They raped her sister... killed her best friend. Now she must seek revenge! Savage Streets was released in October of 1984. Linda Blair plays Brenda, a girl who has some wild friends, and after almost being rundown by a gang that go by the name The Scars, the girls get some payback when they decide to trash the gang leaders (Jake) car. Jake decides to get some revenge as the gang rapes Brenda's mute-deaf sister Heather, played by the great 80's star Lennea Quigley.
When Brenda finds out what has happened to her sister, she is determined to exact revenge on the gang. Soon the Scars get a hold of Brenda's best friend and throw her off a bridge, this really sets off Brenda as she methodically hunts down each member of the Scars and kills them off one by one armed with a crossbow.
There are some really great kill scenes in the second half of the film, and one involving a bear trap! This is truly exploitation revenge film making at it's best set in the golden era of horror movies, the 80's.
Lennea Quigley usually plays the loud punk rock chick in most of her roles, so for her to play a deaf mute was way out of character for her, but she did a good job. Lina Blair also did a great job playing a girl that is pushed too far and snaps becoming a bit crazy in which she won a razzie award for in 1986 as worst actress. Robert Dryer who played the gang leader Jake did an excellent acting job playing the psycho punk.
Danny Steinmann was the writer and director for Savage Streets who has a couple great films under his belt including The Unseen and Friday The 13th: A New Beginning. Norman Yonemoto was also a writer for the film. Tom DeSimone was originally suppose to direct but quit after only a few days of filming.
BCI just released a DVD for Savage Streets that has some great extras including a high definition anamorphic transfer (The film looks great) Interviews with Linda Blair, Lennea Quigley and many others, three audio commentaries and more making this a definite purchase.
It's filled with so much 80's fashion, lingo, hair styles ( one too many mullets ) and the music is awesome. There has yet to be a release of the soundtrack on cd. Although not the best revenge film in the genre, it is still a lot of fun and remains a classic.
Rating: C
Review by Jason
