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.
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.