IMDb RATING
6.0/10
4.1K
YOUR RATING
A brother and sister arrive in a small town to help their relatives run an amusement park, and they find the town is terrorized by a local street gang.A brother and sister arrive in a small town to help their relatives run an amusement park, and they find the town is terrorized by a local street gang.A brother and sister arrive in a small town to help their relatives run an amusement park, and they find the town is terrorized by a local street gang.
Vince Grant
- JoeBob
- (as Vincent Grant)
Paige Price
- Karen
- (as Paige Lyn Price)
Jean De Baer
- Mary Beth MacWilliams
- (as Jean DeBaer)
Chad Wiggins-Grady
- Chad Bob
- (as Chad Wiggins)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaShannon Presby's final film role. Shortly after completing the film, he decided to give up acting.
- GoofsDuring the shower scene, Abby is wearing a vest to hide her nudity. (4:3 Open Matte version only)
- Alternate versionsThe 1988 UK Columbia video (released as "Striking Back") was cut by 54 secs by the BBFC to edit drug scenes, a shot of a girl's underwear being removed and a scene of girl being covered in lighter fluid.
- ConnectionsReferenced in SOS (1988)
Featured review
Cunningham nails it!
THE NEW KIDS is top-of-the-line moviemaking with a gleefully sleazy gloss.
Cunningham, director of the first FRIDAY THE 13TH and the godawful DEEP STAR SIX, really does himself proud in this Southern-set rape/revenge thriller.
Two kids, whose parents have died, start a new life at their uncle and aunt's luridly low rent carnival.
Lori Laughlin, who plays one of the kids, becomes the target of sociopathic Dutra (James Spader in his best perf ever) and his gang of disgusting miscreants because she's so damn delicious looking. Essentially, the boys want her booty and will break any law to get it.
The film succeeds so well because it embraces its exploitation elements (sex, drugs, violence, teen lust, guns, vicious dogs) with such relish and delivers on its promise unpretentiously but stylishly. It is extremely well directed and acted and moves at a peppy clip.
You really do care about the characters and the film's Lalo Schifrin score nails the drama like a whore to a floorboard,
The carnival setting is a doozy and a triumph of production design; and the film's final scene has a black, perverse feel to it that had me nodding with approval.
A classic, and I'm not going to follow that with "of it's genre" because I'm tired of reviewers singling out films like this as less noteworthy because they're nasty.
Nope, a classic piece of cinema in anybody's book and titled STRIKING BACK in some markets.
Cunningham, director of the first FRIDAY THE 13TH and the godawful DEEP STAR SIX, really does himself proud in this Southern-set rape/revenge thriller.
Two kids, whose parents have died, start a new life at their uncle and aunt's luridly low rent carnival.
Lori Laughlin, who plays one of the kids, becomes the target of sociopathic Dutra (James Spader in his best perf ever) and his gang of disgusting miscreants because she's so damn delicious looking. Essentially, the boys want her booty and will break any law to get it.
The film succeeds so well because it embraces its exploitation elements (sex, drugs, violence, teen lust, guns, vicious dogs) with such relish and delivers on its promise unpretentiously but stylishly. It is extremely well directed and acted and moves at a peppy clip.
You really do care about the characters and the film's Lalo Schifrin score nails the drama like a whore to a floorboard,
The carnival setting is a doozy and a triumph of production design; and the film's final scene has a black, perverse feel to it that had me nodding with approval.
A classic, and I'm not going to follow that with "of it's genre" because I'm tired of reviewers singling out films like this as less noteworthy because they're nasty.
Nope, a classic piece of cinema in anybody's book and titled STRIKING BACK in some markets.
helpful•116
- fertilecelluloid
- Jan 2, 2004
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Army Brats
- Filming locations
- Hotel Redland, 5 S Flagler Ave, Homestead, Florida, USA(where Uncle Charlie picks up the kids)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $199,108
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $199,108
- Jan 20, 1985
- Gross worldwide
- $199,108
- Runtime1 hour 50 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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