Savage Streets

Savage Streets
Original theatrical poster
Directed byDanny Steinmann
Written by
  • Danny Steinmann[1]
  • Norman Yonemoto[1]
Produced byJohn Strong
Starring
CinematographyStephen L. Posey
Edited by
  • John A. O'Connor
  • Bruce Stubblefield
Music by
Production
company
Ginso Investment Corp.
Distributed byMotion Picture Marketing
Release date
Running time
93 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1 million[4] – $2 million[5]

Savage Streets is a 1984 American teen vigilante exploitation film directed by Danny Steinmann and starring Linda Blair, with Linnea Quigley and John Vernon appearing in supporting roles. It follows a Los Angeles high school student who enacts revenge against the men in a gang who brutalize her deaf-mute younger sister and murder her friend.

The project was originally developed by Billy Fine, who had previously directed Blair in Chained Heat (1983), with Tom DeSimone hired as the original director. Shortly into principal photography in early 1984, DeSimone was replaced by Steinmann. Filming took place in Los Angeles, and was completed in February 1984. The production was marked by financial difficulties, resulting in filming temporarily ceasing before producer John Strong became involved.

Following a successful appeal with the Motion Picture Association of America to revert its X rating, Savage Streets was first released regionally in the midwestern United States in the summer of 1984, and went on to become a major box-office hit in several South American countries, particularly Mexico and Argentina. The film was banned in Australia due to its graphic violence, and heavily edited for its original release in the United Kingdom by the British Board of Film Classification.

Savage Streets received largely unfavorable reviews from critics, who felt its depictions of rape and teenage violence were exploitative and crude, while Blair's lead performance was also harshly criticized. For her performance, Blair won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. In the years since its initial release, it has become a cult film.[6]

  1. ^ a b Budnik 2017, p. 77.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference omaha was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Savage Streets". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023.
  4. ^ Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-8357-1776-2.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference afi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference joblo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).