Class of Nuke 'Em High
00:40:08
About
It’s Troma time! Yes folks, we’re finally introducing Chris to the unique world of Lloyd Kaufman as we kick off with “Class of Nuke ‘Em High”. A film which highlights the usual struggles of American youth: being peer pressured into smoking (radioactive) weed; teenage pregnancy (that results in a giant mutated beast prowling the hallways); the inability to pronounce “cretin” properly; and nuclear power plant bosses who don’t give a wet fart about public safety. A fine example of the good-naturedly offensive Troma style; with B-movie bizarreness, surprisingly good gore effects and tongue firmly in cheek. Watch (or re-watch) to avoid spoilers, and join us.
Why don't you make like a hockey stick, and puck off!
Famous lines
- "It rotted their bodies. It corrupted their minds. And thats's the good news."
- "Time to die!"— Spike
- "Warren - fuck the Fellini festival!"— Chrissy
Quotes verified against Wikiquote.
Transcript
Show full transcript
LeeGood evening and welcome to Horror. I'm Lee.
ChrisI'm Chris.
AdamI'm Adam.
LeeAnd we're here again for something that we should have possibly watched at an earlier date, but we didn't want to scare Chris away.
LeeSo we've waited 160 plus episodes,
Leeto finally delve into the exciting world of Troma, came to hear what Chris made of this absolute onslaught of a movie.
Leeso for those who are unaware,
LeeTroma is basically Troma is very divisive. They are it's not a movie you'd sit on your own and watch generally. It's a group of drunken teenagers who've had a bit too much to drink or a bit too much to smoke and you've ordered a pizza and you want something dumb as dog shit to watch that's going to be entertaining. Yeah. And this is it. There will be spoilers, there will be swearing.
ChrisFuck you.
Leeyou can't cover this and not really. so, let's get straight into it.
ChrisThere might even be some mutants turn up.
LeeSo Chris, what did you make of Troma?
Leein your first showing?
ChrisSo let me let me think, what's the best way to put this?
ChrisI think I was possibly enjoying it more than I think I should have.
LeeYeah.
LeeTroma makes you happy but feel dirty about it.
ChrisThat is it, that should be their tag line.
AdamYeah.
ChrisI I thought I was thinking like after I'd got it, after I mean, didn't take long, you know, a few minutes in and you're like, no, yeah, fine, this is this is it, right?
AdamThis is where we're going.
ChrisYeah, I was thinking, if I'd if I'd just flicked this on one night when I was like 15, 16, I'd be like, yes, I've hit the jackpot.
LeeYeah, it's just like, what is going on?
ChrisYeah.
ChrisThere's there's just too many good scenes, too many good characters, like and and it shouldn't work, I'm sure it shouldn't, it it should have been absolute rubbish, but it was great fun.
ChrisIt was just like they were I mean Gonzo.
LeeOh, love Gonzo.
LeeI mean, what a ridiculous.
LeeBut that's what I love about these, like they kind of and I'm sure Adam agrees as well.
LeeTroma kind of takes things that are going on at the time and then just s- s- like, oh, they were worried about, you know, gang culture and violence in schools.
LeeSo they were just like, well, let's just make it ludicrous and just go absolutely over the top.
LeeOh, and let's have nuclear waste as well.
LeeLet's just they like Troma always throws absolutely everything at it.
Leeyeah, so the story is incredibly difficult.
LeeHave you ever tried to tell someone explain a Troma movie to someone Adam?
AdamIt's it's a fucker.
AdamI mean, weirdly enough, I suspect that might be why Toxic Avenger remains their most successful film.
ChrisSo that was it, right, as I was, I was like, okay, this totally now I can see what Lee was saying about Toxic Avenger if it's at all similar to this.
AdamWatching it, I was like, oh, actually, it's kind of basically the same plot, just back to front.
ChrisYeah.
AdamYeah and you you get a guy who goes into toxic waste and becomes a superhero and beats up the bullies who've been tormenting him at high school.
ChrisYeah, well, because Warren does do that.
AdamYeah, at some point quite impressively.
AdamYeah, but also it's the the bullies have been affected by the toxic waste first anyway, so.
