Year of Release: 1986
Directors: Richard W. Haines, Michael Herz and Samuel Weil
Writers: Lloyd Kaufman, Richard W. Haines, Mark Rudnitsky and Stuart Strutin
Starring: Janelle Brady, Gil Brenton, Robert Prichard, Pat Ryan
This is a comedy horror high school movie from cult production company Troma Entertainment. In the town of Tromaville, New Jersey, the local high school is only a quarter of a mile away from the nuclear power station. The honor society have transformed into violent mindless thugs who call themselves "the Cretins". They sell the students contaminated drugs, which cause strange changes in nice high school couple Chrissy (Brady) and Warren (Brenton). To make matters worse, there is a baby monster in the basement which has grown into a big monster.
The film is technically bad on almost every level (although the monster does look pretty impressive), the acting is atrocious, the jokes are bad and it is awash with gratuitous violence. However, none of that matters, because the film is actually a lot of fun. The filmmakers are in on the joke. They obviously knew their audience and it's perfectly tuned to the midnight movie cult crowd. It zips along merrily enough and it never gets boring. If your a fan of cult cinema or are just looking for a campy fun movie to laugh at with your friends then you'll probably enjoy it.
There is a kind of satirical undercurrent to it about nuclear safety (the staff of the plant are depicted almost unanimously as being completely incompetent or crooked, even though it is full of posters proclaiming how clean and safe nuclear power is) and also about fears of rebellious youth (in the principal's office one of the Cretins sneers "We're the youth of today" and they all start singing the "Star Spangled Banner").
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