The second movie in the 'Class of' trilogy, the first being the 1982 flick 'Class of 1984'. None of these movies share much continuity despite having the same director (Mark Lester) and are loosely tied together, which is somewhat surprising really.
This time around in the distant hellscape of 1999 schools have become warzones full of violent uncontrollable gangs. In a highly obvious nod (or knock-off) to John Carpenter's 'Escape from New York' these schools, and the surrounding areas, have been cordoned off and there is no law. The police do not enter these zones. This is explained in a sequence virtually copied from said Carpenter flick. How they got away with that I don't know. So what to do? Well it's the future so they draft in humanoid super androids to deal with the kids. Unfortunately it seems the androids grow to enjoy their job and start killing the kids. What this part of the plan?
Man where to start! So apart from the obvious 'Escape from New York' plot vibes this movie also decides to take ideas from another sci-fi classic in 'The Terminator'. The android teachers look like your typical mid-80s high school educators on the outside for sure, but as they start to tear off their outer layers of skin we see a familiar sight. Obviously it's not all the same, these androids have limbs that are weapons and they bleed lots of thick green goo. But hot damn do some sequences look almost identical to the finale in said Cameron classic. Again I dunno how they got away with it.
The delinquents in question are naturally your stereotypical archetypal 80's/90's punks. Just look at those threads man! Wow! These guys dunno what decade they're in. You've got bandanas, skinny jeans, studded belts, chains, huge earrings, battle jackets, band-styled jackets, makeup, top hats, quarter-length coats, leather jackets, neck scarfs, flowing hip sashs etc...And everything is in an array of colours as if it's just come off the set of 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air'. I'm still not sure if this was all deliberate because they genuinely thought it was cool and edgy, or they were just mocking the street punk genre.
These street punks are so over the top it's cringeworthy at times. It is also worth noting that these sewer urchins never appear to change their clothes, eww! I also love how these hooligans don't seem to learn with the teachers. Some of them mouth-off and get beaten by one teacher, then straight into the next class some other fools do the same thing again! Let's not forget their modes of transport, various souped-up muscle cars all decked out in classic 'Mad Max' styled armour and weaponry, because cliche!
Yeah you can't deny this movie is a quirky looker that's for sure. Taking all manner of classic imagery and sticking it together in a not-very-original plot. If it wasn't for the pretty solid effects and casting this would have been dreadful. Yes the effects are actually good. Blood, gore, guns, explosions, squibs, killer androids etc...all look pretty good in that low-budget straight-to-video shop kinda way. The bleak industrial locations also set the mood pretty well helped by that Pacific North West cloud and drizzle.
But it's the key casting that really helps this unoriginal sci-fi hokum. The love child of Corey Feldman and Stephen Dorff, Bradley Gregg, is the main badass Corey Culp (the Yanks love that name Corey, and how about that second name!). In my opinion this guy is underrated and was underused back in the day. This movie clearly shows that he could hold his own as an antihero type, and villain if needs be. What the hell is he wearing around his neck the whole time?? I also wasn't sure about this guys age here. He starts out in prison but still has to go to high school? I mean he literally gets out of jail and goes straight to school (laugh out loud).
The rest of the cast is a mishmash of well-known character actors that we've all seen in many cult movies including the short and odd-looking Joshua Miller. Blaxploitation action star Pam Grier. Stacy Keach whose character seems to have some kind of bionic eyes or something? This is never explained, but hey it's the future! There is also the always evil-looking Patrick Kilpatrick being evil as usual, and Malcolm McDowell who this time plays a good guy.
Boy oh boy this movie. Yes it's completely 100% a rip-off from so many other movies and it's totally predictable from start to finish, but it's also lightning in a bottle. The casting, the cheesy good special effects, the ridiculous action, the ridiculous costumes, never-ending numbers of gang members that appear outta nowhere just to get wiped out. And then on top of all that you've got a pretty solid creepy killer android finale to boot! This movie is literally the definition of a cult classic and if you're a certain age it's impossible not to like it, or at least respect its sheer audacity.
8/10
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