''Evil Streets'' is a 1998

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B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

indy Indy may refer to: Computing and technology *Indy (software), used for Internet access to music *Internet Direct, or "Indy", a software library * SGI Indy, a computer workstation Periodicals *''The Indy'', shorthand for newspapers that include ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

co-directed by Terry R. Wickham and Joseph F. Parda, starring SaRenna Lee, Joe Zaso, and Tina Krause. The film is a horror

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

focused around three tales of urban terror,

desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of affa ...

, and

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The film is best known for the appearance of the large breasted adult model SaRenna Lee, and the film marked Lee's mainstream acting debut.

Plot

The first story ("The Downfall of Johnny Garrett") begins with a young lady named "Sheila" (Nicole Bryl) getting

revenge Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...

on street thug "Johnny Garrett" (Steve Rodriguez), who

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

d her, by contacting the spirit of her dead friend "Wendy" (Hillary Epstein). The second tale ("Szamota's Mistress") concerns an obsessed man named "Jerry Szamota" (Joe Zaso) who carries out his

infatuation Infatuation, also known as being smitten, is the personal state of being overly driven by an uninformed or otherwise unreasonable passion, usually towards another person for whom one has developed strong Romantic love, romantic or sexual feelin ...

with "Jane K." (Tina Krause) to a maddening degree of

love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

. The segment is based on short story of the same name by Polish author

Stefan Grabiński Stefan Grabiński (26 February 1887 – 12 November 1936) was a Polish writer of Fantastique, fantastic literature and Horror story, horror stories. He is sometimes referred to as the "Polish Edgar Allan Poe, Poe" or "Polish Howard Phillips Lovec ...

(Kochanka Szamoty, eng. Szamota's Mistress). The last episode ("Stalk") stars big-bust model (SaRenna Lee) as

exotic dancer A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at private events. Modern forms of stripping m ...

"Misty", who becomes the

stalking Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance or contact by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitorin ...

target of a muscular fanatic (David Greggo).

Cast

* SaRenna Lee - "Misty"''Evil Streets'' (1998) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb
/ref> * Joe Zaso - "Jerry Szamota" * Tina Krause - "Jane K." * Nicole Bryl - "Sheila" * (

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

rock band Voodoo Storm

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

) Steve Rodriguez - "Johnny Garrett", a 1970s-style

gang leader A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...

body builder Bodybuilding is the practice of progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's muscles via hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. It is primarily undertaken for aesthetic ...

David Greggo - "The Man" * John Leone - "Jack/Club owner"

Production

Development and themes

In 1996, guitarist/author Michael Knight asked Terry Wickham if he would be interested in directing a

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

based on a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

Knight had written called “The Downfall of Johnny Garrett”. Two years prior, Wickham had directed a

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for Knight’s song “The Phoenix” off his album called "Dreamscapes". Knight’s idea was that there was

evil Evil, as a concept, is usually defined as profoundly immoral behavior, and it is related to acts that cause unnecessary pain and suffering to others. Evil is commonly seen as the opposite, or sometimes absence, of good. It can be an extreme ...

on the streets of the city, and he wanted to represent it with three films. Knight's short story was adapted for film, and the original story only had two lines of

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...

in it. It ended up being filmed as a short, 15-minute segment in ''Evil Streets''. The original story was themed like an old DC

horror comics Horror comics are comic books, graphic novels, black-and-white comics magazines, and manga focusing on horror fiction. In the US market, horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when concern over content and the ...

tale, a simple revenge story with a lot of visual aspects to it. Wickham's inspiration for one scene's shot in “The Downfall of Johnny Garrett” came from

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror film, horror, action film, action, and science fiction film, science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is ...

’s ''

The Fog ''The Fog'' is a 1980 American independent supernatural horror film directed by John Carpenter, who also co-wrote the screenplay and created the music for the film. It stars Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Janet Leigh and H ...

''. One of the portions of the film came from Wickham’s friend Joseph F. Parda, who Wickham knew as a manager at a

video rental store A video rental shop/store is a physical retail business that rents home videos such as movies, prerecorded TV shows, video game cartridges/discs and other media content. Typically, a rental shop conducts business with customers under conditi ...

Carle Place, New York Carle Place (also known historically as Frog Hollow and Mineola Park) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The CDP's population was 5,005 at t ...

. Parda would go on to work with producer/actor Joe Zaso and indie horror film star Tina Krause to create the

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

-like episode “Szamota’s Mistress.”

