DVD Review: SAVAGE STREETS (1984)

SAVAGE STREETS (1984)

LABEL: Arrow Video
REGION CODE: Region 0 PAL
RATING: 18 Certificate
DURATION: 93 mins
VIDEO: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)
AUDIO: English Dolby Digital Mono
DIRECTOR: Danny Steinmann
CAST: Linda Blair, Linnea Quigley, Robert Dryer, John Vernon

TAGLINE:What they did to her little sister was worse than a crime... Now witness the ultimate execution!

Brenda (Linda Blair, CHAINED HEAT) is the tough as nails leader of the L.A. girl-gang The Satins, a tight knit group of bad ass high schoolers; Francine (Lisa Freeman, BACK TO THE FUTURE), Stella (Ina Romeo, ESCAPE FROM LA) and Stevie (Marcia Karr, KILLER WORKOUT). Brenda's a smart mouth queen of the streets with only one weakness, her mute younger sister Heather (Linnea Quigley, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD) whom she's fiercely protective of. While strutting down Hollywood Blvd. Heather is nearly rundown by a gang of drug-peddling thugs calling themselves The Scars, led by Jake (Robert Dryer), whom is joined by Red (Scott Mayer), Fargo (Sal Landi, SWEET REVENGE) and the snivelling Vince (Johnny Venocur, LORD OF ILLUSIONS). Incensed by The Scars nearly killing Heather the ladies retaliate by taking the Scars prized 50's convertible for a joyride down the strip and giving it a trashy make-over. The Scars thirsty for revenge after the shaming vent their anger by gang raping Brenda's disadvantaged sister Heather.

The rape occurs at school while Heather awaits her sister in the gymnasium. She is approached by Red who gains her trust with flattery and feigning interest in sign language. It's an almost touching scene of bad boy meets nice girl, almost, but not quite. Actor Scott Mayer has a twisted darkness about hims a great villain, very surprised he didn't go on to do more. His character's a seething psychotic and his attentions for the naive Heather surely don't bode well. Sure 'nuff the interaction turns dark when Red begins "signing" the in-out-in-out finger in the hole routine and forces himself on her as the remaining members of the Scars enter the gymnasium and drag her into the restroom. It's there that they brutally gang-rape Heather on the dingy floor next to a row of urinals. The encounter is quite harrowing and not played for sleazy titillation by any means, this is just sadistic violence. Adding to the disgust of an already vile act is that Quigley appears quite young, physically, this is before your breast augmentation which we saw on display in RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. Vince, the newest and arguably least scuzzy of the four gets first dibs after being coerced by Jake, leaving Red and Fargo to argue over who's up at bat next, so to speak The squirm inducing scenario is oddly juxtaposed with  Brenda's own skirmish in the shower, a WIP-styled bitch fight with a cheerleader nemesis to the backdrop of a dozen naked and wet women, yay exploitation. As Brenda arises victorious from the shower room brawl it's contrasted by the sight of Heather, unconscious on the floor, receiving a nasty kick to the head from Jake.

Heather is discovered by The Satins and taken to the hospital having fallen into a coma. That night, unaware of who the culprits are, Brenda and The Satins are at a club drowning her frustrations when the soon to be married (and pregnant) Francine has an violent encounter with the Scars resulting in her slashing Jake's face with a switchblade. The next day Jake and the Scars encounter Francine on her way from the bridal store, you know this won't end well for the young lady, right? They give chase and eventually catch up to her on a bridge. Ever defiant she spits in Jake's face, enraged he picks her up over his head and throws her from the bridge to her death. The snivelling Vince already remorseful over the brutalization of Heather defies the gang and escapes to the hospital where Brenda overhears him confessing the rape to a comatose Heather. Vince flees the hospital after Brenda attacks him following his confession. 

