The Horror Show
Return to Nuke ‘Em High
by Lloyd Kaufman
I've loved Troma since I was about nine when I first saw “The Toxic Avenger” and I was hooked. Troma is the longest running independent film company in modern history and, thankfully, they haven't changed. The series most associated with the company, apart from the toxic avenger, was kickstarted by the classic 1986 film “Class of Nuke 'Em High.” It was a wacky movie concerning Tromaville High School, a school recently plagued by toxic waste corruption. The students are turned into toxic waste monsters and calamity ensues. It was followed by two sequels. “Subhumanoid Meltdown” and “The Good, The Bad and The Subhumanoid”, turning the original into a full-fledged trilogy and remaining untouched until recently.
Although Troma was pushing “Toxic Twins,” the fifth in the Toxic Avenger series, as their next film, it was eventually announced that a two-part “Nuke 'em High” film would be their next project. After loving Poultrygeist, their last production back in 2006, I had been waiting anxiously for my favorite company to make their next mark on the world of cinema.
As with the later Toxic flicks, “Return to Nuke 'em High vol. 1”is opened by a narration/cameo by none other than comic book legend Stan Lee. He describes the following movie as an unconventional remake, which is essentially what it ends up being. Although it starts a new story from the ground up, it's an additional treat if you are already familiar with the previous movies. There is a lot of fun familiarity with it in regards to the pre-existing installments. Already being a fan of the concept isn't a requirement, however. It's all very coherent and easy enough to follow along with. It is important to start out with a reminder that this is only the first part of a two-part project. It's important to keep this in mind because, in the end, it's a big, fun setup.
The story primarily follows Lauren (Catherine Corcoran), a new girl in school. She is rich and disliked right off the bat by the other students because of this. She is especially harassed by Chrissy (Asta Paredes), who (implied heavily early on) has a crush on Lauren. Meanwhile, the glee club has been exposed and turn into “The Cretins.” They form a gang of ruthless trouble-makers, bent on killing and causing destruction. One of the students has a party at his house that is getting foreclosed on, which brings all of our characters together. The story continues from there in all sorts of different and disgusting ways.
More than anything, the movie serves as a parody of modern culture. Pretty much everything popular in the last six years is covered or referenced in some way. The jokes can be a little corny at times, but Troma is all about “Tongue in cheek” so it fits just fine. It starts off feeling legitimately like a 1980's horror film (although clearly updated) and has a feel to it that is unlike any other I've seen by the company. It feels more like a conventional movie than most they've done in recent years. That is not to say that it actually ever comes across as one. It's still very odd and downright insane. As is the Troma way, everything is brought up over the top and beyond. Even the smallest details end up being memorable and unique. Since “Poultrygeist” was a musical, I wasn't surprised to see the glee club “Cretin” characters getting some singing time in this one and it oddly fits in.
As with all Troma films, this one is packed with gross gags, nudity, mayhem and murder. (Although it all seems somewhat tame compared to Troma's past efforts.) This is to be expected given that this is merely an introduction to what is yet to come. “Vol. 1” gives us the setup; the characters, the story, etc. And it does a very good job keeping you entertained and excited for the second half. Seeing as it serves as an introduction, it never fully feels like a whole movie. It really does come across as one long beginning, but I'm ok with that.
It's really interesting to see Lloyd Kaufman's take on modern high school movies. It has enough similarities with mainstream slasher films to make it all the more interesting when things take a turn toward the weird. Even the “normal students” exhibit very little “normal” behavior and it deserves to take place in Tromaville where it is in good company.
The story is a little scattered and can tend to be a bit unfocused at times. But it really picks up towards the end and none of it is actually bad. If you can ignore some of the campier dialogue and purposefully formulaic characters, there is a lot of fun to be had. The strange thing that happens is that I found myself more interested in the side characters. While Lauren and Chrissy are the primary focus, it's the other students in school that have the more entertaining qualities and it's fun to see the little side stories that happen along the way. The melting scenes are really well done, in a way I haven't seen before.
There are plenty of Troma team favorites including Dan Snow and Lloyd Kaufman himself. It's always great to see familiar faces return.
Overall, I am happy with Troma's latest offering and am plenty excited to see how it concludes. With all the back story covered in this movie, the next one should be an absolute blast that will hopefully be bestowed upon the world soon. Troma is alive and well, exactly how I always want it to be. It isn't exactly a remake, more of a continuation. But, whatever it is, I dig it.
PJ Griffin, HMS
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