Pre-production

Wickham had wanted to work with big-bust star SaRenna Lee on a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

called ''Perishing Hearts'' after seeing her in '' Score Magazine'', and he "made it clear to SaRenna he wouldn’t write one word without her coming onboard, because she was the only person he’d make the movie with". Lee then agreed to do the film. Open

auditions An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece giv ...

were held at Mr. Electric Studios in

Massapequa Massapequa (, ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 21,355 at the time of the 2020 census. Hist ...

on October 25, 1996 for “The Downfall of Johnny Garrett”, which is where Wickham cast Steve Rodriguez. Wickham had already worked with Rodriguez, having directed Rodriguez's band’s “Fetish” music video.

Filming

Wickham directed two episodes (“The Downfall of Johnny Garrett” and “Stalk”) and Parda directed “Szamota’s Mistress” (with Joe Zaso serving as producer) in the anthology. The segment “The Downfall of Johnny Garrett” was shot in eight days in Bellerose, Deer Park, East Meadow, Garden City,

Queens Village Queens Village is a mostly residential middle class neighborhood in the eastern part of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bound by Hollis to the west, Cambria Heights to the south, Bellerose, Queens and Elmont, Nassau County to the ...

, Massapequa, Merrick, Stonybrook, Uniondale, Wantagh, and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, with the first night of shooting being on October 18, 1996. Scenes were filmed under the Bellerose Train Station on October 28, 1996, in an

industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

in Garden City Park (after the production had gotten kicked out of

Roosevelt Raceway Roosevelt Raceway was a race track located just outside the village of Westbury on Long Island, New York. Initially created as a venue for the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup auto race, it was converted to a ½-mile harness racing facility (the actual ci ...

), at Hillary Epstein’s residence in Deer Park, NY on November 3, 1996, behind Mr. Electric Studios in Massapequa, NY on November 2, 1996, and behind Michael Knight's (at the time)

music studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for recording and mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enough to record a single sin ...

in Massapequa, NY. The crew had to utilize some unorthodox lighting by using lights that were actually powered by

car batteries An automotive battery, or car battery, is a usually 12 Volt lead-acid rechargeable battery that is used to start a motor vehicle, and to power lights, screen wiper etc. while the engine is off. Its main purpose is to provide an electric current ...

in some scenes, since they had little to no access to the

electric grid An electrical grid (or electricity network) is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids consist of power stations, electrical substations to step voltage up or down, electric power tran ...

. The crew was actually cut in half early on in the filming in order to minimize drawing the attention of the local police while shooting. Two of Michael Knight's friends (John Hoelzer & Ben Guzik) set up

props A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

and did the arm and bone

prosthetics In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (congenital disorder). Prosthe ...

for an "arm chop" that occurs in “The Downfall of Johnny Garrett” and helped with lighting and as a

production assistant A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a member of the film crew and is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production. The job of a PA can vary greatly depending on the budget ...

respectively.

Special effects artist Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. I ...

Craig Lindberg set up the blood pump for the "arm chop", and Jason Alvino did the dead woman’s

make up Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources or created syn ...

. The shoot for the rest of the movie was in 1997, and

publicity photo A press kit, often referred to as a media kit in business environments, is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials that provide information about a person, company, organization or cause and which is distributed to members of the Mass media, ...

s were shot in an industrial park in Garden City Park, New York. One set ("Misty's Dressing Room") was actually built inside Wickhams's in-law's

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicl ...

in Massapequa, New York. The

climax Climax may refer to: Language arts * Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work * Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance Biology * Climax community, a biological community th ...

scene of "Stalk" was filmed in

Cold Spring Harbor High School Cold Spring Harbor High School is a public school for grades 7–12 in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, Cold Spring Harbor, New York (U.S. state), New York, United States. In 2007, it was placed 52nd on ''Newsweek''s Top 1300 High Schools list. Cold ...

basement A basement is any Storey, floor of a building that is not above the grade plane. Especially in residential buildings, it often is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the Furnace (house heating), furnace, water heating, ...

. "Szamota's Mistress" was filmed in black & white.

Release

The movie's Spring 1998

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

was held at the Malverne Cinema 4 Theatre in

Malverne, New York Malverne is a village in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 8,560 at the time of the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a ...

, and the movie appeared at the 1998 Chiller Theatre Convention, where some of the cast and crew were interviewed for a local

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

show.

Critical response

Audience response

The movie has received widely-varying reviews online, and the film has some

gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manito ...

in each part of the anthology, with the last of the three stories having a good deal of

nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...

Home media

The movie was produced directly-to-VHS and sold by

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

for two years following its release.

References

External links

*
''Evil Streets'' (1998) details & pictures

''Evil Streets'' cover art & production details
* {{usurped,
''Evil Streets'' at KillerReviews.com
}
''Evil Streets'': Where Every Road Leads To Terror
1998 films American supernatural horror films 1998 horror films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language horror films