Greetings from Tromaville!
I have been waiting so long to say that in a review.
Yes I know it has been some time since my last review, but work has picked up so less time to watch movies, and the few I have watched have not given me enough to write a review. However, today I decided rather then watch a new movie, I would revisit one I had seen years ago but could not remember much about, one from the annals of B-Movie shlock, and more importantly, from the vault of the masters of the low budget crapfests, Troma.
But first a little backstory.
Troma Entertainment are essentially, the last true independent film studio. Founded in 1974 by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, the studio began with raunchy sex comedies such as The First Turn On! and Squeeze Play, but in 1985 they released The Toxic Avenger, a low budget and violent superhero movie about a nerd who is mutated by radioactive waste into 'the first superhero from New Jersey', Toxie, also known as the titular Toxic Avenger. The film was a hit and became Troma's most popular and well known film, even spawning three sequels and a short lived animated series. After the Toxic Avenger Troma changed it focus to more twisted fare, and with the release of Troma's War, an extremely violent but highly entertaining film satirizing the glamorization of war in the mid 80s, pretty much found themselves as far as possible outside of mainstream Hollywood. Since then they have remained on the outskirts of the industry, releasing both their own off beat films such as Tromeo and Juliet- a very loose interpretation of Romeo and Juliet set in modern times and with a lot more sex, body piercing and incest, and Poultrygeist, a musical involving zombie chickens, along with distributing other independently made films- for example, Troma released Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame's first movie, Cannibal: The Musical. Troma, and Lloyd Kaufman especially, are big proponents of independent filmmaking, with Kaufman releasing a number of books on the subject, such as Make Your Own Damn Movie, Direct Your Own Damn Movie, and All I learned About Filmmaking I Learned From the Toxic Avenger. Likewise, a large number of now big names in Hollywood got their starts in Troma films.
My own history with Troma is two fold- as a kid I watched The Toxic Crusaders animated series during its brief run, and years later, with the aid of the internet, discovered it's source material. I did some research into the movie and other Troma films, but my local video stores did not carry Troma films, so I was unable to watch any for a number of years- that is until I watched the trailer for Poultrygeist and was linked to a website where I could watch it for free. After that, I made sure to pick up a copy of the DVD, and though various torrent and streaming sites, watch a number of other Troma films, which I now also own on DVD. Likewise, I own a number of Kaufman's books and recommend them to anyone with an interesting in making their own film as they are quite informative and entertaining.
So ya, I'm a fan of Troma and a supporter of Kaufman's work, which leads us to today's film, the 1986 cult classic Class of Nuke Em High, made after Toxic Avenger, and, like it, a decent hit for the company. Does it hold up after all these years? Lets find out.
Plot
The film takes place in the fictional Tromaville, New Jersey, as do a number of Troma films. The city is the Toxic Waste capital of the world, a fact that was previously established in The Toxic Avenger. The local high school, aptly named Tromaville High School, is located dangerously close to the town's nuclear power plant, which is itself dangerously unsafe. Leaking chemicals have made their way out and into the school, or more specifically, the water supply, a fact we see when a student has a literal meltdown after drinking from a radioactive fountain. The radiation has brought out a number of other changes, such as mutating the honor society of the school into a violent gang of body pierced and brutal punks that call themselves The Cretins. The gang are also the school's resident dealers, and have started to sell special weed picked from near the power plant. One night at a party, our two leads, Warren and his girl friend Chrissy, two clean cut kids, are given a joint of the atomic weed from one of Warren's idiotic friends. While high the two have sex, and later that night, each experience crazy hallucinations. Soon after, Chrissy becomes pregnant but rather then give birth, instead spits out a strange larva like creature into the school's toilet, and Warren, mutating into a super strong version of himself, tracks down a pair of Cretins and brutally murders them. While seeking revenge the gang are expelled, a fact they do not take lightly. It all leads to a final showdown between Warren, the Cretins, and Chrissy's horribly mutated offspring in the hallways of the more aptly named Nuke Em High.
Thoughts
Firstly, when dealing with a Troma film, one must turn ones brain off to truly enjoy the film. Going in to anything the studio has done, one should never expect an Oscar contender. Hell, one should not expect anything, as low expectations mean you can be pleasantly surprised. With that said, this is a really enjoyable movie, at least in its badness. This is low budget shlock at its best, with poor acting, sub par effects, and a simple script at best.
But really, why is that a problem?
The actors, as with most Troma films, are not professionals, at least not in the Hollywood meaning of the word. So while none of them will be up for any awards any time soon, they do pretty well in their roles. Gil Brenton and Janelle Brady are likable in their roles as the clean cut leads who end up twisted by the radioactive pot, and the Cretins are enjoyably over the top both in their presentation and their acting. They are freakishly funny villains, and they don't need to be anything else. The effects, at least for the monster spawn of Warren and Chrissy, are pretty good when one considers they are practical effects and not computer animated- this is a real creature they built and you have to give Troma credit for that. As I am a big fan of practical effects in movie the look of the creature adds a lot of points on my book. As for the script, it involved a nuclear power plant and a high school, you take that and run with it and see what comes out of it. In its own strange way the film makes sense, which suffice to say, lots of mainstream Hollywood films can't say they do.
What makes this and the other Troma films I've seen work is the heart- after reading Kaufman's books and watching a number of 'Making of' videos on the DVDs, you can tell Lloyd really loves making movies. Likewise, as in a number of cases the casts are made up of fans who are paid very little if at all, you have to admire their spirt- these are people who love Troma films and want to be part of them. When you have a cast and a writer/director/producer who believe and care about a project the script can be utter shit, but the final product will be enjoyable because you will be able to see in every frame that the people working on the movie actually gave a shit. How many big budget movies have you watched where by the end you know that no one involved really cared? How many great actors have done pay check movies and given little to nothing to their performance? I'll take a bunch of untalented or semi talented fans and a possibly insane director who care about a bad movie over a big studio and big name actors who give less then a shit about their latest blockbuster.
Conclusion
The thing is, if you are not a fan of Troma or low budget movies in general, I won't be able to change your mind. Troma is the kind of studio whose films you either love or hate, there is little middle ground. And that's fine, because I like being part of an exclusive club- even if that club is made up of Kabuki clad cops, radioactive mutant super heros, penis monsters and zombie chickens, because for me, it's not the effects that count, or the star studded cast or even the million dollar budget. Give me a movie with heart, one made by film lovers for film lovers, and I'll be a happy Drew. If you are a fellow Tromite and you haven't watched this one yet, give it a shot. If you are interested in the studio, give this film a look-see. If you have no interest in Troma, that's your choice, but you never know, you might be missing out.
Oh, and most importantly, Never Give Up The Fight For Truly Independent Cinema!
3 Body-Pierced Bad-Asses out of 5
That's all out of me this time, hopefully I'll get back to a more regular schedule soon. Until then, I'm The Drew, and I Be Awesome.
Oh, one last thing- Troma has recently started to post their movies for free on youtube, as video stores rarely if ever stock their films. So check them out, and if you live them, buy the DVDs and show your support. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/user/Tromamovies
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