Protraph Lack of good storyline.
PlatinumRead Just so...so bad
filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Adam Peters (23%) What should have been fun example of 80's trash cinema sadly leaves a bad taste in the mouth. All the elements were there, the great cheesy soundtrack, the sleazy plot, the cast/setting, all good. But the rape scene featured is so amazingly poorly judged beyond all moral reason that it pretty much ruins the whole movie. Grotesquely the scene in question is intercut back and forth with a borderline soft-core porn scene involving Linda Blair cat-fighting a completely naked girl in the showers. So what kind of response is the director trying to achieve here? To be honest I don't really want to know as it just feels like the man is more of a sleazy pervert than an actual film maker. If the movie overall was handled a little better it could have been a minor classic, but its sexulisation of abuse (intended or not) is really too morally backward - even for a mid-budget sleaze picture - to warrant praise from me.
chribren "Savage Streets" is a Grindhouse/Action movie from 1984, directed by Danny Steinmann.Basic plot: A group of tough girls, lead by Brenda (Linda Blair), are walking out in slutty-looking clothes at night, when Brenda's deaf-and-mute sister Heather gets hit by a car driven by the Scars (a gang of bad boys). Heather is okay, but the other girls get mad at the boys.In one fine school day, Heather gets gang raped by the Scars, and badly hurt. Later on one of the boys throws Brenda's best friend Francine off a bridge and kill her. And Brenda is soon to get to know the truth.This film is no doubt one of the best Grindhouse action movies of the 80s I've seen. The film really seems to have taken inspirations from some other revenge-flicks like Eastwood-, Bronson, or Pam Grier-movies of the 70s, the film is just a little bit more brutal. Here Linda Blair really kicks ass as the girl gang leader Brenda, especially during the climatic revenge sequence. The soundtrack is somewhat cool as well. But the gang rape scene is somewhat graphic and might be disturbing to some viewer. Oh, let's not forget there are several scenes of full female nudity as well.The Danish DVD version I have is completely uncut and runs for 93 full minutes. Thankfully I was in Copenhagen on vacation and bought this film. Recommended if you like Grindhouse action movies with revenge as the theme on the film. I give this film a well deserved 10/10.An another Grindhouse classic from the 80s to be honorable mentioned includes Mark Lester's "Class of 1984".
Michael_Elliott Savage Streets (1984) * 1/2 (out of 4) Linda Blair continued her road down exploitation street with this cheap knock off of DEATH WISH. In the film she plays a punk teenager who seeks vengeance on four thugs who gang rape her sister (Linnea Quigley) and kill her best friend. I think it goes without saying that this film was probably rushed into production after DEATH WISH II proved to be a big box office draw so they get the former Oscar winner to put on a black leather outfit and stalk the streets of L.A. looking for the punks. Director Steinmann is best known and probably most hated for his work on Friday THE 13TH V: A NEW BEGINNING and I can't say this film is any better. I'm a fan of that entry in the series because it's rather fresh and sleazy but none of that can be seen here. Instead we have one drawn out sequence after another and this film drags at every moment. The only saving graces are the mandatory shower sequence and Blair's nude scene, which I'm sure got a few headlines back in the day. The biggest problem is that there aren't any sympathetic characters. No matter how trashy or pathetic the DEATH WISH sequels got, we at least cared for Bronson and his character but Blair's character here is just as filthy as anyone else so it's hard for us to feel anything for her. Why they made her such a bad character is beyond me but the twist in the story doesn't work. It also doesn't help matters that part of the film seems like a spoof while the other half tries to be so serious. Nothing ever makes a bit a sense including the scene where the friend is killed in broad daylight with cars ing by. Blair sleepwalks through the role and delivers a rather bland performance. Quigley isn't given anything to do and we also have John Vernon cashing a paycheck and saying lines like "Go f**k an iceberg". Blair's trip down the exploitation market delivered this as well as CAGED HEAT and fans might get a kick out of her nudity in the two flicks but that's about all either one has to offer.
lastliberal OK, so this is not award material - well, except for a Razzie for star Linda Blair - but, it was an entertaining flick for the times.Blair did a credible job as the local tough at school, but she had this protective side when it came to her deaf-mute sister, played in what has to be Linnea Quigley's sweetest role ever. I mean she was cherub sweet, and not just because of her disabilities, but she radiated an angelic aura. That made her violation at the hands of the local toughs just that much more devastating.In a Charles Bronson reprise, Blair goes after the scum who did her sister, and gets her revenge. How she managed to evade arrest when the police finally make an appearance in this movie is a real mystery.
