movie looks right up my alley but I unfortunately did not enjoy this at all. It's corny and goofy to the point of being really annoying. Not funny, not scary, not cool - a boring and aggravating waste of time. It actually pissed me off I watched this, especially with the cliffhanger ending.

Return to Nuke 'En Volume 1 (2013) is a movie that I recently watched on 123Movies. The storyline follows two ladies at Nuke 'Em High who fall in love. As they explore their new passion other teenagers are mutating into strange mutants. When the lovers come back to reality they will need to try and save humanity.

This movie is directed by Lloyd Kaufman (Toxic Avenger I-IV) and stars Asta Paredes (Eros Point), Catherine Corcoran (Terrifier), Clay von Carlowitz (Eros Point), Mike Baez (Hitbaby) and John Renna (Slime City Massacre).

The best part of this movie is that Stan Lee is the narrator. This film really misses the essence of the originally Nuke 'Em High trilogy which had creative outfits and backdrops. The graffiti was always cool. This missed those key aspects. The acting and writing is awful. I will say the power plant scenes were hilarious and there's plenty of nudity from beginning to end. There's also a duck 🦆 sequence that's hilarious and a razor blade scene that's well done. The soundtrack also missed the mark.

The original trilogy is so bad it's good...this is just bad. I would score this a 3.5-4/10 but still recommend seeing it once.

How to review a movie like this? The first minute or so we get a fast-forward recap of all the previous Nuke 'Em High movies. The nuclear plant was destroyed and an organic food plant has been build on top of the ruins. A new girl starts school. She's given a hard time by some cute tough chick. On Taco Tuesday the food plant provides the ingredients. All the kids who eat it become mutants. The new girl as a pet duck that also becomes infected and infects the new girl in the craziest way. In the meantime new girl and tough girl have fallen for each other and now both become mutants as well as the school's singing club which have become The Cretins.

It's been years since I've seen a Troma movie. I never was much of a fan. And Return to Nuke 'Em High Volume 1 isn't going to turn me into one either. It's got great gore scenes, very good nudity from the two gorgeous leads: Catherine Corcoran and Asta Paredes. That's about it. The humor wouldn't be funny to 10 year olds. It's more interested in being offensive and dumb, as expected. It even manages to ruin the two main characters. It's impressive though to see a young cast so committed to doing whatever is asked of them. A shame Troma doesn't know what to with them. Still I'll probably check out part 2 just so see more of Cathy and Asta.