Class of Nuke 'Em High

Plot synopsis:
The film follows the events that unfold at Tromaville High School in New Jersey, which is conveniently located next to a nuclear power plant. An accident at the nuclear plant is covered up by plant owner Mr Paley who does not want the facility shut down by the safety commission. The accident causes a radioactive water leak which ends up gruesomely killing a student at the school after the tainted water reaches the drinking fountain. The gang of the school, called "The Cretins," who were originally part of the honor society, torments the school, and it's implied that they have been turned into violent psychopaths by the runoff from the plant. They pick leaves from a radioactive marijuana plant located in the yard of the nuclear plant and sell it to Eddie for $10. At his "indoor bikini beach party" that night, Eddie pressures his friend Warren and Warren's girlfriend Chrissy into smoking the radioactive joint, but it is accidentally ruined by the dancers before anyone else can try it. The mutated drug shows itself to have potent aphrodisiac effects, leading to Warren and Chrissy having sex in Eddie's loft. However, that same night, both of them have disturbing nightmares about hideously mutating, though these effects are seemingly gone by morning. Some time later, Chrissy discovers that she is pregnant, and spits a little monster into a nearby toilet. The creature travels through the water pipes and lands in a barrel filled with radioactive waste, and mutates into a bigger creature. Meanwhile, Warren, tired of the Cretins' constant harassment, ends up going on a radiation-fueled rampage, killing two of them, with no memory of the event once he comes to his senses. The Cretins, expelled from the school and cut off from their customer base, assault the principal and forces him to use the school's Radiation Alarm to cause an evacuation, letting the Cretins bar the building and occupy it. Capturing Chrissy as bait for Warren, the leader of the gang holds her hostage in the basement and plans to kill her in front of Warren, only to be interrupted by the now adult monster.
Warren goes into the school to save her, and he discovers the adult monster, who kills every one of the Cretins. Warren finally zaps the beast with a laser in the physics laboratory, and he and Chrissy flee from the school, right after the monster explodes along with the school, also killing Mr. Paley inside. The students celebrate victory as over the loudspeakers that the school will be shut down for remodeling. While reconstruction is taking place, one of the monster "babies" appears squirming through the remains of the destroyed school. The screen freeze frames on the creature as the screen inverts, shortly before fading out and the credits roll.

Tags: cult, violence, psychedelic, absurd, satire, humor

Review:
Class of Nuke 'Em High is one of Troma's best loved and most seen films.
This film helped to define the Troma formula that crap addicts the world over would grow to love - gory violence, gratuitous nudity and black humour, all mixed with a large dose of irony and an incredible lack of taste.Class of Nuke 'Em High was released just after "The Toxic Avenger" and it shares a similar nuclear theme.
This ultra-potent pot not only makes Chrissy incredibly horny, but mutates her unborn child and imbues Warren with super-human strength.The film then focuses on Warren's rivalry with the Cretins (former honours students who have turned into freaks after smoking one too many toxic joints) and Chrissy's rampaging miscarried foetus (which lives in the toilet and hides out in a vat of toxic waste).
The creature effects used for Chrissy's mutant foetus are hilarious.The Class of Nuke 'Em High does not quite match "The Toxic Avenger" for originality or style, but it is a great example of what Troma does better than any other studio and why they are still around 20 years later..
Movies like this and the Toxic Avenger played a big part in my childhood and thanks to Lloyd Kaufman's influence I am the sick demented horror fan I am today...as if it's a bad thing.
True, on the surface there is enough melting mutants, gore and exposed female flesh to appeal to the lowest common denominator, however, most Troma movies (like most good movies) make a comment on the world we live in and following the tradition of 50's radioactive monster movies, CONH explores the fears society has towards expanding and growing youth cultures who reject the ideas of the generation before them, just like the fear Rock and Roll created in the 50's that has never fully subsided and our fears about the saftey of radiation, the media and our education system.
When it comes to stupid trash films, Troma have no equal; and while the vast majority of their output is absolute rubbish, now and again you'll find a few gems in the rough; and unlikely as it may seem, Class of Nuke 'Em High is one such gem.
