''Streetwalkin is a 1985 American thriller film starring

Melissa Leo Melissa Chessington Leo (born September 14, 1960) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and two Critics' Choice A ...

in her film debut. It was an early film from

Concorde Pictures New Concorde (NC) is an American film distribution company founded by Roger Corman. NC got its start in 1983 when Corman formed the production and distribution Concorde-New Horizons (CNH) as one of the first production companies to develop and t ...

. A remake was made in 1991 called '' Uncaged'' starring

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Jeffrey Dean Morgan (born April 22, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the character Negan in the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2016–2022) and its spin-off '' The Walking Dead: Dead City'' (2023–present ...

. This movie is a virtual scene for scene remake of "Streetwalkin' and it also includes some of the cast from the original one.

Plot

Cookie and her brother run away from their loveless mother and their abusive stepfather in

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

and arrive in New York City. At the train station, Cookie meets a pimp named Duke. With his charm, he makes her fall in love with him and soon has her working as a prostitute. However, his brutality against her colleagues disgusts her.

Cast

as "Cookie" *

Dale Midkiff Dale Alan Midkiff (born July 1, 1959) is an American actor, best known for playing Louis Creed in the horror film ''Pet Sematary (1989 film), Pet Sematary'' (1989) and Captain Darien Lambert in the TV series ''Time Trax''. Career Midkiff acted ...

as "Duke" *

Leon Robinson Leon Preston Robinson (born March 8, 1962), usually credited as simply Leon, is an American actor and singer who began his professional career as a film actor in the early 1980s. He is best known for his roles as J.T. Matthews in the 1991 Rob ...

as Jason *

Antonio Fargas Antonio Fargas (born August 14, 1946) is an American actor known for his roles in 1970s blaxploitation and comedy movies, as well as his portrayal as Huggy Bear in the 1970s TV series ''Starsky & Hutch''. Early life Fargas was born in New York C ...

as Finesse *

Julie Newmar Julie Newmar (born Julia Chalene Newmeyer; August 16, 1933) is an American actress, dancer, and singer known for a variety of stage, screen, and television roles. She is also a writer, lingerie designer, and real estate Business magnate, mogul. ...

as "Queen Bee" *

Randall Batinkoff Randall Matthew Batinkoff (born October 16, 1968) is an American actor, director, and producer. He began his career in commercials at the age of eight before transitioning to film and television. He gained recognition for his role opposite Molly R ...

as Tim *

Annie Golden Annie Golden (born October 19, 1951) is an American actress and singer. She first came to prominence as the lead singer of the punk band the Shirts from 1975 to 1981 with whom she recorded three albums. She began her acting career as Mother in ...

as Phoebe *

Deborah Offner Deborah Offner (born August 7, 1959) is an American actress, songwriter, playwright, and theatre director. Life Offner was born in New York City in 1959. Her father was Mortimer Offner, a photographer, screenwriter, and TV and theatre director ...

as Heather *

Khandi Alexander Harriet Rene "Khandi" Alexander (born September 4, 1957) is an American dancer, choreographer, and actress. She began her career as a dancer in the 1980s, and was a choreographer for Whitney Houston's world tours from 1988 to 1992. During the 19 ...

as "Star" *

Greg Germann Gregory Andrew Germann ( ; born February 26, 1958) is an American actor who is known for playing Richard Fish on the television series ''Ally McBeal'', which earned him a Screen Actors Guild award. He also is known for his roles as Eric "Rico" M ...

as "Creepy" *

Kirk Taylor Kirk Beecher Taylor is an American actor, acting teacher, and musician with credits in film, television, and stage. He is best known for his work in the movies ''Full Metal Jacket'', ''Death Wish 3'', ''School Daze'', ''The Last Dragon'', ''The A ...

as "Spade" *

Samantha Fox Samantha Karen Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English pop singer and former glamour model from Crouch End in North London. She has appeared on reality television shows and has occasionally worked as a television presenter and actress. Fox beg ...

as Topless Dancer * Conrad Roberts as Seller * Tom Wright as Henchman #1 * Daniel Jordano as Henchman #2 *

Gary Howard Klar Gary Howard Klar (March 24, 1947 – December 31, 2020) was an American actor known for his role as Pvt. Steel in George A. Romero's cult classic zombie film ''Day of the Dead''. He also appeared in ''Married to the Mob'' (1988), ''Big'' (1988 ...

as Bouncer *

Kim Chan Kim Chan (born Kim Shung Chan; ; December 28, 1917 – October 5, 2008) was a Chinese–American actor and producer. He was most notable for his roles as Lo Si, a.k.a. The Ancient, in '' Kung Fu: The Legend Continues'' and Mr. Kim in ''The F ...

as Desk Clerk

Production

Freeman was a documentary filmmaker who wanted to move into dramatic features. She approached

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

seeking finance for a film she wanted to make about vice. Corman was reluctant so she and her husband wrote a short film for Freeman to direct: ''Brainwash'', about a girl kidnapped by a cult. Corman was impressed and agreed to make ''Streetwalkin''. Corman agreed to let Freeman shoot the film on location in New York - this was the first time he had done so. He called the movie "an honest look at prostitution. It's wrong, it's not glamorous. It's a dirty, dangerous business." The film was shot over 24 nights in June 1984.

Reception

It was one of the first eight films distributed by Corman's new company, Concorde Pictures, along with '' The Devastator'', ''

Naked Vengeance ''Naked Vengeance'' is a 1985 exploitation rape and revenge film directed by Cirio Santiago. The film features Deborah Tranelli as its protagonist, actress-turned-vigilante Carla Harris. The film has since received a cult following and is often ...

'', ''

Wheels of Fire ''Wheels of Fire'' is the third studio album by the British rock band Cream. It was released in the US on 14 June 1968 as a two-disc vinyl LP, with one disc recorded in the studio and the other recorded live. It was released in the UK in the s ...

'', ''

Loose Screws ''Screwballs II'', also known as ''Loose Screws'', is a 1985 Canadian teen sex comedy film. It is a sequel to '' Screwballs'' and was one of the first releases from Roger Corman's Concorde Pictures. Synopsis Brad Lovett, Steve Hardman, Hugh G. ...

'' (''Screwballs II''), ''

School Spirit School spirit is the sense of identity and community shared by members of an educational institution. School administrators may wish to foster school spirit with the goal of creating a sense of community within the student population, mitigati ...

'', ''

Barbarian Queen ''Barbarian Queen'' (also known as ''Queen of the Naked Steel'') is a 1985 American-Argentine fantasy film starring Lana Clarkson, directed by Héctor Olivera and written by Howard R. Cohen. The film premiered in April 1985 in the United States ...

'', and ''

Wizards of the Lost Kingdom ''Wizards of the Lost Kingdom'' is a 1985 Argentinian-American sword and sorcery film written by Ed Naha and directed by Héctor Olivera. It stars Bo Svenson as Kor the Conqueror, Vidal Peterson as Simon, and Thom Christopher as Shurka. The film ...

''. It was the first film released by Concorde in collaboration with Cinema Group.

Critical

The film screened out of competition at the Berlin Film Festival. The ''Los Angeles Times'' said, "a feature debut could scarcely be more cynical."

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0088195
Streetwalkin'
at Letterbox DVD
Review of film
at

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

1985 films Films about prostitution in the United States Films set in New York City American thriller films 1985 thriller films Films directed by Joan Freeman 1980s English-language films 1980s American films English-language thriller films