This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

From the makers of the phenomenal, trend-setting "psycho murders peel artists" milestone "Stripped to Kill" and the outstanding offbeat existential vampire horror knockout "Dance of the Damned" comes this grim, tough, unflinchingly realistic down'n'dirty exploitation thriller about young, strung-out, totally on her own illiterate Venice Beach, Los Angeles prostitute Dawn (a strong, unglamorous, very endearing and somewhat startling performance by Christina Applegate; Kelly Bundy on "Married ... With Children"), a fiercely self-reliant teenager who turns tricks in order to eke out a meager existence and support her heroin habit. Dawn has a near-fatal run-in with brutish, sadomasochistic sleazy teen hooker killing cop Lumley (a cogent, creepy, live-wire portrayal of frighteningly deep-seated seething psychosis by Ed Lottimer), who relentlessly stalks Dawn and savagely picks off her scruffy homeless street people pals throughout the rest of the movie. David Mendenhall offers a solid and likable turn as the naive, slumming rich kid who develops a crush on Dawn and gets caught up in her tawdry and thankless day-to-day lifestyle."Streets" is something of a surprise: it's a gritty, gutsy little B picture (Roger Corman gets credited as the executive producer) that successfully manages to relate a compact, seamy, highly credible slasher narrative while simultaneously delivering a rich and vivid exploration of how unemployed folks at the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder somehow manage to barely squeak by and how people with real power and authority in our society can get away with cruelly preying on those hapless and helpless individuals whose utter powerlessness and political vulnerability make them easy targets for constant victimization. Katt Shea Ruben's sturdy, no-nonsense, unsentimental direction (Ruben also co-wrote the rough-edged, pungently insightful script), the garishly lit, evocative cinematography, a brooding melancholy score (the sad, haunting ballad that's beautifully sung by Elizabeth Daily which plays on the soundtrack during the opening and end credits is especially poignant and effective), the top-notch acting (besides the three excellent leads, both Kay Lenz and Starr Andreeff have nice cameos as lady police officers), an authentically grungy depiction of L.A.'s desolate beach-side milieu, and the uncompromisingly downbeat ending all give this shamefully overlooked and underrated scrappy gem a potent scroungy verisimilitude that's extremely compelling and powerful. A real sleeper.

I had always wanted to see a film about the crazy homeless people in Venice, CA and now I have! This film is very entertaining on many levels. What if the cops in Los Angeles really are this insane?! Streets has a great cast: a young Christina Applegate peppered with a nice spread of unforgettable character actors such as Aron Eisenberg (deep space nine fans) and Patrick Richwood.The acting by Christina Applegate is fantastic (though the acting by most everyone in this film is quite good!)- she's so young here but already you can see how natural her acting is! The direction by Katt Shea is superb. There are many shots in here seldom performed by directors well- but she does them all flawlessly! The blood and gore does not appear phony which is surprising since this film didn't have a gigantic budget. Above all the script of Streets is very well done. The characters are well developed and the dialogue is believable. It doesn't end with a cheerfully happy end either- it goes a more realistic route which I appreciated. Streets is very violent and suspenseful it will leave you shaken and on the edge of your seat!! SEE IT! Why is this not available on DVD yet?!!

I'm not exactly sure how to rank or rate this film. On one hand, it gives a gritty account of life on the streets, with good performances, as it focuses primarily on the exploits of a teen prostitute (well played by Applegate), as she escapes from a killer and forges a relationship with straight kid Sy (Mendenhall).On the other hand, it also focuses too much on the psycho cop and features too many of his killings as he tries to make his way to Applegate and keep her from revealing his secret. He tries to get the other street kids to tell him where she is, and either kills them or maims them in some way if they don't. This aspect of the movie all but ruins it. A minimal amount on this aspect would have sufficed.If I had to rate this movie, I'd probably give it ** out of ****.

Christina Applegate stars in her movie debut as a runaway teen who can't read. She learns about life on the streets of Venice Beach..not as bad as it sounds.. Applegate does well and the story isnt half bad..the requisite prostitute killing cop kinda pushes it though... on a scale of one to ten..a 6