CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH

1986

Co-written and Co-directed by Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman, and Richard W. Haines

A.K.A. Young Mutants in Love

Plot Troubles are brewing in Tromaville. The local nucular power plant is starting to be run poorly by its new director, whose main concern is to keep people from thinking there's something wrong. However, mild radioactive leaks have made their way to nearby Tromaville High. Violence is on the rise. THe honor society have become a gang of punks calling themselves "The Cretins" One nerdish student has a reaction to contaminated water and goes crazy, jumping out a window. Where's Toxie when you need him? Next we meet Chrissy and Warren, a young couple who are going steady, yet too shy to "advance" the relationship further. Warren's buddy wants to help him out. He also wantes Chrissy and Warren to go to the big party, so Chrissy's hot friends will come too. He's a bit sex-obsessed, obviously. To get Warren to loosen up, he buys some pot from the Cretins for him. Little does he know hoever, that the Cretins have been growing the weed at the local power plant. A real "nucular high". Har har. The reefer does the trick, and Chrissy and Warren end up having sex at what appears to be the largest party in the history of parties. I should know, I'm a partiologist. After the party, the couple start having bizarre nightmares. Warren dreams of having a 4-foot tall boner and a shrivled up face, while Chrissy dreams she's VERY pregnant, with something with a very wriggly tail sticking out of her belly button. Remember kids: just say NO! THe next day, upon finding out that Chrissy also felt ill effects from the wacky tobacky, he learns where his buddy got the ganja from. Later, he catches the Cretins trying to make a kid buy some of their product. Enraged, he starts fighting them. One puny preppy kid against three hooligans. yeah, it's not pretty. This is last straw for the principal, and he expels the whole gang. Warren goes home hurt, and starts mutating for real, getting his face all mutated and stuff. Chrissy is feeling real effects too, and gets sick in gym class. She ends up puking up a baby monster in the toilet before being rushed to the hospital. Funny, it doesn't look like prom night to me... Crazy Mutant Warren goes on a rampage, killing a couple of Cretins before going home and mysteriously de-mutating, becoming regular Warren again, and conveniantly forgetting the whole thing. Chrissy miraculously gets better too. The Cretins haven't forgotten things, though. They storm the school, faking a meltdown warning, and trapping Warren and Chrissy in the school with them. The corrupt plant manager'll have none of that, however, and marches in unafraid. To complete this warzone, we have the monster-baby, who's now suddenly all grown up and more than a little blood thirsty... Watching this movie, it's inevitable that you end up comparing it with the Toxic Avenger, Troma's earlier flagship creation. Tromaville, radioactive waste, and an avenging monster are all earmarks of both movies. yet it's evident to me that this is the later, more polished product of the two. The humor is much less reliant on sight-gags, the story less dated and better written, and most importantly, the special effects are drastically improved upon. In fact, I'd say the grown-up monster is probably the best looking creature that Troma has ever made.

Rating I give Class of Nuke 'Em High: Four Rotting Shambling Corpses out of Five Don't overlook this film at first glance.

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