LeeAgain because again, that's another thing, I, you know, I've watched this film probably half a dozen times.
LeeBut it's always like I say, a late night with other people generally.
ChrisIt it absolutely fits that, yeah.
LeeAnd you do miss little things like that, like where they were saying that the cretens used to be the debating team and they one day just snapped in the middle of debate of a debate just started beating people to death.
LeeLike I just I'd never picked up on that before, or I I certainly didn't remember it.
ChrisIt didn't seem yeah, it didn't seem necessarily the most important aspect when so much was going on.
ChrisBut it is, I mean, they have they did fit a lot into it, yeah, a lot of fantastic scenes.
Chrisand yeah, and and the story of of the baby alien mutant toxic monster thing, that was quite good that that sort of threaded through to the end.
ChrisI kind of you almost forget that that's even a thing.
LeeYeah.
AdamYeah.
AdamBut then you get the impression so does the film.
ChrisYeah.
AdamYou know.
ChrisThere's a lot going on here.
AdamEccentric is probably Yes, far too polite for it, but yeah.
AdamAnd actually on the subject, I'll it's like on the subject of the monster, I was watching it and it was like,
AdamTroma monster's not half bad.
Adambecause actually the effects like the gore effects.
ChrisYes, they're over the top.
ChrisBut they're pretty good still and it's 1986, I saw.
AdamIt's pretty impressive.
Adam86, yeah.
LeeYeah.
LeeI think I think correct me if I'm wrong Adam, but I think Troma came out in that straight to video era where people were just, you know, if you had a flashy cover, people were just buying anything.
AdamWell, I think I think they got a lot of majority of their stuff got theatrical releases, but then,
AdamI mean, do you remember Funny Man, we covered way back that got theatrical release.
AdamSo it's, do you know what I mean, it's not it was just the way movies worked, you had to have been out in the cinema and then you went to video, but that's where you made your money.
ChrisYeah.
Adamand definitely because I I think of like Troma and Lloyd Kaufman Kaufman I tend to think of them like a sort of extreme Roger Corman. In that sort of Roger Corman made the sort of a lot of exploitation films, but he also did like Vincent Price, Edgar Allen Poe films and stuff like that.
LeeYeah.
AdamAnd also he acted as a kind of launch pad for a lot of people's careers and Lloyd Kaufman's done the same really. He's and also very much like Roger Corman, he ends up being cameo-ing in a lot of stuff.
AdamHe's very much the public face of Troma.
AdamAnd he's he's that sort of William Castle, John Waters-y sort of direct where the director is as much as star and a recognizable figure as their movies.
LeeYeah, he's kind of the hype man for his own video studio, which is.
LeeYeah, it it which is hilarious and he I mean he is quite charismatic and amusing, so.
AdamHe's not fully off.
AdamWell, he's he's like a sort of he he reminds me not also to look at, but he reminds me a bit of Mel Brooks.
Chrisokay.
Adambut I think he's just but then weirdly enough because it's like a two basically it's a Troma's two a two-man company.
AdamAnd the other guy Michael Hertz, who they both directed, but I think Lloyd Kaufman continues to direct and he the Michael Hertz concentrated more on the business end of the business, if you see what I mean.
LeeYeah, I assumed that was the case.
AdamAnd he, he's in Class of Nuke 'Em High, but it's the only time he appeared on screen apparently.
Adamand he is one of the people who runs up when Jury goes out the window.
LeeOh, yeah.
ChrisYeah.
AdamYeah, he's I think he's like the first guy who runs up.
AdamAnd that's literally his sort of career on screen.
AdamTo the point where they've actually got.
ChrisThey they did have a lot of extras in this, didn't they?
LeeYeah.
ChrisBecause during the school periods like there, there's quite a few, but then in the the party, which looked like it was kind of in a night club, but then they went upstairs to a a bedroom, I was like, what is going on, but yeah, whatever, that's fine.
Chrisyeah, yeah, there was tons of people.
ChrisThey and even the band was kind of good.
LeeYeah.
LeeI was going to say, I'm sure it's easy for them to get lots of extras because I imagine being on set for a Troma movie would be absolutely awesome, so yeah.
