A Vulgar Display Of Power (Savage Streets)

Last week I mentioned that I watched my first Chuck Norris film, "The Octagon". This alone would have been a great topic for a blog entry. However, the film was so confusing and littered with strange quotes, scenes and casting choices that putting my view into words would not be enough. It's not like writing about a film such as "Wrong Side Of Town", as even though it was riddled with plot points, I got the gist of the story. With "The Octagon", I can barely make sense of the film without reading up on the plot on the internet. Hell, I didn't even see an octagon throughout the movie, unless I didn't realise it at the time.

So instead I went with a film that came up as a recommendation on Amazon last week. One of my friends on Facebook posted a link to the film earlier this week, which was a strange coincidence. So I decided to writing about the 80's exploitation flick: "Savage Streets".

Before I proceed.....

At time of writing, the full movie could be viewed on YouTube, so for the purpose of this review, I posted it. Now I am in no way condoning the act of watching films for free on the internet, as I would rather watch it through legal means. However, there are certain times where I might break this rule. For this, the movie is on YouTube and not on some video hosting site with countless pop-ups. Plus the film is pretty much out of print, and can be found on Amazon at an exuberant price.

So if it gets to a point where I don't have the money needed to watch a certain movie, or find any other means of watching it, then I would go through this alternative route. That said, if I could find a way to watch "Killer" (aka "Bulletproof Heart") by these means, I'd be on it. I now regret missing my opportunity before it was pulled without warning on Netflix. But I digress, here is "Savage Streets" for the initiated.

What caught my eye when browsing through my recommendations on Amazon was the cover art, which shows an image of Linda Blair in a revealing outfit. Now, Linda Blair is famous for playing the possessed Regan in "The Exorcist", one of my favourite horror movies of all time. It is interesting to see how one time child actors fare in films as they grow older. With Linda Blair, she falls into the same category as Drew Barrymore and Alyssa Milano, where you can't help but notice how much she's, erm, "grown".

Ahem, moving swiftly on.....

WARNING: SPOILERS

93 minutes later.....

I have to say it was fun to watch a genuine exploitation flick, as even though I'm a fan of the films that came from the "Grindhouse" concept, I have rarely seen any of the original 70's and 80's flicks that these are a homage to. Now when I say that I enjoyed it, I do find some faults with the film. These can be genuine plot holes and poor direction, but since it wasn't the intention of the filmmakers to make a credible film (or at least I hope not), this can be just a bit of nitpicking, if I wanted to take it serious.

To give a brief description of the story, it's a vigilante tale in which Linda Blair stars in the lead role as Brenda (but from this point on I'll just refer to the actress' name as I keep forgetting the name Betsie.....I mean Brenda). She stars as a schoolgirl (I'll get to that in a minute) whose deaf sister is raped by a gang of drug pushers, who are later responsible for the death of one of Linda's friends, and proceeds to avenge them.

Alternatively, you could just look at the captions on the movie posters at the start of this review, and below.

Do I really need to mention the hair?

The story itself is basically "I Spit On Your Grave" with elements of a vigilante movie. But one of the major problems I had with it is that it is painfully slow. It takes 25 minutes before the attack on the sister happens, and it is around the hour mark where the friend is murdered that Linda Blair decides to take the law into her own hands. Right after a scene of her topless in the bath, set to some 80's cheesy rock montage music. Well, whatever makes me forget that this was the person who uttered the line "your mother sucks cocks in hell" as a kid.

The rest of the movie is just showing the majority of the cast being a bunch of dicks, whether it be the evil gang, Linda Blair and her friends, along with the other, erm, teenagers. Yeah, unless these people go to the same school in "Beverly Hills 90210", these are clearly people in their mid to late 20's. It would have been more realistic if these people were in community college, even though I only have a vague idea what a community college is, through American film and TV. But no, there are cheerleader rehearsals, and a class about the reproductive system.

All this does is throw mixed signals at the viewers. Well, let's be honest, male viewers. There is quite a bit of gratuitous nudity, including a catfight with Linda Blair and some cheerleader because her footballer boyfriend keeps coming on to Linda and the blonde cheerleader still blames her, when it's clearly him in the wrong. I know it's an intentionally cliched couple, but the guy looks too goofy to be attractive to either of these women (using the term "girls" just seems wrong at this time). And considering the fact that he even laughs at his girlfriend when her top is ripped off, what could anyone possibly see in this jerk?