Bloodthirsty for vengeance Brenda returns home to smoke a cigarette while laying nude in the tub, it's a glorious bit of gratuitous nudity to be sure, she's looking intense while contemplating her next move. With revenge on her mind she dons a badass black leather jumpsuit during a sweet 80's montage and arms herself with a switchblade, crossbow and an assortment of bear traps because, well, why the Hell not? She arrives at Vince's house to deal out some sweet vengeance after convincing Vince's father she's there to do homework, yeah right! Surprising Vince in his bedroom she gets the better of him with a switchblade to his throat, the snivelling shit informs her that Jake has killed Francine and where she can find the rest of gang. Despite the fact that he raped her sister she spares his life, but fear not for Jake runs his ass over a short time later. The finale features Blair in full on 80's vigilante mode as she squares off against the trio, she's a complete and total bad ass with some very sweet one liners, my favorite being a quip directed towards Fargo just before she sends a crossbow bolt through the neck, "Too bad you're not double-jointed... if you were, you'd be able to bend over and kiss your ass goodbye", very sweet indeed.
 

Speaking of awesome one-liners John Vernon (CURTAIN, ANIMAL HOUSE) appears as the hard-assed principal of the high school, one of the few adult presences in the film, these teen-revenge film rarely featured adult figures and it's no different here. While Vernon's not quite as sleazy as his character in CHAINED HEAT (also with Blair) he's not exactly a saint either. His role was pared down quite a bit once director Steinmann took over for DeSimone and he's relegated to only a few choice scenes, just enough to utter the immortal line "Go fuck an iceberg!". I definitely wanted to see more John Vernon here, but we get what we get. It's amazing that the film holds up as well as it does given it's troubled production which included director Tom DeSimone (HELL NIGHT) stepping down from the film after creative differences with the producer. He was replaced by Danny Steinmann (THE UNSEEN) only 24 hours prior to the start of filming and set about streamlining the script and dropping a few extraneous subplots only to have production screech to a halt just a few days into shooting when the financing fell through. The film was resurrected once producer John Strong (SUMMER HEAT) came on board but he and Steinmann became adversarial when Strong became intertwined in nearly every aspect of the production. Check out the commentaries for more on this, it's makes for a great listen. The nutty production in part explains the film's bipolar feel which goes from delicious camp to brutal exploitation, but it works it makes for quite an entertaining watch.

DVD: The now out-print BCI/Eclipse 2-disc DVD of SAVAGE STREETS fetches some truly sleazy prices online so I'm quite pleased that Arrow Video have resurrected the film on DVD with a NTSC-PAL port of the BCI edition. UK 80's sleaze enthusiasts should rejoice as this marks the first time the film has been presented uncut in the UK, previous editions were heavily cut by 12 minutes. This is a port of BCI's SD master presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) with English language Dolby Digtal mono, no subtitles are offered. The image is flawed owing in part to the NTSC-PAL conversion, what we get is pretty soft, colors are muted, it's dark and there's stutter and combing issues during scenes of movement, and let's be honest, a film by definition is a series of moving images so this is no small distraction. The original mono audio is decent but not great with audible hiss and pops during the quieter scenes but while there's not much depth to the proceedings the soundtrack and dialogue fare pretty well overall.

If I was in the UK I would be quite happy with this release, even with the hiccups of the NTSC-PAL conversion, but here in the US I found the conversion issues a bit distracting. US Cult title distributor Code Red announced a few months back that they had acquired the North American rights to the title with a new 2011 HD transfer. The Code Red SAVAGE STREETS DVD has no street date at this time but screenshots for the release on the label's blog appear to be an improvement with superior colors, brightness and contrast though I would temper my excitement with caution until I see the release with my own two eyes.

Arrow Video have also ported over the special features from the BCI/Eclipse release which includes three audio commentaries, the first with director Danny Steinmann moderated by DVD producer Michael Felsher and I would say this is essential listening, a candid affair covering many facets of Steinmann's filmography, including the stylish XXX film HIGH RISE. He speaks to how the film came to him, the troubled history of the production, remembrances of the cast and crew, some not so kind remembrances of producer John Strong and the wiseguys that financed the film. Numerous anecdotes of  his time directing FRIDAY THE 13th PART V: A NEW BEGINNING, a very underrated and awesomely sleazy entry in the series. Sadly, there's no mention of THE UNSEEN, a pretty obscure little slasher gem featuring a nutty Sydney Lassick performance, that Steinmann disowned following producer or studio interference. There's also speak of the nasty bicycle accident that effectively derailed his career. This is one of the better commentaries I've heard, it's right up there with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell on THE THING, no lie.