AdamI think it's it's like it's like a lot of low budget stuff is like Joel Romero always got zombies because it's like I get to be in a zombie film.
AdamIt's very much and similarly with this, it would be like I'll get to be in a Troma movie.
AdamYou know, which means that it's going to be you know, it's going to be seen and loved in spite of itself.
Adambut.
Adambut the interesting thing with Michael Hertz is there's a guy called Joe Flishaker or Flacheker, I can't remember.
AdamBut he is a he's about 35 stone and he portrays Michael Hertz at like press conferences.
AdamSo again, but I mean and actually like you're saying about like Lloyd Kaufman being like the hype man, Carnival Barker is definitely the term, I think.
AdamHe's got that roll up and come and see the.
AdamCome and see the mutated man.
LeeYeah.
AdamWomen is pressed of all descriptions.
LeeYeah, you get loads of that again as well, it's like going for that teenage audience of like over gore, there's got to be excessive boobs in it for no reason whatsoever, just because.
LeeI mean, they know their audience, don't they?
LeeThat's that's the thing and I I don't know how I'd feel watching one for the first time now.
LeeBut yeah, it's you know, said before we started recording.
LeeChris said, oh yeah, if I'd been 15 years old and I'd found this on late night channel hopping, I'd be like, I've just found the best film ever.
LeeAnd yeah, yeah, like it totally was for for me at that age, it was just.
AdamI think I think Claire said, she was like, I feel that this was written by like a 13-year-old.
ChrisYeah.
AdamYou know, of like all the best bits they could they could think of.
ChrisYeah, that's why I've definitely I've got a little bit of me that's like, just don't know if I should enjoy it, I clearly do still, I'll just have to accept that.
AdamI I think the weirdest thing is is Troma is it's literally working to lowest common denominator.
AdamBut so but puts so much more time, effort, silliness and everything into it that you're like, you you know, to do something that is.
ChrisYou can still appreciate it.
AdamYeah, you don't just like it's just like, right, what do you want, you want Gore, you want tits, you want drugs, violence.
AdamAnd you know, in a weird way it bypassed the cynicism of it by the fact that they're just like, yeah, but we know this is fucking.
ChrisYeah, that's that's I think that's it, yeah.
LeeAnd I think that's the thing, you're either you're on board with Troma or you're not, people who don't like it really don't like it.
Lee
Leebut if you do like.
AdamI can understand it as well because they're.
LeeOh yeah, I can I mean the acting in some of it is so like just over the top and ludicrous.
ChrisBut it still fits the whole thing.
AdamYeah.
AdamBut none of I think that's also it's one of those things that is it is not troubling any like best movies lists.
AdamOnly in the sense of, you know what I mean, I mean what plot.
ChrisYou know, it did it did have the what was it, you know, the the CEO of the nuclear power plant, and I was like, oh, they're sort of pushing that, the idea that, you know, he's a nefarious corporate we just want to get our new.
AdamDefinitely.
ChrisAnd I was trying to think actually how did that fit in 1986 because probably at the time, I mean even now people are still worried about nuclear, but it must have been kind of a serious more serious point then.
AdamWell, I mean, what was what is going on currently in the states?
AdamThey've had that massive like explosion and chemical spill and everything and it's just like,
AdamBut again, everyone seems to be like.
ChrisWait, was this was this the train?
AdamYeah.
ChrisYeah, yeah.
AdamLike the the derailment or whatever.
AdamBut again,
Adamlook.
AdamI'm clearly not that involved about it.
AdamBecause there's so little of it bleeding through because they're too busy saying, you know, we shot down a fucking weather balloon.
AdamAnd they keep.
Adampeople like last podcast on the left and stuff like that, they're all sort of like.
AdamOkay, we like UFOs, but for fuck sake, you clearly why is this not priority news that there is basically an environmental fucking disaster taking place.
AdamAnd it's because the the guy in charge is essentially the guy who's in charge of the nuclear plant in this.
AdamAnd that I I couldn't give a wet fart.
AdamWhat you think.
AdamJust immediately, it's like, I mean, that comes out the gate.
AdamThat's like best line of the movie in the first two minutes or whatever, you know, it's just.
