Suburbia (1984)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Penelope Spheeris

Writer:

Penelope Spheeris (written by)

Release Date:

12 October 1984 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

When household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society...

Plot Keywords:

Runaway | House | Drugs | Branding | Place Name In Title

Cast

Chris Pedersen	...	Jack Diddley
Bill Coyne	...	Evan Johnson
Jennifer Clay	...	Sheila
Timothy O'Brien	...	Skinner (as Timothy Eric O'Brien)
Wade Walston	...	Joe Schmo
Flea	...	Razzle (as Mike B. The Flea)
Maggie Ehrig	...	Mattie
Grant Miner	...	Keef
Christina Beck	...	T'resa
Andrew Pece	...	Ethan Johnson
Donald V. Allen	...	Officer William Rennard (as Don Allen)
Lee Frederick	...	Jim Tripplett (as RoBert Peyton)
Jeff Prettyman	...	Bob Skokes
Dorlinda Griffin	...	Mother In Car
Robert Griffin	...	Baby

Also Known As:

Rebel Streets (USA) (alternative title)
The Wild Side

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:18 (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:18 | USA:R | Australia:R

Filming Locations:

Rockwell Defense Plant - Bellflower & Imperial Highway, Downey, California, USA

Company:

Suburbia Productions

Trivia:

The homes where the TR kids live were condemned under eminent domain to make way for the Century (Interstate 105) Freeway, which wasn't finished for almost 15 years. The freeway they eventually built was featured in "Speed" as the freeway under construction where the bus has to jump the unfinished chasm.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Razzle dumps the slushie into the pickled egg jar, blue syrup goes all down the outside of the jar and puddles onto the counter. In the next shot, the slushie is neatly contained (and well mixed) inside the jar with no mess.

Quotes:

Jack Diddley: Where's that house, Flea?
Razzle: Over there... Hey, my name's Razzle, man.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "TCM Underground: Suburbia (#1.26)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Darker My Love

Wheres the war?..........up your ass!

Bad acting and grainy celluloid,this film was my fashion guide in the mid 80's. I stumbled across it in a video rental shop in Florida and invited all my friends round to watch with me as I replayed it over and over. We all liked D.I and T.S.O.L anyway and seeing them live (well at least in the film) was something that we relished as Punk was not very popular in Florida. Within a week we had all bleached our hair and were donning ripped jeans and home made t-shirts. We would happily recite lines such as "you can't sleep in the grass the snails will crawl in your face". We even took over a derelict house and called it.....you guessed it, T.R house. Recently I was in a DVD shop in West London and I saw Suburbia on DVD for £10. Watching it again I was taken back to my teenage years realising that the film is still as low budget as ever but oh what an impact it made.