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!

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.

Savage Streets (1984) is directed by Danny Steinmann and this belongs to the better achievements of the vigilante genre. Brenda's (Linda Blair) deaf little sister Heather (Linnea Quickley) is abused by a brutal street gang and left to her agony on the school floor. Her sister is very tough and powerful (both physically and mentally) and soon she begins her own war against those b****rds that raped and killed innocent people.

There are no morals in this films, but as far as one is interested in vigilante movies (which may include some morals, too) this is very pleasant classic from the 1980's as these films are not made anymore. The rape scene is pretty disturbing as the girl cannot even scream. The violence is not too heavy but heavy enough to shock the mainstream audience, and this would probably not get an R rating nowadays in its full form, but then, it didn't get it back then, either. Linnea is very beautiful and acts her silent role convincingly, and her sister's actress Linda Blair is also fantastic and should scare all the males with her crossbow and killer expression on her face..

I liked this flick, because I love these nostalgic (just listen to the marvelous soundtrack!!!) street films from the 80's. Others of its kind are for example Lustig's Vigilante, Winner's Death Wish (from the 70's but still) and Ferrara's Ms. 45. Savage Streets is not too intelligent movie but as a trash exploitation this is very important piece of genre's history, in my opinion! And of course there is a shower scene without any other purpose than to show us naked women. And also a fight scene in the shower! And also.. Well, fans of the genre know exactly what to expect from this kind of film: great dialogue and characters, nudity, gratuitous violence, rock and disco music and so on, and Savage Streets delivers it all and so is recommended for fans of this kind of low budget exploitation.

7/10

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!

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"