Streets of Vengeance Film Review
By Summer Krafft
A&P Productions, a local production company’s most recent and most ambitious film, Streets of Vengeance, premiered last night at Galaxy theaters in Riverbank. It is a funny, brutal, manic depiction of a group of ladies of the night, seeking revenge on a mass killer targeting their community in an 80’s-inspired fictionalized version of San Francisco. It follows the story of Mila, a retiring porn star played delicately and fearlessly by Delawna McKinney, seeking revenge on a group of men’s rights activists for slashing some of her colleagues and friends. The film switches between dream-like scenes backlit by neon pink lighting and fog, expertly set-up by cinematographer Dan Zampa, and close-ups of sometimes overly-ambitious gore effects in this girls-get-revenge thriller. Other acting highlights include Liv, played sassily by Cassidy St. Hubbins, Stella, played passionately by Flora E. Moon, and Brian, played charmingly by Anthony To’omata. Though the film is largely over-the-top with its sexuality and violence, it does hold a very strong undercurrent of feminism and female empowerment. Writer and director Paul Ragsdale said, “While we don’t want to beat you over the head with the issues, they’re there if you’re looking for them.” The message of the film was that women should be free to do what they choose to do with their bodies legally without fear of judgement or consequence based on someone else’s discomfort with their choices. The film is an anthem for women to make empowered, personal choices about how to live their lives, particularly in the red light community, and it resonates.
