Savage Streets (1984)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Danny Steinmann

Writers:

Norman Yonemoto (screenplay) and
Danny Steinmann (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 October 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime

Tagline:

An eye for an eye.

Plot:

A teenage vigilante (Blair) seeks revenge on a group of violent thugs who raped her handicapped sister and killed her best friend.

Plot Keywords:

Gang | Sister | Revenge | Punk | Gang Rape

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Linda Blair	...	Brenda
John Vernon	...	Principal Underwood
Robert Dryer	...	Jake
Johnny Venocur	...	Vince
Sal Landi	...	Fargo
Scott Mayer	...	Red
Debra Blee	...	Rachel
Lisa Freeman	...	Francine
Marcia Karr	...	Stevie
Luisa Leschin	...	Maria
Linnea Quigley	...	Heather
Ina Romeo	...	Stella
Jill Jaxx	...	Waitress (as Jill Bunker)
Mitch David Carter	...	Greg (as Mitch Carter)
Richard DeHaven	...	Richie

Also Known As:

Zombie Brigade (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

93 min | Norway:87 min | UK:80 min (heavily cut) | Australia:83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (CFI)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | West Germany:18 (heavily cut) | Iceland:16 | UK:18 (heavily cut) | Australia:R | France:-16 | Norway:18 | Sweden:(Banned) | USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Canada:(Banned) (Nova Scotia) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Ginso Investment Corp.

Trivia:

'Tom DeSimone' was originally attached to direct but quit after only a few days of filming. This put the film on hold, prompting certain cast members to pursue other projects (such as Debra Blee, whose character inexplicably disappears in the second half of the film). Danny Steinmann was eventually hired as DeSimone's replacement.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: While the girls are working out in the gym, the mic and boom supporting it just hover over Brenda's head.

Quotes:

Jake: [as he's hovering over Brenda lying on the ground] I am going to cut your heart out and EAT IT!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in My Demon Nights (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Cry

Superb 80s vigilante trash classic.

A decade or so after her head-turning performance as a puking, foul-mouthed possessed girl in The Exorcist, Linda Blair's movie career wasn't exactly flourishing. Bad news for Linda, but good news for fans of trashy movies.

With the now chubby actress (reportedly) hooked on drugs, and quality roles a thing of the past, Linda made the inevitable move into the world of exploitation cinema.

After playing an innocent girl banged up in a lesbian hell-hole in the wonderfully sleazy WIP movie Chained Heat, Linda starred in the violent revenge drama Savage Streets, which saw her in one of her finest (ie. cheesiest) roles of the 80s, as Brenda, the street-smart leader of a gang of high-school girls, who turns vigilante after her deaf/mute sister (played by a young Linnea Quigley) is gang-raped and her best friend is murdered.

With cat-fights in the school showers, tons of gratuitous nudity (even Linda gets her thruppennies out!), a protracted rape scene, bad disco dancing, nasty deaths (and even nastier 80s fashion), awful dialogue, several lame 'Porkys'-style comedy moments, and a rockin' soundtrack by John Farnham, Savage Streets is tacky sleazoid trash of the highest order.

A suitably silly ending sees a big-haired, lip-glossed, leather-catsuited, crossbow-toting Brenda hunting down and killing the gang who diddled her little sister and threw her best bud off a bridge—and then being allowed to walk away scot free by a seemingly uninterested bunch of cops, who arrive on the scene just as our heroine has toasted her final scumbag.

If you enjoy low-budget trash, do yourself a favour and check this one out ASAP.