Lionsgate Home Entertainment, out 25 February

When gang culture reaches epidemic proportions at a school, Principal Langford brings in robot teachers to tackle the unruly pupils, but the class of 1999 aren’t giving in that easily.

Mark L Lester’s (Firestarter, Commando) trashy Class of 1984 didn’t exactly cry out for a sequel, and so it was somewhat a surprise when in 1990 he gave us this next instalment, drafting in genre stalwarts Malcolm McDowell and Stacy Keach (with peroxide shock wig and white contacts) to add to the fun. Like its predecessor, this is video trash, but cleaned-up and released in HD on the Vestron Video Collector’s Series label.

Terminator-style music opens the movie, as an Escape from New York-type opening spiel tells us that that there are now free-fire zones where the police refuse to go, but kids are expected to be educated. And this is where The Terminator meets RoboCop, as a big tech company creates cyborg teachers (including the always-excellent Pam Grier) to tackle the bad kids – and we know they’re bad because they wear bandanas. But it quickly descends into gunfire battles as the machines start wielding their weapon attachments and things begin exploding.

The commentary by producer/director Mark L. Lester is engaging – he knew he wasn’t making Citizen Kane – and there are also video features with co-producer Eugene Mazzola and screenwriter C. Courtney Joyner. Cyber-Teachers From Hell is a none-too-serious look at the movie’s robot teachers, and it’s all rounded off with trailer, stills and TV spots.

Verdict: The Terminator: The School Years – or The Teachinator? – this is a ripe slice of low budget 80s mayhem that represents so many of the excesses of the period, being both generic and nostalgic in equal measures. Worth a spin if only for Lester’s enthusiastic commentary. 8/10

Nick Joy