Tromaville, New Jersey is an antiquated town boasting a population of a mere 15,000 civilians. Its own high school, the aptly named Tromaville High, is conveniently located near a nuclear power plant, which workers are constantly monitoring for any future trouble down the line. One afternoon, a new strain of marijuana, powered by the power plant's radiation, is discovered by the school's drug dealing gang, who decide to start circulating and selling the product to Tromaville High's populace. After young couple Warren and Chrissy partake in smoking a newer "joint," they begin to undergo strange transformations, which could lead to more disastrous consequences over time.
You'll have to forgive me for echoing what I said in my review for Poultrygeist two years prior to today's entry, but I feel that it bears repeating. Troma Entertainment, the independent film company founded in 1974 by Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman that still thrives to this day, are just wonderful. They are filthy, sleazy, a little bit mental, and more often than not, sport an incredibly juvenile sense of humor. All of that aside, their main goal is to entertain the audience, especially their primarily rabid fanbase. I've always viewed them as the long lost cousins of "trash" purveyors such as John Waters and the heavy metal band Gwar, and I'd even say that they are the cinematic equivalent to a record and live performance by the latter. Every time that I expose myself to a new Troma movie, I find something worth remembering, and with the lone exception of Bloodsucking Freaks (which I personally found to be a little too off-putting), I always come back either liking or loving the final product. Class of Nuke 'Em High (having a similar title to 1982's Class of 1984 was not a coincidence) doesn't have the same amount of charm as their bigger hits like The Toxic Avenger or the quite underrated Cannibal! The Musical (made by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone while they were in college), but it does make for a damn good time.
Your first instinct when firing up this picture is to smile. And honestly, who can blame you? Most of Nuke 'Em's cast will convince you that the primary characters from flicks such as Fast Times At Ridgemont High and Porky's were given a lot of acid and drugs undiscovered by mankind. These people then stumbled into this rather small town's mainlands, and figured it was too much work to go back home, thus deciding to stick around and try to fit in. It also takes a minimum of six minutes before our first defenestration scene, and only several seconds more for our first fatality (complete with corpse decomposition). As time goes by, we're allowed time to familiarize ourselves with the different, if not unabashedly cliched cliques on the school grounds, which makes it all the more interesting when things start to go south and the nuclear waste's effects take their toll on our two main protagonists from these various groups. And when I say that things "go south," I mean that the red-colored fluids start flying and bodies warp in ways that they should not.
Speaking of blood and guts, I'll give Troma props for their practical effects. They might look outrageous and over the top, but they're fairly well done considering that they have the furthest thing from high budgets (the amazingly-titled Redneck Zombies was made for a meager ten thousand dollars). The influence on later "gross out" horror movies, specifically Eli Roth's Cabin Fever, can not be denied here. What I wish could be denied was one sequence during the final third of the movie, though it isn't the fault of the feature's filmmakers and/or script writers. The antagonists of Class Of Nuke 'Em High decide to take over Tromaville High School by breaking in and shooting up the place before sending the rest of the students into a panic. I do realize that this was made thirteen years before those horrible events at Columbine High School took place, and that this film is more of a satire than anything (as are a good amount of Troma films), but that doesn't mean it isn't a tad bit on the uncomfortable side of things. Even so, keep this sequence intact and free from the demands of truly whiney people who scream with sincerity "remove this blasphemy!" Don't cave in to peer pressure!
Oh, and those antagonists? They've given themselves the title of "The Cretins," and they are the things that a cosplayer's wet dreams are made of. A wild send up of punk rock and motorcycle gang culture, The Cretins look and act as ridiculous as their name implies, switching from asshole troublemakers to coldhearted villains at the flick of a switch. If I had to pick one specific favorite out of the surprising sizable pack, solely based on looks and personality, it would be Brad Dunker's freakish-looking (even by this group's standards) Gonzo. The man looks certifiably insane, carrying around a giant bone, a mouthguard, and sporting the largest septum piercing you may ever see in your lifetime.
So, this is the part where I'm supposed to say something clever and give my final thoughts. Maybe I'll say that it's an incredibly dumb film that is self-aware of its own flaws, but doesn't seem to care and delights in it? Then again, this company and its own list of releases are nearly critic-proof, and trying to do an honest review on a film like this or Terror Firmer, their take on the "meta" movie, just seems banal. Well, how about this? If you don't have access to streaming services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime, Troma themselves have made Class Of Nuke 'Em High, along with a myriad of other pictures they're distributed throughout the decades, available to stream online for the low, low price of zero dollars! So if I've piqued your interest on this frantic little picture, give it a try right below. You're either going to thank me or scorn me later anyway.
Tomorrow, we're flying into the familiar realm of South Korean horror with Bedevilled!
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