Plot: What’s it about?
In Teenage Gang Debs, we watch as Terry, the new chick in town makes her presence known on the street, through all sorts of deviant behavior. She uses her charms and smooth words to become powerful within a local female gang, but she has even more planned. You see, Terry wants to be the top woman in all of the city and that means being the lady of the top dude, which is what she plans to become. After some hard work, Terry gets the leader to battle another guy over her and when he loses, she takes up with the winner and of course, he’s the new leader. This means she has reached the peak of street status, but since she got there through underhanded ways, she now has to watch her back at all times. In Teen-Age Strangler, a string of dead women has police on the prowl and that means bad news for the local ruffians. The teens are tough, the girls are hot, and the fuzz is crackin’ down, as all of them try to discover who this killer is and why he is leaving a stocking around the necks of his victims. It seems as though a teen with a troubled past could be the main suspect, but is he the killer or just a dead end lead in the case?
I do love these double features from Something Weird Video (via Image Entertainment) and in this case, the double dose of teen violence is a real kick. I wouldn’t say either film is that good by traditional standards, but if you’re a fan of teen rage flicks, then I think you’ll like Teenage Gang Debs and Teen-Age Strangler. The former is the better of the two and I really liked it, thanks to some hilarious moments of teen angst. And of course, the main character is a female and that’s to the flick’s entertainment value, at least I think so. I think this is one of the better female driven teen terror pictures in fact, filled with fights, sex, and of course, various other destructive behavior patterns. I wasn’t as impressed with Teen-Age Strangler, but it had some good moments and since it is really just a bonus movie, I have no complaints. I am pleased these two were packed together and while the extras here are slim, I think the disc offers a good value, if you’re a fan of the genre. In other words, this release is highly recommended to those who like teen violence movies, while newcomers to the genre will want to give this a rental beforehand.
Video: How does it look?
Both films are presented in full frame transfers and look decent, but these kind of movies never seem to be given the treatment they deserve. This is because the flicks have limited audiences and as such, it would not be financially viable to do extensive restoration work on the source materials. Even so, these transfers are better than expected, though flawed to be sure. Teenage Gang Debs has a print littered with debris at times, but not to the extent where the film is unwatchable. A few scenes look very clean and others look decent, but some outdoor sequences look terrible. The contrast is stable most of the time, but falters at times and that’s not good in a black & white film like this one. Teen-Age Strangler looks a little better, with a cleaner print and the color photography is well presented. The image is a little soft, but the colors, contrast, and flesh tones all seem in decent enough order.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio for both films is presented via mono tracks, which seem to handle the material well enough. These aren’t the kind of flicks to demand dynamic sound anyway, so not much is lost in terms of surround presence. The dialogue is clean in both mixes, but a little harsh at times in Strangler, though not enough to complain much about. Aside from some minor age related issues, these are about as good as you could expect, given the age and nature of the movies. You won’t be blown away by the audio on either picture, but the basics are covered and that’s enough in these cases, so no real complaints.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The main bonus here is the option to view both films in true drive-in fashion, complete with intermission shorts and the whole nine yards. So you can just sit back and take in a double feature of teen violence, just like in the good old days, ah. You’ll also find theatrical trailers for both of these films, as well as bonus trailers, radio spots, exploitation artwork, and two humorous bonus short subjects. The first is Dance, Little Children and deals with VD, while the second is Headed For Trouble and better fits the teen violence standards.
