Class Of Nuke Em' High

Boy high school in the 80s really must have been a different beast.

Made just 2 years after Toxic Avenger Troma set it's sights on a less than traditional teen story involving a nuclear power plant woefully administered and spreading radioactive material to the less than quarter mile away high school leading to mutations, freak outs, and a monster in the basement. Now admittedly this didn't grab me in an iron clad vise like Toxie but don't let that discourage you, it's still a decent movie that's more for the fun of it all than to tell a strong story. It still has that off the wall Troma humor that you would expect as we see the various groups of students interact, our mostly straight laced couple Chrissy and Warren, the class clown Eddie, and the punked out rebels stirring shit constantly the Cretins. Again pushing the environmental message of Toxic Avenger and shows just how easy contamination can occur with nuclear waste, but thankfully in a fun campy way and not the slit your wrists horrific dread of Chernobyl. I do like our leads a fair bit with Chrissy getting my vote for best character and she's quite a screamer to boot, the Cretins though not as ridiculously overblown as the antagonists in Toxic Avenger have their moments and it must have been grand to act these roles, and I will be straight up the mutated monster design is honestly one of the best and most original I have seen in recent memory almost to the point I could recommend watching it just for that alone! The plot progression might seem meandering and there is hardcore setup/payoff moments but it really will depend on what keeps your attention, and for me it semi did. I was never bored with it and had a few good laughs so it's far from fluff! They definitely had more of a budget for effects and some of them are pretty damn amazing in my eyes, the cast looks like they were having some fun bringing these characters to life, and I truly did want to see just how it would all end. I am happy I saw it, and no doubt it has a good deal of fans, but it was just decent for me. 2.5 stars, 6/10, and we enter the 90s next time.