Yet another Roger Corman B-movie extravaganza, Suburbia boasts a cast of amateurs, and to be sure, the performances seldom rise beyond that amateur level, and yet, despite this, the film continually strikes the right chord. For this, I give full credit to director Penelope Spheeris, who has created with Suburbia a believable reality in which teens, most of whom are runaways or outcasts, have built a home for themselves, and are living life by their rules.
A teenager’s fantasy, Suburbia was obviously designed to exploit the teen market, and even though I’m years beyond being a member of said audience, the film definitely worked for me.
A teenager’s fantasy, Suburbia was obviously designed to exploit the teen market, and even though I’m years beyond being a member of said audience, the film definitely worked for me.
Couldn't get into this one, thinking it is because I am completely unfamilar with the 80's Los Angeles Punk rock scene. Thought Chris Pedersen and Jennifer Clay turned in some good performances.
ReplyDeleteJill: Fair enough. I'm not very familiar with the scene myself, actually, and the rough productions values can be a turn-off. But I enjoyed the direction in which the film took its characters, and I agree that, for what it was, some of the performances weren't bad.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for the comment, and I hope you enjoy the next one a bit more!
This is a movie I'd been meaning to check out for a while but coming across it here jogged my memory. I'm a big fan of the whole gritty 80's punk aesthetic so I'm looking forward to it quite a bit!
ReplyDelete- David