ChrisAnd he was trying to he was trying to push microwaves being the the evil.
AdamThat was beautiful, that really felt like that that was a real clear understanding of.
ChrisYou know, we know what corporate BS yeah, that's that's people will suck that up because they're sort of scared about microwaves, they don't fully understand it, yeah, so it's it's like, let's compare us to them. They're the bad guys, even though we kind of look the same, but yeah.
AdamAnd that's the thing is there is there is more going on in it.
AdamAnd certainly from a humor point of view.
AdamAnd but also weirdly, and I think again this was like a very it was a very 80s thing was America being obsessed with the 50s.
AdamSo you've got stuff like, we're not Happy Days, that's the 70s.
AdamBut you've got a lot of music starts going back to that sort of sound and you've got Back to the Future where he returned, you know, it's all about the 50s and so on and so forth.
AdamAnd it was a real sort of thing in the 80s to be looking back at the 50s.
AdamBut what they did was they looked back at like them and the wasp woman and mole people and stuff like that, all the right proper classic like ludicrous B movies.
AdamWhich are filled with stilted performances and, you know, insane fucking sci-fi plots that, you know, would not pass muster in an A-level chemistry class, let alone.
LeeThat did make me laugh with this as well, the fact that in the end they were just like, we've got a giant laser.
LeeAnd I was like, yeah, people in 1986 didn't know what a laser was clearly because.
ChrisIt doesn't do.
LeeIt's just a light, really.
ChrisLike it doesn't it'll probably probably blind you if you hold it at your eyes.
Chrisfor a minute or two, but.
AdamWell, Claire Claire was saying earlier about she'd seen a vacuum cleaner which has a laser on the front of it.
LeeOh, yes, I've seen this, yeah, to highlight the dirt in the carpet.
AdamYeah.
AdamAnd all I can say is lasers, you really let me down.
AdamLasers, you're a fucking disappointment.
AdamYes, you're pretty cool on SWAT teams, scopes and for cut price snipers in films and stuff like that.
AdamBut essentially, I wanted to be able to fucking melt glass, cut through bank vaults and essentially it's cat startling.
LeeRight.
LeeYou know.
LeeYeah, you're absolutely right.
AdamBut in the 80s, a laser would chop you in half.
AdamThat's what it was there for, you know.
LeeBut again, nobody can ever say that Troma let science get in the way of an entertaining plot point.
ChrisOh, no.
ChrisI'm sure sure they don't.
AdamI I think that's the good thing as well is they have at least they have a level of energy.
AdamSo you don't have, cuz oddly enough the one thing you do get with a lot of 50s B movies is, you know, you get oh, here we go, we've got 10 minutes of dialogue before we get an iguana the size of whales coming over the fucking horizon or whatever like that.
AdamBut with this at least it's like, no, every every bit of it is silly or entertaining and has something going for it at each point.
AdamSo it never really lags, it doesn't drop.
LeeNo.
AdamAnd I think it's only an hour and 20 minutes anyway.
LeeYeah, so it's worth mentioning as well, so this is one of the five Nuke 'Em High movies.
ChrisOh, okay.
LeeI have seen Class of Nuke 'Em High 2, I haven't seen 3, but I will definitely be looking it up.
Leeand I did try the reboot Class of Nuke 'Em High Volume 1, which I found streaming somewhere a while back and watched and and quite enjoyed.
Leebut I haven't seen the second one of those yet, so.
LeeI still got a couple more of these.
AdamCuz I think they're both Lloyd Kaufman
Adamdirected, but he didn't do the other possibly I'm wrong, I can't remember, but I don't think he did the other the two and three, I don't think he did.
LeeTwo and two is fantastic, it's that great thing where it just if you love the first one,
Leethe second one doesn't drop off, it's just more of the same if not even more mental.
ChrisSet it up even more.
LeeThat's the one with the mouth in their stomach for no reason whatsoever. yeah, it's just absolutely ludicrous and it's fantastic fun.
AdamSee see again, this is something that very much goes against the grain of film fans or or whatever like that.
AdamBut it's very true that something like Class of Nuke 'Em High, you do not want a franchise that progresses,
LeeYeah.
