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Savage Streets (1984) - Blu-ray Review

The chugging guitars.  The angsty teen, Vince (Johnny Venocur), being reminded of his curfew.  And then the silence.  For a few brief seconds, the chaos of these Savage Streets dies away . . . and then it absolutely EXPLODES.  The teenager shrugs off his parents, throws off his baggy clothes, and changes into a rocking leather-clad outfit as John Farnham’s “Nothing Going to Stand in Our Way” blasts in the background.

Once Savage Streets takes off, it never looks back.  Hold on to your hot pants! We get to stay out late tonight when the Satins take on the Scars!  And, trust me, you definitely do NOT want to be on the receiving end of a RAGING Linda Blair.

And just like that this teenager’s night just got a whole hell of a lot better.  That might be because of Brenda (a very braless and wonderfully over-the-top performance from Blair) and her gang of girlfriends as they are loose in the same town on the same night.  Just listen to the music!  This is THEIR town.

"Girls might just wanna have fun, but this movie makes sure a price is paid for every night out past their curfew."


Savage Streets, directed by Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning’s Danny Steinmann, keeps some really good company as an exploitation flick.  Owing a bit of its success to Abel Ferrara’s Ms. 45, this grimy slice of trashterpiece theater is grindhouse goo through and through.  Hell, we even get girl-on-girl fights in the shower for only one reason: tits and ass!

Hollywood, when bathed with a brilliant blue neon, is a literal playground for these two gangs.  Brenda has a bitching attitude, sports some really big hair, enjoys her spandex as much as she loves her leg warmers, and is all about shielding her deaf mute sister, Heather (a very young Linnea Quigley), from all the bad shit she brings upon her and her girlfriends.  Girls might just wanna have fun, but this movie makes sure a price is paid for every night out past their curfew. {googleads}

Except there’s a gang of young men, Jake (Robert Dryer) and the Scars: Fargo (Sal Landi), Vince (Venocur), and Red (Scott Mayer), who have nasty plans of their own. They are known both in and out of the school as T-R-O-U-B-L-E.  The Principal (John Vernon) hates them and even the police are afraid to bust them for breaking the law.  There is but one justice and, when the Scars go too far, only Brenda can deliver it.

With one of the most unsettling rape scenes that I know of, Savage Streets, with its popped collars and its shark toothed earrings, takes no prisoners in its approach to all things 1980s. Reportedly made when Blair was knee-deep in blow, this film might just be the best thing outside of The Exorcist that she ever made.  This is a revenge flick, sure, but, before that, it is a gaudy exploitative treat of everything that made the 1980s fashion oh so very neon and fly and fun. 

Savage Streets (1984) - Blu-ray Review

But the soundtrack?  WOW.  Every cheesy note is AOR perfection.  Even the insane dialogue, with insults like “go fuck an iceberg”, will make you chuckle.  But after Brenda soaks in a nice tub of hot water and then slips on the kickass black suit, arming herself with a crossbow, a bear trap, and that trash-talking swagger of hers, Savage Streets becomes one of the most joyously violent adventures Hollywood’s ever seen.

Take the trash out?  Hell, no!  It’s time to take the trash in and get hip to the nastiest slice of sleazoid cinema the 80s ever saw.  Badass Sinema Unearthed was created for releases like this.  Savage Streets is back in action thanks to Code Red and Ronin Flix.  Get it while it is HOT!

5 beers

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Savage Streets (1984) - Blu-ray Review

MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime:
93 mins
Director
: Danny Steinmann, Tom DeSimone
Writer:
Norman Yonemoto, Danny Steinmann
Cast:
Linda Blair, John Vernon, Robert Dryer
Genre
: Action | Crime
Tagline:
The gang war of the sexes.
Memorable Movie Quote: "Maybe she's looking for a whole lot more than what we gave her sister!"
Theatrical Distributor:
Motion Picture Marketing
Official Site:
Release Date:
October 5, 1984
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
October 23, 2018
Synopsis: Savage Streets stars Linda Blair as a tough high school coed turned vigilante against a brutal gang of rapists and murderers. Blair is Brenda, vivacious leader of the "Satins," a fun-loving group of pretty high school girls. The Satins are in for trouble from the first moment they play a harmless trick on the "Scars", a vicious gang who runs loose on the Hollywood streets. The scars and their malevolent leader Jake take their revenge seriously first with Brenda's deaf-mute sister, then her soon-to-be-married best friend. Caught up in her rivalry with the cheerleaders, Brenda is at first unaware of the Scar's involvement, but is soon shocked with the full truth. Shock...hatred...and then a deadly vengeance in a skintight black suit, as Brenda searches out the gang members one by one. {googleads}

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Savage Streets (1984) - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Blu-ray includes a Limited Edition Slipcover with artwork by Josh Eckert while supplies last.

Home Video Distributor: Ronin Flix Exclusive - Code Red DVD
Available on Blu-ray
- October 23, 2016
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles
:
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0; Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Region A {googleads}

With a NEW HD master from the interpositive with additional color corrections, this 1080p transfer from Code Red looks all sorts of brand spanking new.  Colors are bold and bright.  Shadows are deep and defined.  Black levels are solid, too.  And the moments of neon are bright and splashy and spot on.  There’s not a scene that doesn’t go untouched and it shows.  Complete with a popping brand new 5.1 mix from the original source, this release is definitely NOT one to miss out on.  Savage Streets RULZ!

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • We get three: one from Danny Steinmann, one from producer John Strong and actors Robert Dryer and Johnny Vencour, and a third from the cinematographer and actor Sal Landi.

Special Features:

The special features include an Isolated Music Only Track, a new 5.1 mix created from the original 3 track mag, three audio commentaries, vintage interviews with the cast and crew, NEW interviews with Scott Mayer, Sal Landi, Robert Dryer, Johnny Vanocur and producer John Strong, the famous "Kat Skratch Cinema" mode, a Theatrical Trailer, and a reversible cover.  The release also includes a Limited Edition Slipcover with artwork by Josh Eckert while supplies last. 

• Vintage Interviews

• Video Interviews

• Kat Skratch Cinema Mode

• Isolated Music Track

• Theatrical Trailer

• Reversible Cover

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Savage Streets (1984) - Blu-ray Review

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