Cat Murkil and the Silks

So okay, I'm biased; they filmed this at my high school (Santa Maria High School) in '75, and I was one of the $15-a-day extras that walked up and down the corridors carefully not looking at the camera. Still...there *are* others who have seen this movie?! If you saw this movie, please send me a note, I'd love to know why..........

Saw this movie one hot August day in Seattle in '76. Was drawn by the lurid ad and the cheap matinee price. Instead of the chain wielding, snarling,figure on the one-sheet imagine how surprising it was to find out the lead actor was a skinny, blond-haired, blue-eyed pretty boy. The whole movie is clearly awful, the lead actor wouldn't cut muster in a high-school production and the others aren't much better including Steve Bond, latter of General Hospital and Canadian Doug McGrath of the classic Goin' Down the Road six years earlier. Understand that lead actor David Kyle became a missionary, a complete about-face from his role here.

The movie was no better than the usual drive-in fare being produced at that time but at least it's storyline, about high school gangs was a little more 'meaty' than the usual teen hi-jinks comedies of the time. A guilty pleasure? Not really, but at least it may have been trying to convey something about high school violence and dysfunctional families. Or not.

Incidently this movie was released on video under the title Cruisin' High which made it sound like either the typical teen hi-jinks comedy or set in a gay high school. Either way it was misleading since very little of the action takes place in a high school and the cruising involves gang rumbles.

May hold some interest to those who love movies of the time and the differing attitudes of today.

Sure, it's a little silly, but the film stands out far beyond other movies of the age-old "juvenile delinquent" genre. Don't even think about sordid campiness here, because this is the real thing! It is dramatically interesting, and there's enough crude action to cause mass hysteria.. Although it now pales by comparison of today's films on a higher standard, the message on teenage violence still delivers to this day. As it is, the movie remains fun and entertaining.

I suppose there was never a time when CAT MURKIL AND THE SILKS would have been called a good movie, critically speaking, but it has become a minor camp mini-classic with its 30-year vintage. The subject matter at hand, although presented in a way we might see as naive, is actually far more relevant today than it was at that time, and considerably more consequential.

No-good, scrawny little punk "Cat" Murkil is the unlikely leader of a honky high school gang that wreaks terror on anyone standing in the way of their juvie-delinquent hijinks. Pitted against racially sectionalized gangs from other sectors of town, they find themselves in a revolving door of violent paybacks in a blood-soaked teenage gang war.

With performances ranging from awful to adequate, and rather poorly paced, this low-budget curiosity piece is best viewed by patient bad movie fans. While far from the worst film I have ever seen(with a few legitimately good moments), I rate it cheritably at 4/10.

This is a really fun 70's street gang film! I'm sure it's not good as far as editing goes (like that other reviewer said), but who pays attention to that(?); only nurd film majors! It's a violent gang b movie and it'll make you laugh out loud at it's cheesiness. Plus they cruise around in a cherry 57 buick! So watch it, it's a goodie! that's if you can find this rare gem at a old video store. Seriously this film made me laugh, especially when they let that kid who looked like he was 10 in the gang. Plus the music is pretty funny, with a cheesy garagey theme song "Slow Down Baby". My favorite line from the film is happens after this rival black pimp gang hassle with the all white silks about a drug deal gone bad they say "lets get out of here I feel like I'm in Disneyland".