Adamthat changes in any way, shape or form.
AdamIf you like Class of Nuke 'Em High, you just want more of Class of Nuke 'Em High.
ChrisYou want more of that.
AdamSo the best example I would say is something like Anchorman.
AdamWhere it's like, no, all we want is more Anchorman, so thank you, you didn't you didn't have to sort of like go out of your way to try and make it more high brow or developed this in any way, shape or form, we just want this again please.
ChrisYeah, we do.
Leeyeah, and again, you know, as we said, Chris, if if you liked this.
LeeYeah, Troma movies are not interchangeable.
LeeBut they're all very much if you like this, you'll like Toxic Avenger, Sergeant Kabuki Man, like any of those.
ChrisThey've figured out their style and formula and they deliver that, yeah.
LeeIt's funny cuz I was I was thinking today there was a movie that a friend of mine obsessed over when we were in junior school, and I remember thinking as I was watching Class of Nuke 'Em High, it came to me for the first time in decades and I was like, oh god, yeah, he used to rave about this movie.
LeeAnd just now when I was waiting for you guys to login, I had a look and it is on the Troma list with a slightly different name, so he had it as The Children of Ravensbeck, but it's just called The Children.
LeeBut yeah, I remember going round there and what like, you know, in a lunchtime and him showing me the worst scenes on the VHS with the curtains closed.
LeeLike so I need to track that movie down as well.
LeeBut yeah, that's what it was, it was kids doing the, look, let me just show you the best bits.
LeeBut it is just the best bits.
LeeThey're just all the best bits.
LeeLike I say, there's no long dialogue scenes, there's no overcomplicated story, it's just an absolute.
LeeAnd that's why they're great late night movies.
AdamThe party films.
ChrisYeah.
AdamWe've said this a lot, you get that's one of the things, horror, which is something that a lot of other genres have, but horror have party films.
AdamYeah, you can literally stick on.
AdamIt's it's not a conversation killer.
LeeNo.
AdamYou know what I mean, you don't have you don't have to sit there and go, hang on, what's going on, you're not going to get two-thirds of the way in and someone goes, what is this?
AdamYou know, why were they doing that again? Oh, didn't you miss it, they had the Camel cigarettes case at the start.
ChrisRight, okay.
AdamYeah, you can't you can't watch the Usual Suspects as a party.
AdamOr, you know.
LeeI'm pretty sure the first time I saw Class of Nuke 'Em High was at a party, a friend was having a it was one of those, I did my mates mates were having a party, he wanted to drop in and we were out so we just turned up.
LeeI knew nobody, I went in and they there was about eight of them just sitting around watching this on VHS in absolute fits.
Lee
Leeyeah.
LeeAnd we just and I didn't know anyone and I didn't need to, we just sat down, drank beer and just had a fantastic time watching this film.
LeeIt's just there's so much fun.
ChrisYeah.
ChrisSo I I would definitely watch, you know, another I think two or three, I'm wondering how many until I'm like, all right, I might have to give that a break now.
AdamDefinitely cuz funnily enough, I mean even if I think maybe at a later point.
AdamYou know, cuz we're looking to do a trauma month.
AdamBut obviously we're doing sort of Troma sort of OG Troma as it were and modern day.
Adamand but you know, I think certainly Toxic Avenger would be worth sticking on the list.
Lee100%.
AdamJust because cuz that was the only thing I got while watching this is I was like, is Toxic Avenger probably.
AdamBecause I mean Toxic Avenger Toxy himself is Troma's logo.
AdamAnd it really is.
AdamIt really is the basis of everything that comes after it.
AdamBecause I think they did they did a few they basically before they did Toxic Avenger, they sort of did a few films, but they were like kind of sort of teen sex comedies, you know, like Porky's type sort of stuff.
LeeYeah.
LeeI've seen that.
AdamWhich you can see in this, obviously, you know, it's still there.
AdamBut but it doesn't have the horror element or, you know, or the gore or anything else like that.
AdamSo.
LeeIt's funny you saying about Toxy, didn't they make a kids cartoon of Toxic Avenger at one point?
AdamYeah.
LeeIn a sort of real Ghostbusters type, you know, style.
