SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

bombersflyup Savage Streets is the absolute worst. Vulgar and really really stupid.After seeing this I feel I must narrow down my movie watching to more selective viewing, utter trash. Cringe worthy throughout, not one good character.

callanvass Linda Blair was notorious for starring in some rather risqué and controversial roles after The Exorcist. This baby is one of them, and I can say unabashedly that I enjoyed the hell out of it. This represents everything that I loved about the 80's. Bad hairdo's, hilariously dated outfits, and the no holds barred approach. It does have some powerful moments. Brenda (Blair) has a deaf sister who gets raped in the girl's locker room. (Linnea Quigley in an early role) It certainly hit home, and wasn't pleasant to watch, but once Linda Blair goes on the warpath to revenge, it's all fun and games from there. How can you not resist Linda Blair cursing like a sailor at her caring teacher while she's dangling a cigarette from her mouth in a classroom? Or spouting Freddy Krueger like lines in a dark alley at a group of thugs that raped her deaf sister? Hell; a girl gets thrown over a bridge onto the road, and nobody bothers to stop or look around. That was my favorite. Brenda and the token cheerleader Cindy have some hilarious verbal jousting and even get into it in a shower! I won't reveal everything, but it really is vigilante brilliance. Linda Blair is miscast, but a lot of fun to watch nonetheless. She goes all hammy and bad-ass with it. Her cheesy one- liners are a hoot, and I give the girl credit for being completely committed to the role with bravado and guts. It's probably my favorite role of hers. (Yes. Even more so than Regan) Robert Drake is excellent as the leader of the Scars, and I had a blast with his sleazy portrayal of Jake. He is typical bully fodder, but he was still fun. Linnea Quigley is infamous for cheesy roles and this is one of her best. John Vernon shows up to collect a paycheck and has a bit of fun as the foul mouth principal. He steals scenes that he is in. Loved him!Final Thoughts: A guilty pleasure at it's finest. For anyone that trashes this film, calling it uncouth or similar things like that… Don't be such a stickler! There are a few unpleasant scenes, but it remains one of my favorite exploitation movies. If you manage to find it online, give it a whirl. I'd even go as far to say it's worth tracking down on DVD. 7/10

Scott LeBrun Linda Blair proves that messing with her is dangerous to your health in this trash classic from co-writer / director Danny Steinmann, who'd also given us "A New Beginning", a decidedly trashy, mean-spirited, and funny entry in the "Friday the 13th" series. While admittedly she's not the most convincing gang leader in the world, she's still cute as ever and compulsively watchable in what is basically a revenge saga. When her gang battles with a pack of rabid male animals, the guys cross the line by gang raping and brutalizing her younger sister (Linnea Quigley). However, they can't stop there in showing us just how much they deserve to die, as her best friend (Lisa Freeman) also becomes a victim of their depravity. Simply put, Steinmann's film is about as manipulative and visceral - and fun - as they come. As in "A New Beginning", it proves to have a sense of humour as well as we witness the defacing of an anatomical diagram. It makes sure that fans of the genre get all the nudity they could want - there is a fine shower scene, after all - and Blair's high school nemesis (Rebecca Perle) gets her top yanked off when they have a fight in their science class. The film also isn't afraid to go to some pretty dark places; Quigley is just so damn adorable in her role & performance that it's an absolute abomination what happens to her. The dialogue is fairly quotable, with Blair's "Chained Heat" co-star John Vernon as Principal Underwood uttering the most memorable of them all as he stands up to the degenerates. It's great to see him as always, and the rest of the cast does good work, with Robert Dryer, Sal Landi, and Scott Mayer a lot of malevolent fun as a bunch of guys whom we can't wait to see get some nasty punishment. Johnny Venocur plays the one dude among them with anything resembling a conscience. Also in the supporting cast you'll see people like Marcia Karr and Carole Ita White, who were also in "Chained Heat", Bob DeSimone as the science teacher (he'd play the coke snorting, horny orderly in "A New Beginning"), Paula Shaw (Pamela Voorhees in "Freddy vs. Jason"), Kristi Somers, and Perla Walter (Vera's mother in "Friday the 13th Part III"). The pounding pop-rock soundtrack is quite catchy, and the movie is solidly entertaining all the way down the line. It's a delight to see a super sexy Blair take on the group at the end, armed with crossbow and leading them into booby traps. That bathtub shot is a pleasure to behold, and the "human torch finale" is extremely well done. "Savage Streets" comes highly recommended. Eight out of 10.