The weed grows faster than normal; and there's a reason for that, as toxic waste has contaminated it and pretty soon the kids of Tromaville High start acting rather strangely...If this film was made by any other production company; I'd probably say it has a point to make about the advent of nuclear power, but since this is Troma it's clear that they've simply lifted a common fear and turned it into a schlock film.
It's good to see a film like this that has a sense of humour, and absolutely nothing in the film is to be taken seriously; shown best by the fact that the central location is 'Tromaville', and is the 'toxic chemical capital of the world'!
The special effects towards the end get a little silly, but it's all in good fun; and while this movie won't be to everyone's tastes, if you enjoy schlock horror - you'll love this!.
The mutations, mutilations and monsters all look good.I've not seen enough Troma films to compare this with, but it's fun for at least one viewing.
The nuclear plant near the school is completely bad-managed and the consequences are terribly funny: at the beginning of the movie, a weak-looking geek turns into a drooling monster after drinking nuclear-polluted water and this makes him become outstandingly strong -- though dead and melt, after jumping through a first floor window!
In Tromaville, New Jersey (Where all Troma movies take place) a power plant is across the street from the local high school.
a good film if you can stand the cheesy acting and weirdness to it.I was terrified of it when i was a kid and even when i watch it now i think its a mad film.The effects are laughable by todays standard but who cares.the film has a really cool 80s feel to it which sorta makes it.i remember asking my uncle what was raising from under the lads blanket when i was a kid which he replied a snake.watching it now i saw it was his cock,that was a nice idea i think you'll agree.this is a film i always seem to put on when I'm bladdered and miss the end most times in all its a fun film to watch were you don't have to think to much about the story.class..
For instance, when Warren is suddenly turned into a radioactive monster that goes around killing cretins (a la Toxic Avenger), well, that's a pretty cool scene.
The film just never reaches the brilliance of some of Troma's other classics, like my favorite, Monster in the Closet (that is much sillier, if less gory (since it's a kid flick) and has a much better screenplay, where everything works out).
It looks to me as if the creators of "The Class Of Nuke 'Em High" wanted it to become a "cult" film, but it ends up as any old high school B-movie, only tackier.
I end every school year by watching this masterpiece, a must see for anyone who likes darkly comical movies, or Troma flicks..
There's even more trouble as a vicious gang of teen bikers called "The Cretins" are becoming a menace to society in the town and there's also some nuclear abominations ready to kill.A cult Sci-fi horror comedy hit from Troma who made the cult masterpiece "The Toxic Avenger".
It's everything you expect from a typical Troma movie with bad acting, funny writing, laughs, sheer tastelessness, and splatter abound with some good make-up effects including the nuclear monster.
Look for R.L. Pat Ryan ( a.k.a. the mayor from "The Toxic Avenger") and Lloyd Kaufman ( head of the studio) in small roles in this movie.Also recommended: "Class of 1984", " Battle Royale", " The Toxic Avenger", "C.H.U.D", "Slugs", "The Crazies", "Akira", " Nightmare City ( a.k.a. City of the Walking Dead)", " The Being", " Basket Case", " Bad Taste", " The Stuff", "Street Trash", " The Incredible Melting Man", " Brain Damage", " From Beyond", " Toxic Avenger 2", "Toxic Avenger 3", "Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger 4", "The Children", " Rabid Grannies", " Scream"..
Your typical 80s Troma film is a trashy low-budget piece of B-movie excess featuring lousy acting, lame humour, comic-book violence, gratuitous nudity, bad music, and even worse fashion; generally, this kind of exceedingly puerile, deliberately crappy nonsense has me cursing the day Lloyd Kauffman was born, but very occasionally I find that the Troma formula actually delivers a pretty good time, as is the case with Class of Nuke 'Em High, which displays just enough manic inventiveness and anarchic energy to ensure that boredom is never an option.
Lots of gloopy gore and the impressive sight of lovely Janelle Brady in (and out of) her bikini also go a long way to make this one much easier to endure.Janelle plays Chrissie, one of the students at Tromaville High School, which lies in the shadow of the town's nuclear facility.