AdamHe even had a whole, I think in that he even had a whole crew of similarly mutated like friends who were, you know, they were a whole crime fighting team.
AdamSo.
LeeOh yeah, it was called Toxic Crusaders, you're right.
AdamThat's it.
AdamYeah,
Adamyeah.
AdamBut again, that's and really that was a lot of their that was their calling card really, that was where that's where Troma really sprang from of what they were going to do pretty much.
AdamFrom henceforth like from that point on.
Adamthey are the longest running independent film production and distribution company.
ChrisOh, wow.
Adamnow so like I said, they were formed in 74.
AdamLloyd Kaufman and Michael Hertz met at Yale University and Lloyd Kaufman said they only hang around because Hertz had a pinball machine and he had a TV.
ChrisRight.
AdamSo they were like, yeah, that's that.
Adamand then they sort of started yeah, the I think.
Adamyeah, so they started they were working in the film industry anyway and then they sort of met up on the set of a film and decided to sort of like set up Troma.
Adamthe name supposedly was literally them just trying to make an ugly word.
AdamLike I I don't think it doesn't have any sort of meaning or anything.
AdamI don't think, you know, because it it sounds a bit like trauma other than that, it doesn't.
AdamBut yeah, they were just trying to come up with like a basically I think what was it again, there's Lloyd Kaufman is always worth reading interviews and watching interviews with him because he's just naturally such an entertaining person.
Adambut yeah, he was like, oh no, the trouble is is when you look in when you check it with companies house, there's already like, there's already five companies called, I'll shit on your corpse and fuck you up your ass productions or whatever like that.
AdamSo it was almost like a matter of, well, we've got to come up with something because every time they were trying to put a name, it got rejected because someone already had it.
AdamAnd it was like, well, we're just going to make up a word.
LeeThat that's so them.
AdamIt is.
LeeYeah.
AdamAnd the Class of Nuke 'Em High was their biggest selling type, like VHS.
Adam
Adamso yeah, they they've also developed everything's in Tromaville or the majority of their stuff's in Tromaville.
AdamAnd so.
AdamWhich is Tromaville, New Jersey, the toxic capital of the world.
Adamand yeah, it's sort of they.
Adambecause they reuse actors and props and stuff like that, it's kind of an extended universe, but it's not because I mean it's much more, let's just say it's much more like the DC universe in that no one is fucking concentrating or actually trying to make this shit marry up.
AdamSo, but but with Troma quite rightly, they just know it doesn't matter.
AdamWith DC, it just seems to be a rudderless ship that slowly slowly killing all its fucking goodwill.
AdamAnd actually probably because like I say, because they not they would also although they produced films, they also distributed a lot of films, so there's stuff that they didn't that is a Troma film, but it's Troma for distribution only like
AdamThey did.
ChrisOkay.
AdamCannibal the Musical, which is Matt Stone and Trey Parker's thing they did just before they did South Park.
LeeStill not seen it, I really, really need to, especially having seen Book of Mormon now, I really need to get involved.
AdamYeah.
AdamWell, it's it's actually it's it's basically it's I think it's based on a real case, a guy called Packer, like who was it's basically the I think it was something along the lines of the Donner party where it was basically this guy who just you know.
AdamBut that was the original title was like, I think it's Albert Packer and it was like Albert Packer the musical and basically the Troma signing was, yeah, but change it to Cannibal the Musical, so you sell more.
AdamAnd yeah,
Adamyou know,
Adamthat's.
AdamIt's a fucking fair point, I think.
AdamYou know, because that's and also again, knowing your audience because you know that Cannibal the Musical.
AdamThere's certain people that I saw all your eyes light up.
LeeYeah.
AdamYou know, it's.
Leeyou say about their distribution as well, another one of their films that I've got that I've got to mention because if I don't do it now I'll forget.
LeeAnd this is still one of the funniest things ever and it was the reason I had to buy it.
Leeso they released a film called Maniac Nurses find Ecstasy, which was a Hungarian.
Leeporn movie like a softcore porn movie.
Leeand they shot the whole thing in that kind of 70s, 80s, it's got a through line story.
