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Overall Rating : 7.5/10
Directed By : Danny Steinmann
Linda Blair (The Exorcist)
Linnea Quigley (Night of the Demons)
John Vernon (Killer Klowns From Outer Space)
Robert Dryer
Supplied By : TrueGore Vintage DVD
BUY IT HERE : www.truegore.com
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Jan. 10, 2007
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| PLOT An altercation between a group of girls out for the night and a gang of local punks leaves the punks vowing revenge. It comes in the form of the gang-rape of a young mute and her older sister starts hunting the gang in turn - armed with bear traps and crossbow. |
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| THE REVIEW In SAVAGE STREETS, we follow Brenda, a young High School student who happens to be the leader of a clique of girls, who call themselves "The Satins". While out on a night on the town with her deaf and mute sister Heather and the rest of her group, Brenda witnesses a drug deal going down... the drug dealers are a harsh street gang known as "The Scars" Earlier in the night Brenda had rejected an an offer made by Scars leader Jake and afterwards The Scars had some no so nice things to say about Brenda and The Satins, so to retaliate Brenda and her pals steal The Scars convertible and go on a little joyride. After the prank pulled by Brenda The Scars are not too happy and their target of revenge quickly becomes the deaf and mute sister that Brenda loves so dearly. In one of the films most shocking moments the gang ambush poor Heather into a back room of Brenda's school gymnasium and from there, they begin to rape her without remorse. While that event is happening Brenda is in a heated fight with a school cheerleader who thinks Brenda is out to steal her jock boyfriend. Brenda and friends later find Heather and she is then rushed to the hospital, and no one knows any details of the attack - that is until one of the reluctant gang members named Vincent confesses and Brenda's ears lying in wait, catch wind. Vincent has always been uneasy about The Scars' actions in fact he was forced to participate in Heather's attack, but after they chase down and then later throw another one of Brenda's friends off of a bridge - he rushes to Heather's bedside and confesses his friends' wrong-doings. The news of just whom attacked her sister, sends Brenda into some kind of revengeful trance, she goes home, bathes, clothes herself into a tight black suit and arms herself with various weapons - most notable a crossbow, and from there sets out to kill The Scars one by one. Well, after seeing this one I can sure tell you that they do not make movies like this anymore! Most of SAVAGE STREETS, takes place in a High School which I am presuming is in New York, where the teachers as will as Principal are unlike any faculty I have ever had. The school setting here reminded me most of films like Corman's ROCK 'N ROLL HIGH SCHOOL, except this school was crass and had no rules.... the kids were seemingly allowed to say and do anything as they pleased, and the same goes for the school's staff. But beneath the school setting lie, an old fashion affectionate story about the love between 2 sisters, and it was double meaningful to the audience that one happened to be handicapped. It is in my op pinion, that for an 80's flick such as this one, Director Danny Steinmann(who would follow-up this film by directing FRIDAY THE 13th V), does a fairly decent job in establishing the characters relationships, (especially the one shared by Brenda and Heather) that when the heartless attack on Heather goes down, it has a much broader impact on the viewer and thus later urging us to root for some sort of revenge. When it comes to revenge in SAVAGE STREETS, we get it in a little firecracker of a woman clad in tight black and armed with weapons she knows how to use! During the film we really watch Linda Blair's character ascend from a girl who knows how to stand up for herself if need be, to a sort of "Super-Vixen" if you will- when someone messes with her sister, essentially turning the last portion of the film into something from the pages of BATMAN or the like. But it was really great to see a Female kicking ass and being the hero(or should I say heroine) for a change. The acting in SAVAGE STREETS is mixed to say the least, and to be honest some of the film's dialogue was just downright laughable at some points - but hey it amounts to some fun right? I am a huge fan of Linda Blair, and it is always great to see her in roles that are not strictly Horror, as she has been often typecasted to that particular genre - although this film did not necessarily give her room to fully showcase her talent, it was fun watching her kick some street gang ass! Linnea Quigley. (pre RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, NIGHT OF THE DEMONS, and Troma) is here as Heather just have to say that in this film Linnea is just adorable and likeable, this making her fortold attack that much more wrenching as it happens - she's great as always. The rest of the cast is more of an ensemble, with a somewhat in a chessy-sense believable performance by Robert Dryer as the gang leader Jake. On another note, Officer Curtis Mooney from KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE makes a few appearances as foul-mouthed Principal Underwood, a man that takes no slack from students nor those gang members the scars - although he has acted for quite some time, I am not too sure if I have ever had the chance to see him in anything out side of KILLER KLOWNS, so it was nice to see him here. |
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| GORE
METER 3/10 Not too gory, we have a few arrow impalements and a slit throat.... the most traumatic thing about SAVAGE STREETS seems to be the rape scene. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 5.5/10 I don't know why....but for some reason I really liked the soundtrack, which ranges from various 80's poppy rock tracks to a traditional score. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM In the end, I loved SAVAGE STREETS, I own a lot of Linda Blair flicks and this easily ranks as one of her most enjoyable films. To me, this film has all of the elements a good cheesy 80's film is supposed to have, it has good character development for what kind of film it is, catchy music and a plot that is interesting, it reminded me of a mixture of a little bit of THE WARRIORS, ROCK 'N ROLL HIGH SCHOOL(without the in school music) and THE CHOSEN ONE : LEGEND OF THE RAVEN(which may have very well been inspired by SAVAGE STREETS) As I said, I love this film and would highly recommend it! |
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