AniInterview
Sorry, this movie sucks
SpuffyWeb
Sadly Over-hyped
Kidskycom
It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.
Coventry
Slightly more than a decade after she depicted the legendary possessed teenager Regan, who spun her head 360 degrees and vomited green pea soup in one of the horror genre's greatest historical classics, Linda Blair didn't star in elite and sophisticated movies like "The Exorcist" at all anymore! But that isn't necessarily bad news for the avid cult/exploitation fanatics, because lovely Linda grew out to become one most popular and desirable cult wenches on earth! The unwritten rule states: if you like horror, you love Linda Blair. Nah, just kidding, personally I love Linda because she's an unpretentious and not-at-all-prudish natural babe who stars in some of the silliest and trashiest, but simultaneously most entertaining B-movies of the eighties! After the unsurpassable "Chained Heat" – as far as I'm concerned still the Holy Grail of exploitation cinema – this "Savage Streets" is definitely her finest show piece. This vile and nasty hybrid between vigilante thriller and high-school punk gang literally oozes with unmistakable early 80s trademarks, like raw atmosphere, awful music and even worse clothing styles, misogynic violence, gratuitous nudity and loads of uncompromising violence! Set in less glamorous streets of Hollywood, Blair portrays Brenda, the leader of an all-girl high school gang. Brenda is tough and relentless about pretty much everything except for her vulnerable deaf-mute younger sister Heather, whom she protects and defends with her life. Her gang runs into conflict with The Scars, a violent male gang led by the dangerously disturbed Jake. While Brenda is cat-fighting in the shower and receiving morality speeches in the principal's office, the Scars rape her little sister Heather and kill her pregnant friend Francine. So what's a girl to do? She takes a long bath, dresses up in a tight leather outfit and goes out to extract her vengeance! I could probably write two entire pages filled with the flaws and illogicalities that feature in "Savage Streets", but where's the fun in that? Instead, I'll just shamelessly admit that the film provides non-stop trashy entertainment (well, except maybe during the long & unpleasant gang- rape) and glorious sleaze. The overload of nudity mostly comes from nameless extras; you know the type of girls that are extendedly filmed in the shower before the camera pans to the actual dressing room where the main actresses are having a conversation. But don't worry, as Linda goes topless as well, and so does the beautiful Rebecca Perle whose top is ripped off during a wrestling game in class! Blair and Perle have perhaps the nicest pairs of boobs of the entire decade. But in all honesty, "Savage Streets" also contains a handful of notably tense sequences and truly scary and badass male villains. Particularly Robert Dryer (as Jake) and Sal Landi (as Fargo) are terrifically menacing thugs. The climax is a fantastic – but sadly too short – piece of vigilante action that would even make Charles Bronson proud! The forever underrated John Vernon appears as school principal, but his role is fairly insignificant this time.
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.
ObscureCinema101
As part of my "revenge-movie-catch-up," I knew that I HAD to see SAVAGE STREETS. Not only did this have glowing reviews from exploitation fans, but it looked totally amazing as well! Brenda is the toughest girl in her high school who usually goes out with her posse and her sweet, deaf younger sister for some fun. One night, they decide to get back at a gang called the Scars (whom have been hassling them) by jacking their car and then filling it with garbage. The Scars respond by gang-raping Brenda's sister and throwing her pregnant and bride-to-be best friend off a bridge. Brenda decides it's time to adopt the principle of "an eye for an eye," loads up her crossbow, and goes out for some payback.SAVAGE STREETS is classic exploitation at its finest. It has the standard formula (first hour is building on characters, last half hour is payback) and does it very well. This was during Linda Blair's "exploitation days," where it seemed this Oscar-nominated actress would take just about any role as long as the pay was good. I think she did a great job with the role, which surprised me because of how innocent she usually looks (one of my complaints about HELL NIGHT (1981) was that she looked "too Cherubian"). John Vernon makes an appearance as the tough as nails and completely AWESOME principal and spews the classic line about what the gang should do with an iceberg. The actors who play the gang are all over-the-top, but they do come across as despicable people and that's really all that matters.However, my problem here is my problem with most revenge movies: they just wait too long to get to the payback (and awesome) part. But trust me; considering how great that last half hour was, the wait was worth it. A lot of people complain about how a lot of that hour is high school drama where the boyfriend of the head cheerleader keeps hitting on Brenda, but I thought that was all really entertaining (the head cheerleader is just as despicable as the gang members, in my opinion).It's no surprise this was directed by Danny Steinmann, a porn director, because of the abundance of female nudity in it. It was completely unnecessary, yet thankfully, it doesn't really make the film drag like in other movies (THE INVISIBLE MANIAC). The film also features Marcia Karr in a role before she played Rhonda in the phenomenal KILLER WORKOUT (1987) as one of Brenda's friends, as well as everyone's favorite eighties scream queen, Linnea Quigley, as Heather.Even the soundtrack to this movie kicks all sorts of butt, with loads of classic eighties tunes, including the unforgettable "Justice for One." The protagonists are all likable and I really didn't want any of them to die, and as previously stated, the antagonists were all very unlikable and just itching to get an arrow through the throat.SAVAGE STREETS isn't perfect (it skims the surface of being that, though), but there's no arguing that this is a great exploitation movie. Loaded with over-the-top violence, gratuitous nudity, entertaining characters (John Vernon, baby!), likable characters, good suspense, a fast pace, and a great soundtrack. Yes sir, they just don't make 'em like they used to.Essential viewing for everyone.
lost-in-limbo
A vibrant Linda Blair is always appealing, even when she's a pudgy, foul-mouthed, smoking bad-ass punk leader of a girl-gang known as the 'Satins'. This emotionally raw, but engagingly campy and tasteless low-budget exploitation fodder is your standard revenge story that cooks up ruthlessly calculated violence, trashy dialogues and gratuitous flesh. Although the video I hired out, just happened to be cut, so while I was entertained. Even though the attitude sticks, I never really felt the film's brutal punch, and at times was at a lost. These were around the supposedly notorious rape scene of Brenda's deaf-mute sister (glowingly played by Linnea Quigley) and the death of one of her friends. Danny Steinmann's well-served direction is competently gusty, and moves at a cracking pace. Even when it wasn't being punishing, the side-plots involving the daily school cycle (catfights in showers, sex jokes, and sticking it to the teachers) were moderately amusing, and the moving bond between Blair and Quigley's characters is well done. The melodramatic premise is slim and played straight, but more then ever it's quite hysterical when it approaches it that way in the second half of the film. This can be attributed to the silly and juvenile script, but still it's quite flavored. Blair does get some great one-liners. Humour is there, but simply lacks that deadly and biting touch. The cast are lively show-ins. Robert Dryer suitably snarls as the villainous leader of "Scars" gang. John Vernon's brief, but hardened no-bull turn was a nifty inclusion. What I thought to be holding the film together, and adding to the spirit was an upbeat, soaring rock n roll soundtrack that added to the care-free punk scene and the vigorous urban locations.