Of course, as everyone knows, unprotected sex while high on radioactive reefer can result in the birth of an ugly slug-baby only a few days later, a creature that can rapidly grow into a massive monster given the right environment—such as a warm basement full of toxic waste, just like the one under Tromaville High!With wee gags, fart gags, a gang of outrageously daft punks, lots of ugly people, a swim-wear frat party, and plenty of surprisingly decent make-up effects (including the monster punching right through a woman's head), this clearly isn't high art, but if you're only going to watch one Troma film in your life, and you cant lay your grubby paws on Poultrygeist or The Toxic Avenger, you might as well make it this..
Class of Nuke 'em High may be trash of the lowest order, but it has a lot of energy, a lot of ideas (no matter how underdeveloped or misunderstood), crazy and interesting characters, is frequently intentionally funny, has mediocre-to-decent gore effects, has a gorgeous female lead in Janelle Brady (a sort of 80s Katherine Heigl, who has sadly massively deteriorated since then - missing and presumed dead in Las Vegas), and is never once boring.If that is all the movie sets out to do then does that make it a huge success?
Aside from obvious similarities to The Toxic Avenger's storyline, I think this is a good movie that should be checked out.The acting is awful but hilarious.
"Class of Nuke 'em High" is bottom-of-the-barrel horror film-making, with dialogs so dumb they hurt your ears and make-up effects that give a whole new meaning to the word tasteless.
I've seen a few other Troma movies which had more by way of makeup and special effects than this did, but if you truly enjoy campy horror flicks (if you even want to classify this as horror), I guess this could be for you..
There's some sort of inherent satire of the high school comedy going on, but nothing is ever taken to the extreme where it would be at best hilarious or at worst offensive.The special effects look especially cut rate.
When one of the nerds-turned-cretins is accused by his girlfriend of caring too much about money, his quick response is something to the effect of, "That's what you get for dating a yuppie." I wanted more of that and less endless footage of the cretins terrorizing the school.Class of Nuke 'Em High shouldn't be anybody's introduction to Troma.
A few months ago they were decent kids but weed cultivated in the toxic sludge from the nearby nuclear plant have driven them to rabid craziness and soon a toxic monster will be unleashed.Class of Nuke 'Em High is a Z grade film from Troma but it still manages to get some kind of social message across through all that gory violence from the high school bullies, tits n ass, bad taste comedy, a monster on the loose and some atrocious acting..
I remember discovering this film in the horror section seeing that VHS cover which is cool looking, of course I couldn't see the film because I was too young back then to rent it out and I couldn't stay up for "USA Up All Night", but now that I was old enough this film it was a pleasant surprise because like the radioactive waste going though the school it was contagious fun.I really like the premise which is absurd which makes it all the more funny, having a nuclear power plant built a mere few blocks from the high school; what idiot thought that was a good idea is any ones guess (same could be said about building plants in general).
So yeah, the whole high school has unsafe written all over it as we see the plant has more leaks than a discount Yakut and is causing nasty side effects to some students.The effects are great really like the make up effects and design on the radioactive creature, that looks like something out of the "Swamp Thing" comic series; as well as the gore effects which are on par; like at the very beginning some random nerd mutates and burns out which was nasty but a cool effect all the same.
From her outfit but mainly just her personal which is feisty and sizzling bad.There are just lots of funny memorable moments I'll say a few I like I certain fight scenes from a fight in the restroom which is decent, it's not like the battle from "The Warriors" but it worked all the same, the funny thing about that was the fact Spike stupidly keep punching the wall, but then again when you fight in limited space that can happen.Or one with a mutated Warren against some gang members which was solid as it delivered on the gore effects and had my favorite kill in the film where we see Warren bury his fist in the throat of a gang member which was jaw dropping, you gotta see it to believe it.But of course my favorite scene is the evacuation of the school itself which was really exciting and hilarious; yeah if I ever heard there was going to be a nuclear meltdown at the school I'd bolt like hell too.
Class of Nuke em High is probably my favorite of all of the Troma films.
The ludicrous plotting of CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH sees a nuclear power plant situated right next to an American high school, where the regular leaks lead to contamination of the students.
I wasn't quite sure what to make of this one, given that I'm no huge fan of Troma movies, but I'm pleased to say it's the best of their productions yet.Things start off on a hilariously blackly comic note, with a geeky student coming into contact with toxic waste and melting from the inside out.
