Troma Films, 1986

starring: Janelle Brady, Gil Brenton, Robert Prichard and Pat Ryan
directed by: Richard Haines and Michael Herz

the plot: Town planning was never a strong suit in Tromaville, where the local nuclear power plant is located right next to the high school. When toxic waste starts leaking from the plant into the high school, the plant manager (Ryan) initiates a cover-up so that his facility is not investigated. However, the radioactive contamination does not go unnoticed at the school, where students are melting and throwing themselves out of windows, and the honor society has turned into a vicious motorcycle gang called The Cretins. Not even high school sweethearts Warren (Brenton) and Chrissy (Brady) can escape the effects of the radiation. After smoking an irradiated joint at a party, the couple has sex for the first time, with disastrous effects. Warren temporarily becomes a hulking, monstrous brute and Chrissy gives birth to a green, wriggly nuclear monster. Warren vows revenge on Spike (Prichard), leader of the Cretins and the dude responsible for selling the extra potent pot. Spike and his gang have other plans, though, and they violently take control of the school. But none of the kids is prepared for the monster lurking in the school’s fallout shelter.

why its good: Like most Troma flicks, “Class of Nuke ’Em High” is terrible, but it’s terrible in a somewhat watchable way. Not wanting to mess with the success of their first hit film, 1985’s “The Toxic Avenger,” Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz and the rest of the Troma crew went ahead and mutated a whole high school instead of just one hapless nerd. The end result: a goopy mishmash of slapstick comedy, gratuitous gore and some rather half-assed commentary on nuclear power. The nuclear mayhem starts immediately, with a poor, abused nerd unwittingly drinking some toxic sludge from a water fountain. Within minutes, he’s projectile vomiting green slime, choking fellow students and tossing himself out the window. It only goes downhill from there, but the really hysterical, over-the-top gore doesn’t show up until the end, when a giant nuke monster starts dispatching the Cretins with bloody aplomb. Sure, the acting is terrible, the dialogue atrocious and the comedic bits not so funny, but the movie more than makes up for it with its fun, anything-goes attitude. “Nuke ’Em High” went on to spawn two sequels, further proof that we need constant reminders about the dangers of nuclear plants.

why you should own it: Troma devotees likely already have “Class of Nuke ’Em High” in their collection. Otherwise, it’s a rental, even though Troma’s DVD features a bevy of extras, including commentary by studio head Lloyd Kaufman and actors Prichard and Brady, along with deleted scenes and other features.