Streets of Vengeance

Director - Paul Ragsdale (Cinco de Mayo)
Starring - Delawna McKinney (Cinco de Mayo), Alexis Amore (Rock and Roll: The Movie), and Paige Jenkins
Release Date - 2016
Genre - Action/Thriller
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I love horror in general but I rarely sit and wait for a movie to be released.  I get excited at first but quickly forget about it until it becomes available to be checked out.  Adam Ahlbrandt's Hunters, Dustin Mill's Her Name Was Torment II, The Barn, Family Possessions, Night of Something Strange, and lastly, Paul Ragsdale's Streets of Vengeance are just a few films that I have waited actually remembered to keep an eye out for and never forgot about.  I have been covering Paul's career since 2013 when I reviewed his holiday themed slasher Cinco de Mayo.  This slasher was fun and had a lot of heart for an indie production.  I spoke with Paul several times since then and when he announced SOV I was way too excited.  An amazing director taking on an 80s inspired street justice film had my name written all over it.  When Paul finished with the project he was kind enough to send a review copy my way.  Thanks Paul!
     The film follows adult film star Mila (McKinney) who announces she will be leaving from her current production company and possibly adult films altogether.  At her retirement party she is abducted by an extremist that thinks that any woman that uses sex for money should be slaughtered for giving them a boner.  She is able to escape and kills him but soon finds out that he is one of many and will need to team up with her adult film friends to stop them before more innocent hotties die.

     One of my favorite aspects of Cinco de Mayo was the late night cable look and feel.  You can tell Paul had a love for shows like Up All Night and the other local cable access shows like it.  I really enjoyed one of the trailers in the film for Dance Till You Die - make it a movie Paul!  Anyway, Paul continues that same look and charm in Streets of Vengeance.  This film, even though it is a completely different style of film, would still make a perfect pairing with CdM for an amazing double feature.  The acting in this one is great.  Delawna McKinney was great as the lead.  She was sexy, strong, and knows how to deliver her lines.  McKinney supporting female cast is great as well.  They are all sexy and just as strong which really makes the vigilante angle feel even more real.  We also get some small roles from living adult film legend Ginger Lynn and current queen of alternative porn Joanna Angel.  They both have some serious acting chops even though they are mostly known for their adult films.  With that being said, the film is not dominated by an all female cast.  We get an amazing performance from Anthony To'omata who some of you may remember from Cinco de Mayo where he portrayed El Maestro.  This mother fucker can act.  His imdb page only gives him two film credits which is shocking.  He must have a history with stage plays because I refuse to believe he is this amazing with no prior history.  The story for this one is what you would expect to find when you discover an old VHS in a garage sale.  We have seen a few hundred vigilante or street justice films from the 70s and 80s where we follow a group or a gang as they fight it out in streets with other gangs or the mob.  Paul took this formula and changed it up some.  We now get adult film stars fighting a conservative cult.  This is an 80s homage and modern satire at it's finest.  The story has a lot of excitement and some action which keeps the viewer glued to the t.v.  It also does a great job at balancing sexy with story.  It would be so easy for a film like this to turn into a sleazy mess with boobs flying with no story.  Ragsdale does a great job at keeping the film sexy and delivering the story he set out to tell.  There is a few scenes that were a little slow or did not fully pertain to the story but for the most part the film has a great flow.  Finally, the film does have a few bloody deaths that have some solid effects but they are easily forgettable.  They are decent looking kills and fit the story very well but they are kills we have seen before especially in films like it.  The film is more of a story driven piece and not one centered around the kills.  Overall, Streets of Vengeance is a film for the VHS generation.  If you miss the days of visiting the local video store or watching shows like MonsterVision then Streets of Vengeance was made for you.  The film is sexy but delivers action instead of softcore porn.  Check it out because you will not be disappointed.