Savage Streets

Plot

After nearly being run down in the street by a gang known as the Scars, Brenda (Linda Blair) and her deaf-mute younger sister Heather (Linnea Quigley) and their friends trash the car of the gang leader, Jake. Jake exacts his revenge by getting his cohorts to gang-rape Heather. A fight between Brenda and her friends and the Scars at a local nightclub results in Brendas pregnant, soon-to-be-married friend Francine being murdered by the Scars, who throw her off a viaduct. When Brenda learns who is responsible for Heathers rape, and that Francine is dead and the Scars are responsible, Brenda arms herself and sets out to avenge them. Finding them at a nearby warehouse, Brenda impales one of the gang members, Fargo, with an arrow; kills another, Red, by snapping a bear trap shut upon his neck; and then begins to torture Jake with arrows shot into his thighs and a hunting knife as he hangs by his feet from a gate. However, he then manages to free himself and attacks her. The showdown ends in a nearby paint store; as a burglar alarm blares, Brenda douses Jake in paint and then sets him on fire with a cigarette lighter that she has previously had difficulty getting to produce a flame, just before the police arrive.

The movie ends with Brenda (who is presumably facing prosecution for the murders of Fargo, Red and Jake), Heather and their surviving friends visiting Francines grave, and Brenda comments, "At least we set things right," to which her friend Stevie replies, "No, Brenda. You set things right."

Cast

Reception

Freddie Young of Full Moon Reviews said "Savage Streets is a film I had never seen before until now and Im really ashamed by that because it rocked my socks off. Obviously a Death Wish ripoff, Savage Streets is perfect 80s exploitation, with nudity, over-the-top acting and dialogue, and plot elements that arent subtle and are quite disturbing on paper."

Ned Daigle of BMN Review disliked the film and said "Everything about Savage Streets is bad, from the acting, to the screenplay, to the direction, to even the horrid music score and songs performed by John Farnham who sounds like the unholy lovechild of Loverboy and Foreigner. Deplorable is the only word I can come up with as a description. See Savage Streets at your own risk."

Awards

Razzie Awards

Saturn Award

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 pictures 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 Farnhams 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.