LeeAnd it got shot and it was all in the can and nothing was ever done with it.
LeeTroma bought it, removed the sex scenes and just put out the ridiculous story in between.
LeeAnd I was like, I need to own that because that's awesome.
ChrisThat's pretty good.
AdamHe's he's also just such a it's it's like it's that's almost like anti that's like that's like anti-exploitation.
AdamBecause it's usually you know when they make Caligula with like Helen Mirren and Malcolm McDowell and then the producers like let's stick some hardcore in it as well.
Adamwhereas you know they've they've taken all the sex and they've taken all the sex I was like, that is such a brilliant idea.
AdamBut also, does that not mean that they preempted Tommy Wiseau because that's essentially the room as far as I'm concerned, it feels like a pawn film with the with the sex cut out because just everything else about it is so meaningless and bad that it's.
AdamBut yeah, they also released Combat Shark, Death by Temptation, you know, the horror film.
ChrisOkay.
AdamMad Dog Morgan, Rabbit Grannies, which I remember seeing a trailer for on the Clive James show when I was a kid and it terrified the fuck out of me.
AdamBut Rabbit Grannies still stays in my head. Surf Nazis Must Die, Nightbeast and Shock the John Landis movie.
LeeYeah.
AdamAnd actually, I mean, the they did their current sort of what's the word I'm looking for.
AdamLike probably the most famous Troma alumnus at the moment is James Gunn because he scripted Troma and Juliet, which was kind of one of their weird successes in the 90s.
LeeI'm such a fan of that.
LeeIt has a massive cult following.
AdamIt does, but I think cuz weirdly enough, I think that was one of those moments where Troma did sort of break away a bit from what they normally do.
ChrisOkay.
AdamAnd suddenly a a few more people were into it, but it wasn't really you know what I mean, it was like it was like, I don't know, it was like everything must go by the Manic Street Preachers.
AdamIt sort of managed to alienate all the fans of the first three albums, but had a lot more success.
AdamI mean, there's still people who like Troma and Juliet who also like Troma, but I think there's also quite a number of people who are like, no, it's not.
Adambut yeah, he did that and he also co-wrote Lloyd Kaufman's autobiography.
Adamwhich is all I need to know about filmmaking I learned from Toxic Avenger.
LeeI need to read that.
AdamEven better than that, they also turned that into a film called Terra Firma.
AdamAnd it's and it's basically like a slasher film based on Lloyd Kaufman's autobiography.
AdamWhich presumably does not feature a maniac I don't fucking know, but.
LeeThis is what I love, like you were like Claire said, these are all just.
LeeIdeas a 13-year-old has had on his first beer and they just run with them every time.
LeeAnd they just managed to land it when every time.
LeeIt just shouldn't work.
LeeLike on paper, it's lunacy.
LeeI don't know how they managed to keep and they are they like they're bangers some of them. They're really, really good.
AdamThe the trouble is is that they like Toxic Avenger and Nuke 'Em High were really successful and then they did a film called Troma's War which flopped.
AdamAnd that was kind of the start of the decline.
AdamSo now they concentrate on producing and acquiring.
AdamSo they're putting money up to other film makers or they're buying stuff to distribute.
AdamSo they're not really a they're not a production company anymore.
AdamThey're a distribution and they're sorry.
AdamThey're not they're not making the films themselves, but they are investing and so on.
Adamat one point they did put.
Adamwhere is it 2012, they put a hundred films on YouTube, most for free, and it was the channel was shut down for not meeting community standards.
ChrisRight.
AdamYeah, two fucking right from.
AdamLike especially especially when it's like now it's like YouTube where it's like, oh don't swear because we get demonetized.
AdamEverything.
AdamDon't fucking swear.
LeeYeah.
AdamThe fucking Troma movie.
AdamThe swearing was the only bits you could show your mom.
Lee
Leeyeah.
Adam
Adamyeah.
LeeYeah, I I just have such a love of Troma and it.
LeeAnd like I say, as I as we were saying, you know, I totally get how people don't necessarily like it.
Lee
LeeAnd how it doesn't work for everyone, but I just I I just find them so much fun.
