The Violent Years

A bit heavy handed and moralising but certainly has some feisty moments. I loved the girl gang with their big pointy bosoms and snarling expressions and guns. Holding up petrol stations for kicks and in the end wrecking schoolrooms and getting into a gunfight with the police. Actually they didn't do much more than push over the chairs and wipe the blackboard clean, even replacing the duster on the shelf afterwards. But they talked big, had those big bosoms and did seem keen on a bit more action than seemed to be promised elsewhere. Somewhere writer Ed Wood is trying to make some comment about all the juvenile delinquency being the fault of the parents, but there is a fine scene when a guy's girlfriend is made to take off her sweater (angora?) and skirt and then be bound in her shiny underwear whilst aforementioned guy is chased into the woods by the four bosom pals for some naughtiness. Our leading bad girl is removing her top in full frame as the picture fades and the young man protests.

In what is yet another bad juvenile delinquent movie from the moralistic 1950s, four "teenage" girls rob a gas station, erase a classroom chalkboard, and do other vile things. The four females are all miscast. They're too old to be teenagers. The main "girl", Paula, is 18 years old. But the role is given to an "actress" who looks more like she's in her thirties.

The film's sets are cheap looking. Dialogue is horrible. There's no subtext at all. Characters say exactly what they're thinking, which renders a production reminiscent of a high school play. Overall acting is amateurish. None of these people have any talent. They mouth the words without conviction or credibility. B&W lighting is conventional but tolerable.

With speech after speech about right and wrong, the worst element of the film is the ending, as a judge hits us over the head with a moralistic sledgehammer. He starts out by blasting a teenager: "...this thrill seeking became the one great thing in your life, piling one thrill on another until, with ever increasing intensity, you became much like the drug addict, with his continual increases of dosage ..." As the actor playing the judge continually looks down at a paper, which is probably the film's script, he slogs on: "... to kill for the love of killing, to kill for a thrill". The judge's sermon to the teenager goes on for several more minutes.

But the judge isn't through yet. Later, he gives another sermon, this time to the parents: "No child is inherently bad. He's made what he is by his upbringing and his surrounding. Adults create the world children live in". (I didn't know that! hehehehe) "And in this process, parents play the key role. When children grow up among adults who refuse to recognize anything that is fine and good or worthy of respect, it's no wonder that ..." Yawn! The film "credits" show that the infamous Ed Wood, Jr. was the scriptwriter. No wonder the script is horrible.

There are unintentionally funnier films out there than "The Violent Years". But the film still provides a good lesson for young filmmakers about what to do, and especially what not to do, when making a cheap movie.

Proving Ed Wood can write just as well as he can direct, his script The Violent Years is brought to life by another director, and the result is still not good. The Violent Years comes out of an age-old theme that people mistakenly think is recent- "Today's kids are out of control and it wasn't like that when I was that age!" Except, people have been saying that forever. Check the date of the film- 1956, remembered now as a golden, Leave It to Beaver age. Like the later A Clockwork Orange, this has a gang of four teens robbing and raping- intriguingly, these four are all girls, which makes it harder to sympathize for the man who is raped- this is more male fantasy than horror.

The film starts with the girl's parents up in front of a judge, who speaks about how hard it is to try a good friend. This is indeed hard, because judges can't do it at all- they have to recuse themselves. And since when can bad parenting be punished by the law? Much of what follows is ham-handed exploration of the kind of parenting that breeds delinquency- a mom who says her daughter's issues can't be all that important. And, skipping your kid's birthdays causes crime. The girls attempting to be bad leads to leaden dialogue and acting and cheesy lines. One woman needs to be told by the man that the girls are pointing guns at them, at which point the girls compliment him for being observant. The worst the woman who gives the gang its jobs can call the girls is "jerks."

Of course, it all ends with more "If only I had..." mourning from the parents, reflecting a morality play with all the subtlety of being hit over the head with a hammer.

Please note: My score of 2 does NOT mean that this film isn't fun. In fact, THE VIOLENT YEARS is a wonderful film to watch. Just don't assume this makes it a good film or a picture made by competent film makers! No, its watchability is because it is so bad...so incredibly lacking in any subtlety that make it a must-see for bad movie fans. In other words, if you like laughing at films such as PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, then this film is definitely for you! The film begins with a judge lecturing two parents and basically saying that any time a teen goes bad it is because the parents are to blame! While this is true in some cases, the film pounds home this contention with all the subtlety and grace of a 2x4 being smacked repeatedly against your head!! As the judge is talking, the mother begins to think back about recent events and wonder if she DID have anything to do with her daughter becoming a menace to society.

This daughter turns out to be like a Jekyll and Hyde sort of person--acting sweet in front of Mom and being an evil thrill-seeking idiot outside the home. For kicks, she and her three friends rob gas stations, destroy schools and rape men. Oddly, however, they are not caught for the longest time because you can only assume everyone in the town (especially the cops) are idiots! The girls leave lots of fingerprints and other evidence behind but the cops conclude at one point that it's the work of a gang of men from another town!! While the girls DID disguise themselves for one of the robberies, it's pretty obvious they weren't guys!!! And, when they raped a man and left him and his girlfriend as witnesses, don't you think they could have identified the girls?! And, later in the film, when one of the father's co-workers comes to the house and one of the girls' boyfriends pulls a knife and threatens the visitor, don't you think perhaps this MIGHT have clued somebody in to the fact that the girl and her friends were up to no good?! Regardless, the bad acting and silly script is very watchable in a salacious and laughable sort of way--particularly if you enjoy laughing at such films as REEFER MADNESS, SEX MADNESS or HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL. Plus, it is just funny seeing the actors(?) having trouble with their lines (such as the judge who appears to be reading his lines as he talks to the parents) and the inconsistent and brainless writing (for which Ed Wood was responsible). I particularly loved it when two of the bad girls just told a crook that they shot a cop---and then this crook picks up the phone and tries to call the police! Didn't they just say they killed a policeman?! Didn't you think perhaps they might do the same if you made this phone call?! Duh.

Overall, because the film is so earnestly stupid, it holds a near and dear place in the heart of every bad film fan--you know, the sort of people who enjoy laughing at horrible films as an exercise in self-torture. If you aren't the sort of person who likes to do this, then my advice is to steer clear!!

Incredibly dumb and utterly predictable story of a rich teen girl who, not given love by her parents, starts a girl gang. They rob gas stations, rape guys (!!!) and kill a policeman.

All the "teenagers" in this film are easily in their late 20s/early 30s, the acting is all horrible and the script has every cliche imaginable with hilarious dialogue--it comes as no surprise that it was written by the immortal Ed Wood Jr.!

Worth seeing for laughs. Best lines--"They're shooting back!" and "It ain't supposed to be like this."