The second commentary with cinematographer Stephen Posey (BLOODY BIRTHDAY, SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE) and actors Sal Landi and Robert Dryer is moderated by the host of Comedy Central's BEAT THE GEEK TV game show, a humorous listen with some amusing anecdotes. The third commentary with producer John Strong features eight participants. It is moderated by filmmakers Kenneth J. Hall (EVIL SPEAK), David DeCoteu (CREEPOZOIDS) and Eric Spudic (DEAD CLOWNS) who sits in alongside Stephen Posey, Sal Landi, Robert Dryer whom return from the second commentary plus the addition of Johnny Venocur. Whew, I'm tired just typing that let alone listening to it. It's another decent listen but there's way too many voices to be completely listenable. Venocur commandeers most of it, he's a bit annoying honestly and to hear Strong you would think he directed the film not Steinmann and he makes several allusions to the film's social commentary - nope - not buying Mr. Strong, this is just sleazy vigilantism straight-up.

Then we have two Red Shirt Pictures produced featurettes; beginning with Confessions of a Teenage Vigilante (7:02) featuring star and genre legend Linda Blair looking pretty good these days. She speaks about working with Linnea Quigley, John Vernon, Robert Dryer and the other members of The Satins. She also addresses the meatier roles that the 80's exploitation films offered women actresses, the film's legacy and her involvement. Fun stuff with clips and music from the film. The second featurette Heather Speaks (10:45) features bona fide scream queen Linnea Quigley on the infamous gang-rape scene, that THE RUNAWAYS lead singer Cherie Currie was originally cast in the role of Brenda but was fired during the troubled production and recalling Johnny Venocur wanting to get together to rehearse the scene wherein he confesses to her comatose character. Finishing off the supplements are three video-interviews with producer John Strong (14:03), Johnny Venocur (14:15) and actor Robert Dryer (5:54) plus a theatrical Trailer (3:21).

Now onto Arrow Video's notoriously sweet packaging extras beginning with a nifty reversible sleeve featuring the original US one-sheet plus newly commissioned artwork by Tom Hodge aka The Dude Designs, it's a gorgeous candy colored imagining of a Vestron Video VHS cover, check out Tom's blogpost about creating the cover HERE. We also get a sweet 14x17" fold-out poster of the artwork with an Arrow Video DVD cover gallery on the reverse side plus an 8 page booklet Justice For One: Getting Even in Savage Streets featuring writings from Kier-La Janisse, author of A Violent Professional: The Films of Luciano Rossi. Great stuff, a pretty stuffed edition no doubt that will please fans and newcomers alike.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

- Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork

- Double-sided fold-out poster

- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on Savage Streets by Kier-la Janisse, author of ‘A Violent Professional: The Films of Luciano Rossi’ and ‘House of Psychotic Women’

- Audio commentary with stars Sal Landi, Robert Dryer and Director of Photography Stephen Posey moderated by Marc Edward Heuck
- Audio commentary with director Danny Steinmann moderated by Michael Felsher
- Audio commentary with producer John Strong and stars Robert Dryer and Johnny Venocur moderated by filmmakers David DeCoteeau, Kenneth J. Hall and Eric Spudic
- Confessions of a Teenage Vigilante (7:02) 16x9
- Heather Speaks (10:45) 16x9
- Video interviews with Johnny Venocur (14:15), Robert Dryer (5:54), and John Strong (14:03) 4x3
- Original Trailer (3:21) 4x3

VERDICT: I have to wonder how I missed out on this delicious slab of sleazy exploitation for so long, this was just an awesome watch bursting at the seams with 80's cheesiness, 70's sleaziness and enough gratuitous nudity to please any women-in-prison enthusiast. This would make a mighty fine double feature with the Linda Blair/John Vernon WIP film CHAINED HEAT. Despite some annoyance with the NTSC-PAL conversion hiccups this is still a high recommend, particularly for our UK readers.

