SAVAGE STREETS

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Savage Streets is a 1984 American teen vigilante action thriller exploitation film directed by Danny Steinmann and starring Linda Blair , with Linnea Quigley and John Vernon appearing in supporting roles. It follows Los Angeles high school student Brenda who enacts revenge against the men in a gang who brutalize her deaf-mute younger sister Heather and murder her friend Francine Ramirez. The project was originally developed by Billy Fine, who had previously directed Blair in Chained Heat (1983), with Tom DeSimone hired as the original director. Shortly into principal photography in early 1984, DeSimone was replaced by Steinmann. Filming took place in Los Angeles, and was completed in February 1984. The production was marked by financial difficulties, resulting in filming temporarily ceasing before producer John Strong became involved. Following a successful appeal with the Motion Picture Association of America to revert its X rating , Savage Streets was first released regionally in the midwestern United States in the summer of 1984, and went on to become a major box-office hit in several South American countries, particularly Mexico and Argentina. The film was banned in Australia due to its graphic violence, and heavily edited for its original release in the United Kingdom by the British Board of Film Classification . Savage Streets received largely unfavorable reviews from critics, who felt its depictions of rape and teenage violence were exploitative and crude, while Blair's lead performance was also harshly criticized. For her performance, Blair won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress . In the years since its initial release, it has become a cult film . [ 6 ] Plot Rebellious high-school student Brenda spends an evening on Hollywood Boulevard with her group of friends known as the Satins: Rachel, Stella, Francine Ramirez, 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 naïve 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. 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." Cast Linda Blair as Brenda Linnea Quigley as Heather Robert Dryer as Jake John Vernon as Principal Underwood Sal Landi as Fargo Johnny Venocur as Vince Scott Mayer as "Red" Debra Blee as Rachel Lisa Freeman as Francine Ramirez Marcia Karr as Stevie Luisa Leschin as Maria Ina Romeo as Stella Suzee Slater as Fadden's Girlfriend Rebecca Perle as Cindy Clark P