I remember watching Over the Edge when I was a kid. Maybe ten or so. There are a handful of movies I saw around that time that I feel, and felt at the time, were transformative. That altered me. The Exorcist, Tommy, Altered States, The Godfather, and, of course, Over the Edge. I was too young to be watching any of these people, truth be told, and there's no way I'll let Oscar watch them when he's that age, but discipline was lax at the Gallardo household, I guess.
The movie is a low budget number about rebellious youth, or youth gone wild, or what happens when adults abdicate there roles as authority figures. One or all of those. I just remember that the images of kids rising up against the adults left an indelible mark on me. The fact that the adults deserved it was even more revelatory.
One thing about the movie, however: I've never talked to anyone else who's seen it. Even the biggest film buffs I know seems to be unaware of it. For a while I thought I'd made it up, imagined it completely. So imagine my delight when I found a story on the indispensable BoingBoing.net linking to an oral history of the films production. The article itself resides at Viceland.com. It's fairly lengthy and I haven't made it through the entire piece yet, but what I've read leaves me wanting more.
It also leaves me wanting to watch the movie again. What are the odds it's available on DVD?
Here's the trailer for your viewing enjoyment:
3 comments:
"Old enough to know better, but too young to care." That's freaking brilliant. I want to see it. Maybe you could return to film club for a month to host and show it? That would be awesome.
"A kid who tells on another kid is a dead kid" (or something like that).
Was this Matt Dillon's first role?
I too was way too young to watch this when I did (HBO was awesome at the start of the 80s).
It is out on DVD, I've had this near the bottom of my NetFlix queue for months, maybe I should bump its priority up.
Aaron - I'm glad this clip piqued your interest, but I think you'll have to see it some way other than at a movie club I attend. The new job pretty much ensures I will never again have a weekend free to do so.
And Jerry - Thanks for letting me know it's on DVD. And, yes, bump it up!
I still have a soft spot for movie channels in the early '80s. I learned so much...
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