Street walkin' - haciendo la calle

Future Oscar winner Melissa Leo is radiant here in a very early big screen appearance. She plays "Cookie", a runaway girl, who's fleeing an abusive stepfather and pitiless mother, along with her younger brother Tim (Randall Batinkoff). Almost immediately after arriving at the Port Authority bus terminal, she's targeted by a pimp named Duke (Dale Midkiff of "Pet Sematary"). Grateful that he gives the two of them a place to stay, she's soon turning tricks for the guy, but turns sour on him when he brutally beats her friend Heather (Deborah Offner). When she thinks of switching pimps, things escalate to the point where he's spending an eventful night tracking her down, intending on doling out some serious punishment.

While "Streetwalkin'" is to be commended for being reasonably sleazy and offering an appropriately grim look at the whole world of hookers and pimps, there's really nothing that's special here. The ladies all look great, of course. Julie Newmar of 'Batman' fame shows that she could still turn heads at 50 something years of age, and gives a solid performance as a worldly veteran prostitute. Writer / producer Robert Alden and writer / director Joan Freeman maintain a respectable enough pace, use their locations well, and create the right look for the movie with cinematographer Steven Fierberg. Leo is an appealing protagonist, and Midkiff is definitely amusing as a creep who won't be deterred from his mission. He takes a lot of abuse on his way to the inevitable showdown. Leon, Antonio Fargas, Annie Golden, Khandi Alexander, Julie Cohen, Greg Germann, and Kirk "The Giggler" Taylor round out a decent supporting cast. This viewer particularly liked singer Golden as the pathetic junkie hooker Phoebe.

The movie might have had more impact if it weren't so obviously reminiscent of "Vice Squad". One thing's for sure: Midkiff is no Wings Hauser.

Six out of 10.

New York in the '70s and '80s wasn't like it is now: in those days, the trash strewn street corners were crawling with hookers, rent boys, pimps, vigilantes, muggers, psychos, rapists and flick-knife wielding gang members, and every cinema - I mean EVERY cinema - showed either hardcore porn, or grindhouse flicks like Streetwalkin', a prime slice of mid-'80s exploitation that revels in the filth and sleaze of the 'big apple'.

The film opens as pretty redhead teenage runaway Cookie (Melissa Leo) and her younger brother Tim (Randall Batinkoff) arrive in the city, where they are immediately approached by eagle-eyed pimp Duke (Dale Midkiff), who befriends the desperate kids. It's not long before Cookie is working for Duke, selling her nubile young bod to desperate johns. Cookie eventually sees Duke for the maniac he really is when fellow working girl Heather is beaten to a pulp by the psycho pimp. Cookie seeks help from another pimp, Jason (Leon), who sends his men to take care of Duke. However, the men mess up and Duke escapes, seething with anger and looking for revenge.

If you're a fan of gritty 'life on the streets' movies like Vice Squad and Angel, then you know what to expect from Streetwalkin': it's got the high school dropout ho, the experienced prossie with a heart (played by TV's Catwoman Julie Newmar), a jive talkin' Antonio 'Huggy Bear' Fargas, gun-toting pimps, pimp vs pimp fisticuffs, and a masochistic john, with plenty of drug-use, violence and nudity. For those who wish to wallow in the grime and filth of a New York that is no more, this one more than delivers the goods. You can almost smell the sewers...

7/10.

Flashback in the 80s NYC nightlife all RAW and soundtrack was DOPE! I wish I knew where they filmed the name of the club in this movie? Awesome movie hands down "Julie Newmar" is even in it.. Genuine! Authentic! Cinema!

This movie is a good depiction of life on the streets as prostitution is often glorified in other movies (eg Pretty Woman). This movie shows the grim reality and gruesomeness of a street walking prostitute. It shows the rough relationship between Pimp and Hooker. There are many scences in this movie that are funny too! One scene is where the pimp Duke comes back to the apartment looking for Cookie who got him abducted. Here in the apartment he rips the whole place apart and acts like a madman - quite funny! Then another scene shows Cookie and another prostitute forcing a client to act like a cow as they humiliate him. All in All, not a movie of the modern day, but still worth a watch. The action packed chase at the end is really adrenalizing as you feel as if you are in the movie too! Not to forget lots of violence in this film.

The film isn't bad. The problem is you've seen it all before. "Vice Squad" (1982), "Angel" (1984), "Boulevard" (1994). Nothing new here. On top of being a rehash of every pimps and ho's movie out there, Dale Midkiff as the pimp comes across as a "lite" version of Wings Hauser's "Ramrod" in "Vice Squad". One big plus for "Streetwalkin" is Julie Newmar being cast as the street wise matron hooker. Other than that, the movie follows the standard script, new girl comes to town, meets mister charming, gets sucked into the "life', finds out the reality, reacts to the brutality. If you haven't seen "Vice Squad" then you might appreciate "Streetwalkin" a bit more, otherwise this is pretty tame stuff compared to "Wings" outrageous portrayal as the brutal pimp "Ramrod". - MERK