The setup: The pupils at a high school next to a nuclear power plant start acting and looking strange after buying contaminated drugs from a plant worker.The verdict: The first half is actually quite good, as it occasionally borders on being a clever satire.
Following the surprising success of The Toxic Avenger (1984), cult, Z- movie proprietors Troma Entertainment stuck with the toxic-mutation-in- high-school theme and blended it with the zero-taste, smutty humour of the likes of Porky's (1982) to bring us Class of Nuke 'Em High.
Long a cult favourite, this is hopefully due a critical re-evaluation, because if you can look past the many burp and fart gags (although admittedly these probably got the biggest laugh from me), there is an energetic movie underneath, and certainly one of Troma's best works.Tromaville High School has been overrun by formerly respectful honours students, who now dress like punks and sell weed in the school corridors, calling themselves 'The Cretins'.
Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986)** (out of 4) Troma tries to re-capture the magic of THE TOXIC AVENGER but doesn't quite come close.
The film takes place at Tromaville High School where several students get contaminated by a nuclear power plant located nearby.
CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH isn't a good movie but I doubt anyone walking into a Troma movie is expecting one.
For the most part the film delivers everything a Troma fan would want but it just doesn't quite reach the levels of the studio's best work, which is of course THE TOXIC AVENGER.
If you loved The Toxic Avenger then you'll like Class of Nukem High.
The humor is juvenile and stupid and all the better for it; this movie requires that there be bizarre characters, but this goes a step further by making it like a cross between Return of the Living Dead and Lean on Me. The bullies are ass-wipes who are decked out so much you can't see anything like they actually look like (one of which donning a nose ring to rival any one ever worn or seen), and all of the main "good" characters are (near) defenseless dweebs and sweethearts or bad comic relief.And what it comes down to is this - Class of Nuke 'Em High is far from any high art- even its repetitive and sometimes intrusive generic 80's rock track grows thin after the opening theme song- but it's a fantastic party movie.
While it may not be as good as The Toxic Avenger or Tromeo and Juliet, this is one of Troma's best films!
The only other thing I remembered about the movie was boobs, and the hilarious grade F student Gonzo.Well fast forward almost 30 years later and watching Nuke Em High again was like seeing a familiar friend after they had moved back into town after being away for so many decades.
Tromeo and Juliet, The Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke Em high are all the best of the worst horror films and they don't pretend to be anything but.
!!!POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!A New Jersey Nuclear Power Plant leaks some radioactive waste onto a nearby High School, causing students to transform into punk rock psychos and causes girls to give birth to mutants.
Haines, Michael Herz & Lloyd Kaufman as Samuel Weil I thought Class of Nuke 'Em High was better than most of the crap Troma make although that by no means makes it a masterpiece, far from it.
It moves along at a fair pace, something is always happening even if it's not very entertaining at times, it doesn't take itself too seriously & it works on a basic level.I can't quite understand why it took three people to direct Class of Nuke 'Em High (& four people to write it, four!?) because it's a pretty shoddy looking production throughout but is still better than most Troma films.
The acting was variable but again better than the usual crap I've come to expect from the average Troma film.Class of Nuke 'Em high is an OK way to pass 90 odd minutes, it's not brilliant & has virtually no story but there's enough twisted & depraved Troma nonsense here to make it worth a watch.
Okay, like everything that comes from Troma, this is not for the faint of heart and if you don't like senseless violence in your movies then steer clear of CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH.
I absolutely adore the 'Toxic Avenger' series, but this weak offering by the Troma people didn't make any sense, and it had me yawning all the time.A leaking nuclear plant (and the growing weed next to it) makes the youngsters of Tromaville High go nuts, which causes them to join a gang, have sex, explode, and whatever.
It wasn't until "Combat Shock" that the movies got a little weird, but "The Toxic Avenger" and "Class of Nuke 'Em High" really started the whole toxic love obsession that has become associated with Mr. Kaufman and Troma."Class of Nuke 'Em High" is a simple story about Tromaville and it's one big problem, the nearby nuclear powerplant is infecting all the town's weed with toxic materials.