Savage Streets (1984)

	Directed by: Danny Steinmann	COUNTRY USA GENRE Action/Vigilante/ Exploitation NORWEGIAN TITLE - RUNNING TIME 93 minutes
	Produced by: John Strong
	Written by: Danny Steinmann Norman Yonemoto

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Brenda	Linda Blair	½
Heather	Linnea Quigley	½
Jake	Robert Dryer
Principal Underwood	John Vernon	-
Fargo	Sal Landi
Vince	Johnny Vencour	½
Red	Scott Mayer
Wes	Brian Frishman	-

Review

This foray into the exploitation sub-genre is a revenge fantasy made for horny boys and angry girls, all of whom get their share of seedy content to gawk at. The filmmakers knew exactly what they were doing with their lingering shots of naked breasts, sleazily snickering bad guys, gang rape and immolation – but couldn't they at least have done it with a little quality? Unfortunately, every trace of character depth and build-up is pushed aside, and the film hurries its way through badly directed scenes of wafer thin characters doing their genre-motivated things. Yes, Savage Streets gained a cult following, which can only be ascribed to years of strict censorship. Linda Blair looks great in the lead, but her performance is all over the place. The supporting cast is mostly talentless, although main antagonist Robert Dryer is satisfactory in the final showdown – he's good at being inflicted pain.

PS! This review is based on the uncut/uncensored version, which is not easy to get hold of. There is also a heavily edited version, which removes every exposed breast – although not the gruelling immolation. Why a boob is considered more harrowing to watch than a burning man, I will never know.