LeeAnd I find them, although they're quite over the top and in your face, it's it's normally quite an innocent, you know, it's all.
AdamIt's honest, isn't it?
AdamYeah, it is like a fucking 13, 15 year old, you know what I mean, where it's like never been kissed but like you still got all this just got this sort of like filth.
ChrisYeah.
Adampouring out.
AdamBut it's like, you know, it doesn't actually.
AdamYeah,
Adamit's.
ChrisA strange sort of charm.
AdamYeah,
Adamit is.
AdamIt's that well, I mean, I think taking a porn film cutting all the porn out.
AdamYeah, to make the movie, you know, that kind of says it all, almost, like I said, it's like anti-exploitation almost.
Adam
AdamWell, I mean, obviously not many people a huge number of people on like the cast list of this, this is their only film.
Adamif a lot of obviously there's a few people who turn up in other Troma movies, there's quite a few people who do like Toxic Avenger and this have quite a crossover.
Adam
AdamBut Chrissy their actress Janelle Brady.
Adamshe she was also in Teen Wolf 2.
LeeOh, is she really?
LeeOh, it's funny, I just bought Teen Wolf and Teen Wolf 2 on a double pack and I've only watched the first one, so.
AdamOh, well.
AdamI I think she's credited as history student, so I don't think she's going to have too much of a of a role in it to be honest.
AdamBut she sort of she did some other acting and she also modeled for Playboy.
AdamBut excuse me, the but the weird thing that I when I was looking into this, in February 2012, she went missing in Las Vegas and no one knows what happened to her.
LeeReally.
LeeShe's not been found.
AdamShe's not been found, she was meant to be meeting her husband and just never showed up and yeah, there's never been any.
LeeThat's awful.
AdamIt's weird.
AdamAnd it's on like on the Troma websites, they update on Lloyd Kaufman's website.
AdamBefore I do this next week, I'm going to check whether it's Kaufman or Kaufman.
LeeI say Kaufman.
AdamOh fair enough,
AdamKaufman.
AdamSo, but he yeah, he's on his website and on Troma websites and everything, they sort of regularly update and there's rewards for information and stuff like that, but yeah, no one knows what became of her.
Adamapparently I mean apparently she did have some chronic like health issues, like both medical and mental.
AdamPoor thing.
AdamBut but yeah, there's just been no nothing since she just has gone, vanished.
LeeThat's awful.
LeeI I got I was going to say, I've got to give props to her, her image on IMDB is her with the blown up belly before the monster.
LeeI was like, I love that.
LeeThat like, you know, you'd put something so.
LeeYeah, like not going for like a head shot, you know, just this.
LeeThat was great fun.
LeeI'm going to go with that.
AdamAnd and actually as I was saying about with the monster, and I'm sitting there going, that's actually a pretty good monster.
Adamthey actually only got as far as making its hands and its tail and its head.
Adamwhich is why you never see it the whole thing, you never see it doing things or whatever like that.
LeeThe whole thing.
ChrisThe whole thing.
AdamBut they.
ChrisThey did it.
AdamIt worked perfectly.
AdamAnd actually probably takes away from the shit shot of a guy in a.
LeeYeah.
Lee100%.
LeeAnd they do manage their budgets well and make them look pretty solid on these always which is something.
Leebut I am keen to know, we're down to our last minute of run time.
LeeI'm keen to know, because as soon as we came out of watching Eating Miss Campbell, I immediately said, well, that was just Troma through and through.
LeeSo Chris, do you now see what Adam and I were saying when we came out and we went, yep.
ChrisYeah.
ChrisYeah, this this this it sets it completely, yeah.
LeeExcellent.
LeeSo on that note, we're going to be back in a fortnight's time and we're going to be covering the modern Troma movie, My Bloody Banjo, which is the prequel to well, not the prequel, it was the original to, yeah, it is a prequel, but it wasn't made later.
AdamCan't wait.
Leeto eating Miss Campbell, so.
LeeIt should be out on Blu-ray, if it isn't out quite yet, we'll try and do it a little bit spoiler-free, but if you can, go and track down My Bloody Banjo, and we will see you in a fortnight's time for that. Good night.
ChrisGood night.
AdamGood night.
