(Streamed via The Halloween Channel)
The title of Troma’s Return to… Return to Nuke ‘Em High AKA: Vol. 2 is a little unwieldy and chaotic. That’s okay because it perfectly suits the movie itself. Following up the fun Return to Nuke ‘Em High Vol.1 was an unenviable task. Although this belated (even though they were shot simultaneously) sequel is an often disjointed mess, there are some truly memorable moments here to still make it worth a look for Troma fans.
Heck, the first scene qualifies it as some kind of manic classic. It’s a fun, gory, and surreal rip-off of the shower scene in Carrie. While it’s pretty much all downhill from there, this scene will be etched into my brain for months to come.
After being raped by a duck in Vol. 1, Lauren (Catherine Corcoran) gives birth to a mutant duck baby. She and her lover Chrissy (Asta Paredes) ease into their parenting roles surprisingly well, all things considered. The couple’s bliss is soon shattered when the glee club-turned-gang of mutant bikers, The Cretins kidnap Lauren and her newborn. Meanwhile, the head of Tromorganic (Lloyd Kaufman, who also directed) turns into a fire-breathing mutant monster and it’s up to Lauren’s duck monster boyfriend, Kevin to save the day.
Like most Troma sequels, Return to… Return is heavily padded with flashbacks to the other movies in the series. The editing is slapdash at best, and the whole thing feels cobbled together from leftovers from the previous film. “Meta” scenes of Kaufman arguing with his wife (and producer) about editing gore and dicks out of the final cut feel more like a way to pad things out than anything. (Extra padding occurs in the form of outtakes and even a musical number over the credits.)
Overall, it’s less assured and certainly messier than Vol. 1. Despite a grand set-up, it pretty much falls apart in the second act. At least the gross FX, dumb gags, and abundance of T & A keep it from completely spinning off the rails.
Your enjoyment of the film may hinge on your ability to go with all the duck stuff. I’m not sure why Kaufman leaned so hard into the duck humor. If I had to guess, I’d say it was the natural progression of the foul humor (no pun intended) of Poultrygeist. Who knows?
Monique Dupree gets the best line when she sees Corcoran giving birth in the shower and screams, “She’s not dying! She’s dilating!”
No comments:
Post a Comment