Savage Streets

Savage Streets is a 1984 American teen vigilante action film directed by Danny Steinmann and starring Linda Blair. The film premiered on October 5, 1984.
== Plot ==
Rebellious high-school student Brenda spends an evening on Hollywood Boulevard with her group of friends known as the Satins: Rachel, Stella, Francine, Stevie, and Maria. Accompanying them is Brenda's younger, innocent deaf-mute sister, Heather, of whom Brenda has grown extremely protective following their father's death. A reckless drug-dealing gang known as the Scars, which consists of Jake, Vince, Red, and Fargo, nearly run the girls down on a street corner in Jake's convertible, causing Heather to fall to the ground. In retaliation, the girls steal the convertible before filling it with garbage and abandoning it on the street.
Jake exacts revenge by stalking the Satins at their high school, gaining the naive Heather's trust before having his cohorts brutally beat and gang rape her. After school, the girls find Heather unconscious in the locker room, and she is hospitalized in a coma. Later that night, the girls visit a local disco where they encounter the Scars, and a fight breaks out after Fargo sexually harasses the pregnant Francine. This is where Jake and his gang confront Fadden, another student, shaking him down for money while he is on a date with his girlfriend (Suzee Slater). When he doesn't have the money, they rough him up, but Jake tells his goons to "check his girl." His girlfriend is braless and wearing a tube top, and due to her large bust, is a target for their attack. They continue to beat Fadden, as one other goons rips her top down, exposing her bust and they proceed to grope and fondle her ample yet perky breasts. She, almost in tears, is restrained and can't do anything to stop it.
After Francine has a dress fitting for her impending wedding, she is stalked by the Scars, who chase her through an industrial section of the city before Jake murders her by throwing her off a viaduct spanning the Los Angeles River. The crime enrages Vince, the only member of the group who expresses remorse for their actions, and he cuts ties with the Scars. Later, Brenda encounters Vince apologizing to the comatose Heather in her hospital room. That night, Brenda confronts Vince at his house at knifepoint, where he admits the Scars have murdered Francine.
Seeking vengeance, an enraged Brenda visits a weapons store, where she purchases a crossbow and several bear traps. She ventures into a sparsely-populated section of the city, where she locates the Scars near an abandoned textiles warehouse. Brenda taunts Fargo and Red, luring them into the warehouse, where she kills Fargo by shooting him through the neck with the crossbow, before dispatching Red by snapping a bear trap over his throat. Meanwhile, Jake kills Vince in a nearby alley by striking him with his car.
Jake finds Fargo and Red's corpses in the warehouse. He attempts to shoot Brenda with a pistol, but she incapacitates him by shooting him with the crossbow, and trapping him with a rope around his ankles which hangs him upside down. Brenda tortures the defenseless Jake by stabbing him with a hunting knife, but he manages to free himself and attacks her. Jake chases Brenda, cornering her inside a paint store. While the store's burglar alarm blares, Brenda douses Jake with paint before setting him on fire. Police arrive as the engulfed Jake stumbles out of the store and dies.
Some time later, Brenda, Heather, and the surviving members of the Satins visit Francine's grave. Brenda laments, "At least we made things right," to which Stevie responds, "No, Brenda, you made things right."
* Linda Blair as Brenda
* Linnea Quigley as Heather
* Robert Dryer as Jake
* John Vernon as Underwood
* Sal Landi as Fargo
* Johnny Venocur as Vince
* Scott Mayer as Red
* Debra Blee as Rachel
* Lisa Freeman as Francine
* Marcia Karr as Stevie
* Luisa Leschin as Maria
* Ina Romeo as Stella
* Suzee Slater as Fadden's Girlfriend
* Rebecca Perle as Cindy Clark
== Reception ==
Variety described the film as having "deliciously vulgar dialog and well-directed confrontation scenes." TV Guide awarded the film one star and said of star Linda Blair "This is Blair's best performance since The Exorcist (1973), but that's not saying much." Carol J. Clover in Men, Women, and Chainsaws found Linda Blair unconvincing in her role as a female avenger in her role as Regan MacNeil.
== Awards ==
Razzie Awards
* 1986 - Linda Blair (Winner) - Worst Actress
Saturn Award
* 1985 - Linda Blair (Nominated) - Best Actress
* 1985 - Linnea Quigley (Nominated) - Best Supporting Actress
* 1985 - Danny Steinmann, Norman Yonemoto (Nominated) - Best Screenplay
== Soundtrack ==
The soundtrack featuring the theme song "Justice for One" performed by John Farnham was never officially released to the public but may be found on rare promos which were sent to DJs at the time of the picture's release. The reason for the "non-release" was marketing. Some copies of Savage Streets LP, complete with Linda Blair as the main character "Brenda" on the cover, have made it onto online auctions and are stamped "demo only". These releases were put out by the Curb Records group and are now highly sought-after due to Farnham's increased popularity.
== Home media ==
On September 23, 2008, Savage Streets was released in a 2-disc set "Special Edition" by Bryanston Distributors / Motion Picture Marketing in association with BCI Eclipse / Navarre Corporation with Special Features produced by Red Shirt Productions and Code Red.
Category:1984 films
Category:1980s action thriller films
Category:American action thriller films
Category:American independent films
Category:1980s English-language films