Suburbia

Suburbia is one of my favourite films. Its cheap in places with tacky sounds, however that only adds to its charm. The characters have appeal and the situations seem real. There is nothing pretentious about it, the protagonists are not made out to be either good or evil, just drifting teenagers who don't think through what they do. The director draws us along with some sympathy for the TR even when they are up to no good, as its clear that deep down they don't actually mean any harm to anyone. A lot of people have rated this film with 10's, I can't see that (and gave it a 7) as it is still basically a cheap B movie. But definitely a good one.

I grew up in the early 80's hardcore punk scene in NYC and like most punks at the time had seen Penelope Spheeris' DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION (the best punk documentary ever made) and was impressed when SUBURBIA(later renamed The Wild Side) came out in a few theatres. It was, and still is, the most accurate depiction of what being a hardcore punk was like. Okay, as a film, the production was shoddy, the acting was sub par, and the story was weak. But most of the actors were local punks. . The depiction of the punks was right on the mark....the clothes, the attitude, the music, the just hanging out, etc. Unfortunately, all the new kids who just got into punk in the last decade think this movie is all wrong. Even one of the commenters on this site mistakenly complained that this movie has it all wrong and punks aren't like that. Well guess what kids? The punks in this movie not only acted like real punks, most of them were real punks. (before you were) The scene has changed over the years. This movie is accurately representative of what it was like back in the original (real) scene days during the Reagan administration.

This is not a documentary, although much of it is allegedly based on fact. What "Suburbia" does, and does well, is capture a moment in LA/OC punk. If you were there, you recognize almost every character in the film, and you probably recognize a lot of the "actors." It's a grab bag of punk "types": the skinhead, the conehead, the goth, the mohawk, etc. etc. But if you were an LA suburban punk, you knew someone just like all of them. If you're of a certain age, of a certain time, of a certain place, it's a touchstone. You know exactly what it was like. Even the rednecks have their place, when the plants were closing, when and middle-class life starting fading away. The story is not great, the acting is not great, but the moment is captured, and if you were there, it takes you right back: when moshing was called slamming, and tattoos were done with a straightpin by hand, not next door to the Starbucks. If you weren't, you get a pretty good idea about what is was like to be a punk when you couldn't buy it at the mall, when it might actually get you beaten up by jocks, when a nosering might get you fired from the record store. Punk was, for a time, actually dangerous. And that made it great.

This movie sucks. It is, however, the suckiest movie that I have ever wanted to watch about 50 times in my lifetime. This is the definitive punk-fiction film. No other movie more accurately portrayed what it was like to grow up in the punk scene in the eighties, and it's one of the only films to show what it was like to squat in the punk scene in Los Angeles. It's true, if you get a bunch of real punks and attempt to make them actors and get Roger"Carnosaur"Corman to produce it, you should probably expect something to this effect, but the hammy dialogue and acting are part of the charm. I wholly related to this movie as a teenager, and will always look back fondly upon it. Cheers to Penelope Spheeris, for creating a PR classic.

I love this film. What can I say? Yes, the acting is bad, but this would be because for the most part, these kids are actual street kids and not "actors". So, get past the low budget and the bad acting for a second and look at the story. Kids (punks) who live in an abandoned house and are rejected by society. How much more realistic can you get? This movie is a cult classic, and for those into punk, a must-see! Why? Because it has performances by D.I., The Vandals and others. Also, you can catch Flea in what's probably his first film, credited as something like Mike B. The Flea. Check it out!!