Streets of Vengeance

"Pulp Horror that knows how to use the right 'message' without letting it get in the way of the fun entertainment" Neo-Pulps!

Those who are familiar with our page know that when it comes to Indie Art, we're like kids in a candy store. And by now, we probably have diabetes. So after we had a blast enjoying the hilarity of MURDERCISE (2023), we had to go watch all the films we could find from microbudget filmmaking powerhouse couple Angelica De Alba and Paul Ragsdale( A & P Productions). The hours of Pulpi entertainment they have created gave us one hell of a fun weekend. We couldn't decide whether to review CINCO DE MAYO (2013, a clever and original slasher film-does it count as a Slasher if you want all the victims to die?) or STREETS OF VENGEANCE (2018). The recent gross DMs we've been receiving helped us decide to choose this fun, sleazy film about a group of vigilante women fighting against a misogynistic cult. The plot is not only campy VHS nostalgia, it also explores themes of loneliness, misogyny, and cult mentality. A & P Productions knows how to work with a microbudget, and their scrips are always really smart. If you like sleazy Pulp Classics like Fear City (1984) or Angel (1983), then you will love this film.

They just made four lifelong fans. If you're wondering what the message of the film is, it's simple: "No one has the right to judge people. If they're not hurting anyone or you simply don't like what they're doing-just look the other way!"

No wait - fine ... no not true either. Mine? Well if I were one of the main characters that would be true I reckon - no pun intended. There is not much in the acting department that will get you too excited. You may know some of the female actresses however - especially one of the older characters. She has some experience (sorry for the pun).

All that being said, the question is how much suspension of disbelief are you willing to share/to dish out? If you know you can go all the way with that ... maybe you can find something better than most did when they watched it. I've seen worse movies - and there are some interesting ideas, if you don't mind the theme that is.

Streets of Vengeance is what it is, a less than B rate movie evoking nostalgia from the era of 1980s trash straight to betamax/VHS. It is what it is. It doesn't really do anything special. For B movie standards the cinematography is halfway competent. The art direction, especially for the posters and wardrobe is absolutely spot on and captures the idea of the movie well, and the soundtrack for the movie, pretty much entirely composed by Vestron Vulture captures the straight to VHS synth music that props this style of media up.

The story however is lack luster, it doesn't break any ground or try to do anything too new, but it's just uninteresting and doesn't hold too much water. The pacing of the story just overstays its welcome. Around the 30 minute mark I felt like I had been watching for well over an hour.

Artistically though, I feel a lot of this could be forgiven if there was an actual 4:3 aspect ratio release or even a VHS release, a lot of these complaints would disappear as it could be written off as irony or commentary of the B films of that era.

Still worth a watch with your friends who love bad movies.

I "highly" enjoyed this movie. I'm Facebook friends with the director, Paul Ragsdale. This has no effect on my review. I was a child of the 80s and I watched horror films the whole time, and I quickly embraced slashers. As an adult, I'm a full-blown slasher addict/nerd. I'll take any slasher I can get. What Paul Ragsdale once told me was that he loves making horror movies that remind him of the 80s, and I admire that. 'Streets of Vengeance' is a complete throwback to 80s Italian giallo slashers. If you love 80s slashers, I highly recommend it. It's a love letter to 80s italian giallo films.😊😁👍