Streets

Christina Applegate stars in her movie debut as a runaway teen who can't read. She learns about life on the streets of Venice Beach..not as bad as it sounds.. Applegate does well and the story isnt half bad..the requisite prostitute killing cop kinda pushes it though... on a scale of one to ten..a 6

The first sights and sounds to greet us make for an inauspicious start, and my first impression was to reflect "I'm not saying that it's entirely without value or can't be appreciated on its own merits..." I am saying that the song to greet us over the opening credits (and the end credits) is so overwrought that it sounds like a parody of a more earnest ballad. In fairness, elsewhere I quite like Aaron Davis' score, especially in tense moments where it embraces a more discordant slant. Beyond the misogyny suggested in the basic premise, we're also subjected to dialogue filled with tired and unnecessary strains of sexism, transphobia, and ableism, to say nothing of unseemly prejudice against sex workers. Even putting this aside the dialogue is a little questionable, and all over the place; the scene writing and plot development are decidedly brusque; some scenes in and of themselves feel scattered, and inspire a bit of skepticism.

Meanwhile, even with the focus on one particular character, 'Streets' is probably at its best in providing a portrait of, well, life on the streets, and all the trials, tribulations, and varieties of people that come with it (not unlike 1992 drama 'Where the day takes you'). Where the picture centers a thriller narrative it comes off as a tad common, and arguably even contrived - which is strange since the crux of the plot, a beast of a cop who is also a brutal killer, is all too realistic and believable, especially as his coworkers are characterized with the true to life pathos of protecting their own and moreover disbelieving anyone who actually needs help. Plus, in 2022 it seems odd that anyone could possibly be as trusting of police as some of the secondary supporting characters are here, though even if we take the story at face value, these characters are rather lacking of intelligence as written.

Suffice to say that this is a mixed bag in some measure. It's still enjoyable and worthwhile; the bones of the plot are solid, and while the screenplay is troubled otherwise, there are some scenes that are written and executed with fine intelligence. I think the cast are actually quite excellent: Christina Applegate, only 19 at the time, commands the main role with deft skill; it's always a pleasure to see Aron Eisenberg in a film, and Eb Lottimer's portrayal of nasty Lumley is filled with grit, spite, and chewing of scenery. Even those in smaller supporting parts make the most of the time they have on-screen. The production design and art direction are commendable, and those sparing effects we see are done very well. Any stunts, and bursts of action or violence, look really good. Despite any dubiousness, for as emphatically dark and ugly as the core of the feature is, it does manifest a certain grim atmosphere as Lumley pursues his prey, and meaningful suspense. If weakly, this is a film we can get invested in.

More so than not I think this is pretty good. The most substantial weakness is probably the uneven writing, which feeds into a broader issue of 'Streets' not giving us something to wholly latch onto, something that particularly elevates it. At its best it's strong and actively engaging, but that sense of absorption isn't sustained throughout the length. Even at that, however, the movie is suitably well done in other regards to earn a soft recommendation. Unless you're a diehard fan of Applegate or someone else involved you don't necessarily need to go out of your way to see this; on the other hand, if you come across it and aren't looking for The Best Of The Best to fill your time, then it's a decent way to spend 85 minutes. Nothing remarkable at large and imperfect, all the same I admire the hard work and earnestness that went into 'Streets,' and it's duly worthy after all.

And that one reason is Applegate's lead performance, of all things. This film is mostly typical late 80's Cali-based dramatic thriller fare, with its requisite abusive cops, rundown underpasses and throwaway dialogue.

Or is it? Christina Applegate sticks out like a sore thumb with her deeply poignant performance as the teenage hooker lead. She has at least one memorable monologue detailing how she grew up in motel bathrooms all over town while her hooker mom conducted biz with her clients next room.

She and her character honestly belong in a better film. Unfortunately, that film never materialized.

Forgotten movie which barely got a release. I didn't even know it existed until I saw it while casually browsing at a video store. Homeless teenager hooker Dawn (Christina Applegate) angers psychotic cop Lumley (Eb Lottimer) who wants to kill her. She runs into a nice, normal teenage boy (David Mendenhall) and, together, they try to get away from the cop.

Supposedly factual movie on the lives of homeless kids in Vencie, California. It was obviously made on a VERY low budget and looks appropriately grimy and gritty. It is well directed and Applegate is just fantastic as Dawn. Mendenhall has his moments too and it has an incredibly sad (but realistic) ending. Still, two things really lessen this film.

One is some truly terrible dialogue--the situations are believable but the dialogue isn't. The second is Lottimer as the killer--he's not a bad actor but his character is given NO depth or insight. Also the bursts of VERY graphic violence are jarring. With a little more polish to the script and more depth this might have worked. As it stands it's only worth seeing for Applegate and some nice direction. I can only give it a 7.

Christina Applegate stars as, Dawn, a heroine-addicted teen-prostitute fighting for survival on the streets of Venice, whose narrow escape from a psychotic cop (Ed Lottimer) armed with an explosive home-made gun and bent on raping and slaughtering runaways, initiates a bloody pursuit through the hardened world of homeless teens.

After thwarting her attempted rape and murder, Dawn befriends Sy (David Mendenhall), a naive middle-class teen runaway and aspiring musician, who's chosen a temporary life on the streets for seemingly artistic inspiration. Dawn takes Sy under her wing and gives him a guided tour of her world, along the way their friendship of mutual dependence blossoms into youthful love.

Dawn introduces Sy to an interesting array of characters. Most notably Bob (Patrick Richwood) a heroine dealer and eccentric metaphysical philosopher obsessed with the palindromic nature of his own name and its relation to his existence. Also look for a pre-Nog Aron Eisenberg for those Deep Space 9 fans, and 2nd Unit photography by Janusz Kaminski.

"Streets" is a compelling look at the lives of the forgotten and abandon children forced into early adulthood combined competently with gripping psycho-killer action. The violence is superb Corman-esquire exploitation with a nice amount of gore, mostly due to the killer's use of a special gun capable of blasting material into oblivion. However one of the more violent executions is entirely off screen accompanied by a descriptively muffled bang.

The performances are convincing and Katt Shea's direction is outstanding. There are many inventive sequences that utilize techniques that are often misused by others. There is a first-rate use of off screen sound and dialogue, especially Bob's rants, plus a gorgeous temporal ellipsis that brings the audience from one time to the next within the same space. When watching this I was struck how the image of the motorcycle cop hunting down the innocence of a child is something that we've assigned almost icon status to the villain in Terminator 2, however this film demonstrated that same notion of a symbol of protection and justice twisted into the complete opposite -and a couple years before James Cameron's version.

This film is so underrated… why is it not on DVD???