FRIDAY THE 13th - The Ultimate Collection Details

Paramount Home Entertainment have announced the October 4th 2011 release of  FRIDAY THE 13TH - THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION 8-Disc DVD Set. The set collects all eight of the Deluxe Editions of FRIDAY THE 13th thru FRIDAY THE 13th PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD. Very excited for this one as Friday the 13th is my favorite slasher film franchises of all time, more so than HALLOWEEN or NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET Jason Voorhees continued to entertain through the years with one bloody kill after the other. While a few of the sequels are imbued with some unintentional cheese I find myself revisiting the films annually without fail.

Through the years I've purchased each edition of the films, including the FRIDAY THE 13th - FROM CRYSTAL LAKE TO MANHATTAN boxset and I own about half of the deluxe edition collected here but for $40 it's cheaper to buy this set, an easy buy for me. No word if a Blu-ray set will follow, you may recall that the first three films did get 1080p deluxe editions, it would be great to see the entire series get the HD upgrade, too.

Paramount Home Entertainment Press Release:

31 YEARS OF THE 13TH IN ONE KILLER BOX SET

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION

Eight Feature Films Plus Hours of Special Features Debut in Limited Edition DVD Set October 4, 2011 with Collectible Hockey Mask

Take a ride down memory lane with everyone’s favorite psychotic killer Jason Voorhees in the to-die-for DVD set FRIDAY THE 13TH THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION arriving just in time for Halloween on October 4, 2011 from Paramount Home Entertainment. When the original Friday The 13th debuted in 1980, it captured audiences’ imaginations and permeated our collective psyche. 31 years later, the iconic machete-wielding killer continues to haunt, fascinate and terrify a new generation. This comprehensive set includes every murderous moment from Friday The 13th - Uncut Deluxe Edition, Friday The 13th Part 2 Deluxe Edition, Friday The 13th Part 3-3D Deluxe Edition (with two pairs of 3D glasses), Friday The 13th - The Final Chapter Deluxe Edition, Friday The 13th Part V: A New Beginning Deluxe Edition, Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives Deluxe Edition, Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood Deluxe Edition and Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan Deluxe Edition.

This extraordinary collection, which will be released in a Limited Edition of only 50,000 numbered units worldwide, includes a replica of Jason’s hockey mask, an 8-page Collector’s Booklet and hours of special features including slashed scenes, making of featurettes, killer commentaries and much, much more.

FRIDAY THE 13TH -  THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION will be available for the suggested retail price of just $39.99 U.S./$42.00 Canada.

The FRIDAY THE 13th - Uncut Deluxe Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround and English, French and Spanish Mono along with English, French and Spanish subtitles.

Bonus material includes:
• Commentary by director Sean S. Cunningham with cast and crew
• Fresh Cuts: New Tales from Friday the 13th
• The Man Behind the Legacy: Sean S. Cunningham
• Friday the 13th Reunion
• Lost Tales From Camp Blood – Part 1
• Theatrical Trailer

The FRIDAY THE 13th Part 2 Deluxe Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround and English, French and Spanish Mono along with English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.

Bonus material includes:
• Inside “Crystal Lake Memories”
• Friday’s Legacy: Horror Conventions
• Lost Tales from Camp Blood – Part 2
• Jason Forever
• Theatrical Trailer

The FRIDAY THE 13th Part 3 - 3D Deluxe Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround and English, French and Spanish Mono along with English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.

Bonus materials includes:
• 3D Version of the film (includes 3D glasses)
• Theatrical Trailer

The FRIDAY THE 13th THE FINAL CHAPTER Deluxe Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround and English, French and Spanish Mono along with English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.

