Savage Streets

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.

This one pretty much has it all. It wears 1980s on its forehead. Linda Blair gets star billing in a role that was a far departure from her usual victim parts. Age 24 when this was filmed, she really seems to revel in this new role. Linnea Quigley gives one of the best performances of her career as a deaf-mute. One year older than Blair, the implication is that she is Blair's younger sister.

Linda (wisely) avoids nudity during the shower scene. She did that the year before in CHAINED HEAT. But she does have an artsy candlelit bathtub scene where she is nude displaying her ample assets.

Also, you know this is an eighties film when the shower scene features an abundance of pubic hair. You wouldn't see that today.

SAVAGE STREETS has nudity, violence, rape, murder, revenge, 80s music, and good locations.

But is also has something else....

Homo hijinks. There's a guy gang called the Scars. They kiss on the lips. One guy sucks another thumb. One wears more makeup than Boy George. And they are CONSTANTLY touching one another. WTF? Did I miss something in the 80s? Oh, yeah...and they have to assert their masculinity through rape. Right.

Sal Landi, as one of the gang members, gives an outstanding performance. Blair is in top form. Check it out!

The late 70's early 80's, particularly with the push of home video, saw a deluge of trashy, violent movies that were the joy of my early teens, back in the day when renting an 18+ movie as a kid was pretty easy :).

Bronx Warriors, Exterminator and in my opinion the king of them all, Class of 84, led the way in this boob filled, blood dripping bonanza.

Savage Streets, whilst a lesser entry, is still pretty good for what it was trying to achieve. The draw card was (and probably still is) Linda Blair in her continued efforts to movie along from The Exorcist. Its violent, sleazy and entertaining enough although the passing of time has not been kind.

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"