Gratuitous nudity is one thing, but the lecherous objectification of women sends off some pretty mixed signals. The rape scene is one that is disturbing, and shows the drug gang as violent sexual predators. But in other scenes where they are demeaning women and groping them in inappropriate ways, the women themselves don't look look like they are in danger, upset, or worried. They seem to be slightly irritated, but are just willing to shrug it off. And when the women are overly sexualised, it does raise question on whether you're sick for getting slightly aroused by the flesh on display, given the context. And it doesn't help that the actors don't convey any realistic reactions in these scenes.

Even when her top is ripped off, she doesn't look horrified, so it's okay. That's my errr, I mean, some pervert's excuse.

As for the rape scene, it's pretty much copied and pasted from the original "I Spit On Your Grave", even down to the unwilling participant of the gang, albeit shorter and more effective. Don't get me wrong, both are hard to watch, as with any rape scene, but I always got the impression that "I Spit On Your Grave" was a feminist propaganda movie disguised as a thriller, as the pivotal scene went on for too long, as to demonise men as a species, instead of the people who.....

STOP GETTING OFF TRACK!!!!!

Okay, I'm looking way too much into a section of a film which is just an exploitation flick, hence the title of the genre "exploitation". I guess if a film like this came out today it would be instantly labelled as misogynistic. And it doesn't help when the settings are in a school and most of the cast are meant to be teenagers, hence the rape scene is that more harrowing. So it was from that point of the movie where I have other option but to look past the supposed age group played by these adults.

And now, back to the rest of the movie.....

Referring back to the unlikable cast, there was one person that I found entertaining was the principal, played by John Vernon. He comes off as the figure of authority in a comedy film, which makes it funny but cringeworthy when it seems like he has inappropriate thoughts and feelings towards his female students. And of course, he comes out with the best line in the film. Of course I found Linda Blair entertaining, but for different reasons. As for acting? Well, she did win a Razzie for her appearances in this, "Night Patrol" and "Savage Island". Neither of which I've seen, but I'm not so sure if I would want to watch them.

But then again.....

As for Linda Blair's character, there's nothing much to say about her, other than she's a tough cookie who seems to be an outsider even to her own group of friends, but is a sweetheart when it comes to her sister and her mother. There's not much to go on in terms of background, other than that her father passed away. She acts no different even when her sister is fighting for her life in the hospital. There's no real interaction with her friends that would make you feel for her when one of the group is murdered by the drug gang.

But all that extra characterisation nonsense can be pushed aside, as long as we get to the vigilante section of the movie. Coming in 20 minutes before the end, thanks to the long wait, this section is quite entertaining. But it's more to do with silliness instead of the action. The weapons she uses, including the elaborate traps, were already foreshadowed during the opening credits of the film, and when she has the gang leader tied up, it felt like this film will have a satisfying, kick ass ending.

But instead, she gets hit with a gate door, and suddenly becomes a damsel in distress, runs away from him and hides in a DIY store where they have their final showdown, which is more akin to a lead female in a horror movie fighting the odds to defeat whatever evil person/creature she's afraid of. This is a complete 180 turn for a character that has been portrayed as an 80's version of Rizzo from "Grease" throughout the entire movie, until she gets knocked in the head by a gate door, and loses whatever attitude and confidence she had. It just comes out of nowhere, and the movie just falls flat right before the finish line.

Better say something nice.

Verdict?

While there are some really stupid parts to this movie, including pacing, acting, setting and story, I can easily forgive it for the fact that, for what its worth, it's just a silly exploitation movie that throws realism out the window, among other things. It's not to be taken too seriously, even if it does have some questionable and shocking moments. With the right mindset, it can be very entertaining, and I'm sure I'd enjoy it more if I was having a few beers while watching it. Especially as you need the alcohol to get through the film's slow pace. But it has enough cheesy moments and ridiculous scenes to keep the viewer's attention, and it does have that 80's charm that gives it a nostalgic feel, even if you've never seen it before.

And if you don't like it, go f**k an iceberg.

And on a final note.....

Back to "The Octagon"; take a look at the blurb on Netflix:

"Terrorist ninjas have been wrecking havoc on a wealthy woman named Justine, so she hires former karate champion Scott James to be her bodyguard. To take down the dangerous thugs, James must start with their training ground, known as The Octagon."

As soon as I read the first two words, I cracked up laughing, hence why I chose this as my first Chuck Norris film. How could you go wrong with "terrorist ninjas"? Well, a lot actually. But that can be turned around into something of  a marvel to watch. Despite the fact that it brought much confusion to this reviewer, and it didn't have as much fight scenes with Chuck Norris as I expected it to have, I would recommend watching it just to sit back and enjoy the absurdity of it