I am a 40+ year fan & connoisseur of exploitation movies. Call them whatever you like...schlock, trash-cinema, psychotronic films...it doesn't matter. I've literally watched thousands of these type movies, including nearly every notorious Italian cannibal film as well as plenty of rape-revenge flicks. Savage Streets is the rare exception in that I found it so genuinely distasteful that I regret watching it.In many superficial ways, Savage Streets is a typical 80s violent gang-action film. It's got some decent talent in front of the camera and a lead (Linda Blair) with a recognizable name. It's shot well enough for the B-movie that it is. But behind all the artifice of a generic violent movie, the screenwriter/director went out of his way to absolutely revel in sexual assault.Sexual assault was, unfortunately, a major trope in countless 70s & 80s exploitation films. It was not uncommon in major studio productions either. I've seen it plenty of times, and I admit, I don't like it. Generally speaking, most of these genre films use rape to amp up the sleaze and provide the protagonist some motivation. Personally, I think this was both distasteful and lazy...but hey, that's just me.Savage Streets, takes things to a different level. The rape scene is extremely drawn out, very cruel, and perpetrated against a character that is portrayed as very sheltered, vulnerable, and disabled (mute). And it's not even just a rape scene--it's a gang rape...and it goes on forever.Besides the rape, the film is replete with other instances of violence specifically targeted towards women including sexual assault and murder (of a pregnant woman). This is all done in service of setting up the "revenge" element of the movie.When I say that the "revenge" element is weak, I'm not lying. Whereas the rape scene was played out graphically, the ONE SCENE with Linda Blair getting "revenge" is shockingly tame (given that this is an exploitation film) and also brief. The film is very unbalanced in that the "revenge" seems a half-hearted afterthought that is only included in order to justify the gratuitous graphic depiction of violence towards women.I'm not Puritan by any stretch. I've watched plenty of sick stuff. But Savage Streets seems to really revel in glorifying violence towards women in a way that crosses a big boundary (for me). It doesn't do it because it's taboo, it really comes across as the writer/director really being a twisted person.

I saw this movie on the Horror channel in UK.I was never real going to watch but when I was reading the plot, sound good and it really intrigued me. so I gave it go!A teenage vigilante seeks revenge on a group of violent thugs, who raped her handicapped sister and killed her best friend.I was really shocked, that I enjoyed this, it had some descent plot.With some cheesiness adding as well, which worked really well with the rest of the movie.As I really enjoy it , good cheesy movie.There was some shocking moments as well well.The dose feel a little out dated now, who knows there could a remake of this movie just around the comer .(Don't get any idea Hollywood :)).This was really well and never got boring, there still thing they could have done better.I going to give this 5 out of 10

A brutal street gang, the Scars, is terrorizing the neighborhood, drug dealing, raping, and killing. Now they must answer to Linda Blair-and her crossbow! Savage Streets represents one of the more feminist offerings in the vigilante action genre. Blair's character, Brenda, is the leader of a "good" street gang that finds itself confronted with the above mentioned Scars. After a series of brutal incidents, including her sister's rape and a murder, Brenda has no choice but to exterminate the Scars.The film is at its best when it focuses on the street action and revenge elements. The violence at some points is genuinely brutal-particularly the rape scene-and Blair's character uses some genuinely grisly methods for revenge. Although Blair won a Golden Raspberry for her role in this film, she actually does a reasonably good job, demonstrating a sadistic amusement at dispatching her victims.The film's main flaw is a tendency to spend too much time on the high school lives of Blair and her friends, including a tiresome subplot about Blair's blonde upper class rival. When people rent a movie called Savage Streets, they want vigilante action, not a Porky's retread.Furthermore, aside from Blair and Linnea Quigley, most of the acting is pretty bad. Blair's friends come across as racial and ethnic stereotypes, while the Scars are depicted with an unintentional-and hilarious-homosexual overtone. Aside from the fact that they dress like escapees from a leather bar, their dialogue seems rife with gay double entendres.Nevertheless, if you fast forward through the high school low points, you'll get a decent genre action film.

Savage Streets (1984) * 1/2 (out of 4) Linda Blair continued her road down exploitation street with this cheap knock off of DEATH WISH. In the film she plays a punk teenager who seeks vengeance on four thugs who gang rape her sister (Linnea Quigley) and kill her best friend. I think it goes without saying that this film was probably rushed into production after DEATH WISH II proved to be a big box office draw so they get the former Oscar winner to put on a black leather outfit and stalk the streets of L.A. looking for the punks. Director Steinmann is best known and probably most hated for his work on Friday THE 13TH V: A NEW BEGINNING and I can't say this film is any better. I'm a fan of that entry in the series because it's rather fresh and sleazy but none of that can be seen here. Instead we have one drawn out sequence after another and this film drags at every moment. The only saving graces are the mandatory shower sequence and Blair's nude scene, which I'm sure got a few headlines back in the day. The biggest problem is that there aren't any sympathetic characters. No matter how trashy or pathetic the DEATH WISH sequels got, we at least cared for Bronson and his character but Blair's character here is just as filthy as anyone else so it's hard for us to feel anything for her. Why they made her such a bad character is beyond me but the twist in the story doesn't work. It also doesn't help matters that part of the film seems like a spoof while the other half tries to be so serious. Nothing ever makes a bit a sense including the scene where the friend is killed in broad daylight with cars passing by. Blair sleepwalks through the role and delivers a rather bland performance. Quigley isn't given anything to do and we also have John Vernon cashing a paycheck and saying lines like "Go f**k an iceberg". Blair's trip down the exploitation market delivered this as well as CAGED HEAT and fans might get a kick out of her nudity in the two flicks but that's about all either one has to offer.