Paul Andrews Savage Streets is set in Los Angeles where Brenda (Linda Blair) & her mute deaf sister Heather (Linnea Quigley) are high-school students, Brenda is a tough member of a girl gang & they all decide to play a joke on a vicious gang of local drug dealers named the 'Scars' lead by psycho Jake (Robert Dryer). Brenda & her gang steal the Scars car & fill it with rubbish & find it very amusing but Jake & his boys are unimpressed & decide to take revenge, while at school Heather is forced into some toilets & gang raped by the Scars. Shortly after Brenda's best friend & fellow gang member Francine (Lisa Freeman) cuts Jake's face & as revenge he throws her off a very high bridge. Once Brenda finds out that the Scars were responsible for the brutal rape of her sister & the murder of her best friend she decides to take the law into her own hands & dish out some of her own brand of street justice...Co-written & directed by Danny Steinmann this is the type of sleazy, seedy exploitation flick with a very deliberate sense of humour that was made for people with a slight mental imbalance just like myself, damn how can anyone not find Savage Streets the gloriously entertaining & downright funny exploitation film that it was always mean to be? The pace is good with either some scuzzy sleazy scene or some hilarious camp scene happening, some of the dialogue in Savage Streets is priceless & the whole rape revenge plot is pure 100% grade A exploitation gold from start to finish. The funny high school politics between Brenda & cheerleader Cindy is amazing, the Scars who are just downright scum & seem to cause trouble wherever they go & various subplots that go absolutely nowhere like that guy who keeps trying to chap Brenda up make this unmissable for all cult film fans out there. The rape scene is uncomfortable viewing but it's intercut with a silly fight between two girls in a shower which is just genius on director's Steinmann's part, it really is. I would have liked a little more time given to the revenge part of the film towards the end which is over far too quickly & wouldn't Brenda get locked up for killing three people? How she's free to visit graves at the end is anyone's guess. Also we never discover what Brenda did with Vince, the fourth Scar member who develops a conscience. For those with a liking for these over the top vigilante films Savage Streets is a good one full of camp humour & brutal violence with plenty of female nudity as well, what more do you want? What, a cameo from John Vernon? No problem, that's here as well.I must admit I was a little disappointed with the violence levels here, there's a bit of blood but I would have liked to see slightly more satisfying death's for the Scar members. There's a fair bit of nudity with an obligatory girls school shower scene. The whole look of the film is very 80's with very dated looking clothes & hair & an absolutely terrible soundtrack full of awful rock songs. Apparently here in the UK Savage Streets had 12 minutes cut from it on video with the rape scene & scenes involving a crossbow being edited but I find this hard to believe as the rape only lasts a couple of minutes & Blair only uses her crossbow three times at the end so I really can't see it adding up to 12 minutes, I assume other footage was also cut & probably renders the film almost unwatchable.According to the IMDb this had a budget of about $1,200,000 & it looks quite good actually with some decent cinematography & production values. The acting is suitably silly with a twenty five year old Linda Blair trying to pass for a teenager, John Vernon is always a hoot while Linnea Quigley makes an early screen appearance.Savage Streets is an enjoyably trashy exploitation film with a camp feel at times which just works, sure it's dated & has no great artistic or social merit but it entertains & that's good enough for me. Just don't watch the UK video version.