Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Horrorfest 2017: Class of Nuke 'em High

You'd think I would've seen one of the most famous titles from Lloyd Kaufman's infamous Troma Productions, but I only now got around to CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH thanks to Jim Jarmusch. This 1986 horror comedy plays a little like what might happen if THE BREAKFAST CLUB took on mutated monsters. Make sure the budget is micro and the laughs are low brow, and that's Troma for you. Love 'em or hate 'em… they exist?
To be fair this one seems a little less bargain basement than the worst I've seen from Troma, complete with nice monster effects and cool matte paintings. The story involves a high school contaminated by the massive nuclear power plant in its backyard. The former honors students become a degenerate gang called the Cretins.

A (relatively) clean cut couple (Janelle Brady and Gil Brenton) also fall under the effects of radiation, leading to a mutated teen pregnancy and all manner of other shenanigans. It's like an after school special on acid, instead of one about acid.

The movie has a lively soundtrack of punk tunes, a notable perk for a low budget flick like this, and even though the minds of the filmmakers seem to be in the gutter, their hearts are obviously in the right place, because in spite of everything the movie is pretty fun, and everyone looks like they're having fun making it.

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