The Film (3/5)

Ah, lovely to finally catch Troma’s sequel to their 1986 cult classic, Class of Nuke Em High. Not only was it exciting to finally catch the flick but to also get spoiled by Troma’s Blu-ray debut. After watching a bit, I realized that there was in fact a grainy picture with lots of scratches. Maybe that’s just me feeling like it should have looked better. This sequel was nowhere near as hysterical, grotesque or even half as entertaining as the original. But it was still super “somewhat” fun, if you catch my drift.

With the superb usage of both flashbacks and old footage from the original film, the viewer is right on track as far as what exactly is going on in Tromaville, after the local high school exploded, killing the sub humanoid creatures that once ran the schools hallways. Coincidentally, a new college has been built on the same grounds that the high school once stood.

Let me introduce you to the new Tromaville Institute of Technology, which is a very prestigious college if you hadn’t known already. Already being run by the many gangs of cretins who, on the daily, torment every student that creeps by them in the hallways. Students, in the meanwhile, are being tested for toxic waste, which could be in their systems. What waste? You may ask. Well, standing right next door to the institute stands the nuclear power plant, which is being run by Professor Holt, played by Lisa Gaye. Holt is secretly creating new sub humanoids that lack total emotion. The only problem here is that these “clones” have an extra mouth on their stomach, which evidently ends up turning into a creature that lives both inside and outside of their bodies. Gross, huh!?

Here’s where the viewer will meet school reporter Roger Smith, played by Brick Bronsky. Although he tries to lighten the day by throwing out jokes, most are just cut too short or seem stressed. After being recruited to join in on a sex experiment, Roger uncovers Professor Holt’s experiments and tries to save those that he can.

Personally, I’d blame the movie’s foul reviews towards the fact that seven writers just created a mash up. At points, this doesn’t even feel like a Troma film, but more one trying to get that result and failing.

I will stand firm on it’s 3 out of 5 star rating due to several entertaining moments which include naked boobs, a toxic squirrel, and some cheap but creative practical effects for extra gooey measure.

Audio/Video: 3/5

The one thing that was very enjoyable here is the actual Blu-ray release. As I mentioned before, there are scratches and speckles but the film’s 1.78:1/1080p AVC-encoded transfer is still surprisingly decent. I mean no harm in saying, for being a 25 year old film with this type of budget, it’s in really great shape. Colors are terrific and the detail looks grand. The film’s Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack is also worthy and tends to keep the dialogue super clean.

Extras: 4/5

The extras begin with commentary by actress Lisa Gaye, who is joined by someone pretending to be Lloyd Kaufman. Gaye also sticks around for a short interview and Lloyd Kaufman makes an appearance in a featurette dedicated to a trip to The Museum of Modern Art. There are always several music videos tied in and my personal favorite, Kaufman on set of Guardians of the Galaxy with director James Gunn.

Overall: 3/5

I’m definitely going to say to go ahead and give this a whirl. Especially if you’re a Kaufman fan. Just don’t get your panties in a bunch as I tried to warn you that this definitely isn’t the original!