One man decides to wage war against a gang of teenage punks besieging an affluent California community. Based on a true incident.One man decides to wage war against a gang of teenage punks besieging an affluent California community. Based on a true incident.One man decides to wage war against a gang of teenage punks besieging an affluent California community. Based on a true incident.
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- Vance Chandler
- (as Thomas Leopold)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsAs the young hoodlums are attempting to dog-nap Jim Kiler's dog Oliver by luring him to their hot rod, you can see cleaners working on the outside of Kiler's home (from when the hoodlums threw paint on it). The hoodlums dog-nap Oliver, and Jim Kiler spends all day and night calling for Oliver and wondering where he is. However, never once did Kiler think to ask the cleaners anything, who no doubt must have heard the loud car engine, heard the hoodlums calling Oliver, and seen them take Oliver away. The cleaners also said nothing of the dog-napping.
- Quotes
Judge William Vernon: [at the hearing] Will the defendant Carl Dibble please rise?
[Carl stands up]
Judge William Vernon: And Mrs. Dibble, if you too, please.
[she stands up]
Judge William Vernon: Carl Dibble, as a result of your change of plea to nolo contendere er no contest to the lesser charge of hit-and-run driving, it is the recommendation of Dr. Jim Cuyler, the victim, to whom this court applied for such recommendation, that you hereby be declared the ward to this court, that your care, custody, and control be placed under the supervision of a county probation officer for a period of one year. In addition, you will pay $250 immediately and your driver's license is hereby suspended for six months. I need hardly remind you what a very lucky young man you are and what a great debt of gratitude you owe to the compassion of Dr. Cuyler. You may be seated.
[Carl and Mrs. Dibble sit down]
Judge William Vernon: Will the defendant Ronald Werner please rise, also his parents?
[they stand up]
Judge William Vernon: And Vance Chandler and his parents, will they rise?
[they stand up]
Judge William Vernon: Ronald Werner and Vance Chandler, in the light of Carl Dibble's change of plea, this court has no choice but to dismiss the charges against you. In other words, by shouldering the responsibility for the act itself, your friend has just taken you two off the hook. To be, that is not a fortunate circumstance. Mr. and Mrs. Chandler, and Mr. and Mrs. Werner, your sons, though they have escaped retribution for the time being, are in deep, deep trouble! You know it and I know it! And if you don't take hold and do something about it, soon, these boys are gonna wind up in prison some day! However, the law has given both parents and children a second chance and I sincerely trust that you will make the most of it.
- ConnectionsRemade as Outrage (1998)
Marilyn Manson, er, Marlyn Mason rather, plays his fretful, boiled-celery wife, who urges him not to use violence against his sneering nemeses, and who really just wants to move somewhere with decent public services. But The System is getting Culp nowhere, and he's not about to leave his house because of some punk kids and their crazy rock and roll music. And we all know what movie people do when The System fails...(but this is based on a true story, which makes it even better).
It should be noted that while the villainous hooligans do have convenient '70s funk-o-matic "teenage" theme music that warns us when they're up to no good, this film actually ends up treating the age brackets even-handedly (really!). It doesn't make a big generational thing out of it. Kudos for that.
Anyway, if you like dogs (or at least believe in protecting their civil rights, like me), and you like justice, and you like fire, and you like justice for dogs by way of fire, and you think people who skitter nervously out of troubled communities are "too damn soft," then this flick's ethos is up your alley. No, it's not really "good," at least not in any widely recognized sense of the word. There's nothing subtle or understated or clever about it, it's just sort of a feature-length PSA for vigilantism. It does, however, capture the feeling of some memorable scenes in other, beloved works. Remember in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns when Batman leads the Mutants on horseback to reclaim Gotham City? Remember that scene in A Christmas Story where the kid pounds the bully's face in? Remember how cool that was? Or do you just really hate being looked at funny by your neighbors? Yeah, mon.
Unfortunately, this was a 1973 made-for-TV movie that I just happened to catch at 4am on my local WB affiliate, and it's probably not destined for DVD release. But after being inspired by this film, do you think I'm gonna just sit here and take it!?!
- Nicholas Sedillos
- Oct 21, 2000
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- One Angry Man
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro