Les rues de l'enfer

Definitely the highlight of Linda Blair's post-Exorcist career, this sleezy tale of high school revenge is a must for bad film fans everywhere.

This touching tale tells the story of Brenda (Blair), a tough high school gal who spends her nights drinking peach brandy on the streets of LA with her equally tough friends. One night, they make the mistake of messing with a gang called the Scars ("careful Brenda, these dudes look dangerous"), and before you know it, the Scars have raped and beaten Brenda's deaf, mute sister. Once Brenda learns the truth of what happened, she vows revenge on those responsible.

Directed by Daniel Steinman (Friday the 13th Pt 5), this film has some of the best (and worst) dialogue ever to grace the screen. Blair is fantastic, a hilarious mix of flared nostrils and foul language. Even better is John Vernon,as the principal, in his second film with Blair (Chained Heat is another must see). Vernon steals every scene he's in, whether he's telling Brenda she has "a great body" (!) or telling the Scars to "go f**k an iceberg"!

This is the ultimate 80s high school movie - terrible music, awful acting, questionable violence and gratuitous nudity. Seek it out if you haven't seen it. It's best seen in it's uncut form, as here in the UK twelve minutes were censored!

Brenda (Linda Blair), along with her high school friends, feels its a good idea to steal some hoodlum's car & total it after her deaf/mute sister walks into the middle of the road and almost gets hit by them. This doesn't sit well for the decidedly homo-erotic gang of 'bad boys' lead with sadistic panache by Jake, so they decide to rape Brenda's sister which leads to her seeking vengeance in this 80's exploitation staple.

Some might say that this film is simple-minded and while there's truth to that and it's a valid point, this film is also a pretty good piece of trash that wears it's exploitation badge on it's sleeve. I admire that and it's a fun enough seedy little ride that lets me excuse Blair's terribly campy acting throughout. Director Danny Stienmann does a bang-up job and if he'll just do another film of this caliber I promise i'll forgive him for "Friday the 13th: A New Beginning" Oh yeah, and I have to give props to John Vernon, as well, as his part, though rather small, is still greatness.

Eye Candy: Linda Blair, Rebecca Perle, and Suzee Slater get topless; Linnea Quigley shows boobs and a hint of muff (but it's in a very unerotic scene); various extras show tits, ass & bush in the obligatory shower scene

My Grade: B+

BCI's 2-disc set DVD Extras: Disc 1) Audio commentary by director Danny Steinmann; Second commentary by actors Robert Dryer and Sal Landi & director of photography Stephen Posey; & Third commentary by producer John Strong and actors Dryer and Johnny Venocur Disc 2) Interviews with Blair, Quigley, Venocur, Dryer, & Strong; Theatrical trailer for this film; and trailer for "Final Exam"

Sexploitation film with the unmistakable mark of the 80's. There are many ups and downs. Some action scenes are nice but thwre is also bad overacting. You can see lots of naked women, often suffering sexual harassment. The leading character seeks revenge against a clockwork-orange-like gang.

I don't regard myself fan of exploitation films. Haven't seen many. But his one has got everything! Fights, nasty faces of the mean guys, violence, immorality, bad attitude, hilarious dialogue, a rape scene, lots of full nudity and the so called (nah, these Americans!) 'cat fight', and ALL these while film is flowing in a non-stop, not-at-all-boring without letting the pace down to slow down at all.

Music is nice with an uplifting 80's feel - the film doen't fall flat until the very end, typically disappointing as a standard American picure, even though it delivers the goods, so no big complaints here.

OK, to sum up: this is probably one of the best-known exploitation pictures and I think it deserves the hype, for what it's woth. Do not watch this if you're expecting a 'good' film, because it's no 'good' film - still it justifies its supporters and fans of exploitation just by being what it was meant to be. Very funny indeed, I recommend watching with some friend(s) (but no politically correct female, as the film is quite sexist) along with beers or other kind of booze.

EXPLOITATION FANS: A MUST!!!!! all other weirdos & perverts, this is good entertainment and a nice surprise!

High school hellcat gets revenge on gang-bangers & thugs in this 80's cult classic. The music soundtrack is outstanding & is truly the movie's highlight.