I was lucky enough to visit the Prince Charles Cinema in London recently to see the Lloyd Kaufman presented double feature of The Class of Nuke ‘Em High and The London Premier of his new master work; Return to Nuke ‘Em high volume 1. After viewing The Class of Nuke ‘Em high and enjoying a fantastic Q & A from Lloyd Kaufman I was chomping at the bit to get stuck into Return to Nuke ‘Em high…I wasn’t disappointed!
From the slick opening credits right through to the end of the volume, the classic Troma style flows and flows. Now Return to Nuke ‘Em high isn’t a sequel so to speak, or a reboot, but more of an up to date retelling of the fantastic story. A gay couple takes the lead roles in RTNH; it probably helps the appeal with Troma’s fan base that they are a super hot lesbian couple with a super extended sex scene!
Mutated ducks, bodies melting, tits, ultra violence, slap tick gags and lesbianism are all covered in the usual Troma style. How the fuck Troma keep coming up with new insane ways of killing off the cast I do not know! Lactating acid/toxic waste has got to be a bad way to die…
The cast of RTNH is brilliant. The new Cretins are mean, violent and funny as hell. Instead of the honor society, we have the Tromaville high school glee club that sings beautifully as the kill their way through Tromaville. Chrissy (Asta Paredes), Lauren (Catherine Corcoran), Zack (Zac Amico), Principal Westley (Babette Bombshell) and poor Mr. Chips (Adam P. Murphy) shine through for me. Great characters with an obvious love for what they are doing.
Being released in volumes, RTNH moves at a slightly different pace to what I’m used to with current Troma films. Longer sex scenes, (Thanks Lloyd!) and allowance for more gags and violence; exactly what I want from a Troma film.
The move over to digital film also shows through in RTNH, More digital effects and some seriously brutal deaths. It’s a strange feeling at first, but over the course of the film there is still plenty of cool low budget effects and deaths too.
There are some great cameos in RTNH, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone as I loved the surprises but some great returns from some of the loved faces from Tromaville. I can tell you though; Cigar face (Toxic Avenger) and Professor Holt (Class of Nuke ‘Em high 2: Sub-humanoid meltdown) are both present, plus a few more characters to boot.
I really enjoyed RTNH and can’t wait for volume 2. If you get a chance to see it on the big screen, defiantly do. There’s something magical about watching a Troma film at the cinema and I’d encourage anyone who gets the opportunity to grab it with both hands.