Bonus material includes:
• Commentary by director Joe Zito, screenwriter Barney Cohen and editor Joel Goodman
• Fan commentary by Adam Green and Joe Lynch
• Lost Tales from Camp Blood – Part 4
• Slashed Scenes
• Jason’s Unlucky Day: 25 Years After Friday the 13th The Final Chapter
• The Lost Ending
• The Crystal Lake Massacres Revisited Part I
• Jimmy’s Dead Dance Moves
• Theatrical Trailer

The FRIDAY THE 13th PART V: A NEW BEGINNING Deluxe Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround and English, French and Spanish Mono along with English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.

Bonus material includes:
• Commentary by director/co-screenwriter Danny Steinmann with cast and crew
• Lost Tales from Camp Blood – Part 5
• The Crystal Lake Massacres Revisited Part II
• New Beginnings: The Making of Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning
• Theatrical Trailer

The FRIDAY THE 13th PART VI: JASON LIVES Deluxe Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, English 2.0 Surround and French and Spanish Mono along with English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.

Bonus material includes:
• Commentary by director Tom McLoughlin with cast and crew
• Lost Tales from Camp Blood – Part 6
• The Crystal Lake Massacres Revisited Part III
• Jason Lives: The Making of Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
• Meeting Mr. Voorhees
• Slashed Scenes
• Theatrical Trailer

The FRIDAY THE 13th PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD Deluxe Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, English 2.0 Surround, French Mono and Spanish Mono along with English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.

Bonus material includes:
• Killer Commentary by director John Carl Buechler and actors Lar Park Lincoln and Kane Hodder
• Jason’s Destroyer: The Making of Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
• Mind Over Matter: The Truth About Telekinesis
• Makeover by Maddy: Need a Little Touch-Up Work, My Ass
• Slashed Scenes Intro
• Slashed Scenes

The FRIDAY THE 13th PART VIII: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN Deluxe Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, English 2.0 Surround, French 2.0 Surround and Spanish 2.0 Surround along with English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.

Bonus material includes:
• Killer Commentary by actors Scott Reeves, Jensen Daggett and Kane Hodder
• New York Has a New Problem: The Making of Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
• Gag Reel
• Slashed Scenes

Arrow Video unleash the bloody revenge of SAVAGE STREETS (1984) this summer.

SAVAGE STREETS (1984)

Release Date: June  20th  2011

FORMAT/REGION: Region 0 PAL DVD
ASPECT RATIO: 1.85:1 Anamorphic
AUDIO: Mono
DURATION: 93 mins
CAST: Linda Blair, Linnea Quigley, Robert Dryer
DIRECTOR: Danny Steinmann
TAGLINE: Brenda’s got a switchblade and she knows how to use it...


See Linda Blair (The Exorcist) take bloody revenge on a gang of low down dirty street punks in Savage Streets, a brutal journey into rape, violence, switchblades and bear traps.

When Brenda (Blair) and her all-girl gang of tough talking chicks, The Satins, refuse to party with a car full of local drug pushers called The Scars, the girls think nothing of it, but they didn’t reckon on the bruised ego of Jake and his feral pack of no good thugs. Targeting Brenda’s deaf sister, they invade the school and savage her, leaving her on the critical list.

Now Brenda must scour the streets in search of crossbow vengeance in a dangerous B-movie classic that’s the perfect antidote to 80s high school flicks.

SPECIAL FETURES:
- Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork
- Double-sided fold-out poster
- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on Savage Streets by Kier-la Janisse, author of ‘A Violent Professional: The Films of Luciano Rossi’ and ‘House of Psychotic Women’
- Brand new transfer of the film presented in original 1.85:1 anamorphic aspect ratio
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with stars Sal Landi, Robert Dryer and Director of Photography Stephen Posey
- Audio commentary with director Danny Steinmann
- Audio commentary with producer John Strong and stars Robert Dryer and Johnny Venocur
- Video interviews with Linda Blair, Linnea Quigley, Robert Dryer and John Strong
- Original Trailer