Over the Edge (1979)

Director:

Jonathan Kaplan

Writers:

Charles S. Haas (written by)
Tim Hunter (written by)

Release Date:

2 November 1979 (Denmark)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Watch Out For Children

Plot:

New Grenada is a planned community set in the desert where there is nothing for the kids to do, save for a rec center - which closes at 6 PM...

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Police | Boredom | Vandalism | Teenager

Cast

Michael Eric Kramer	...	Carl (as Michael Kramer)
Pamela Ludwig	...	Cory
Matt Dillon	...	Richie
Vincent Spano	...	Mark
Tom Fergus	...	Claude
Harry Northup	...	Doberman
Andy Romano	...	Fred Willat
Ellen Geer	...	Sandra Willat
Richard Jamison	...	Cole
Julia Pomeroy	...	Julia
Tiger Thompson	...	Johnny
Eric Lalich	...	Tip
Kim Kliner	...	Abby
Frank Mugavero	...	Party Host
Kristina Hanson	...	Lisa

Also Known As:

On the Edge (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1987) (video release) | Canada:14A | Australia:R | Finland:(Banned) (1980) (theatrical release) | Iceland:16 | USA:PG | West Germany:16 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Aurora, Colorado, USA

Company:

Orion Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Charles S. Haas based his story on true events which occurred in the planned community of Foster City, California in the early 1970s. In fact, a California headline about the incident, "Mouse Packs: Kids On A Crime Spree", was authored by Haas when he was a reporter with the San Francisco Examiner.

Goofs:

Continuity: After the library is trashed, a boy is shown standing on top of a police car. At first he's swinging a pair of nunchaks, but in the very next scene he's holding a crowbar.

Quotes:

Abby: Eat it, you stinkin' pig!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Charlie Bartlett (2007)

Soundtrack:

Come On

Just the way it was

I first saw the movie when it opened in the spring of 1980, on a double bill with "Little Darlings". I ended up seeing it twice. I was the age of the kids in the film at the time, and my bull***t detector didn't go off once during the course of watching this film. The kids were real, the words natural and unaffected, and the whole thing about the boredom that is so prevailing when you're a teenager was right on the money. I remember as I watched the movie thinking that the clothes the kids were wearing looked worn just enough, like they had come out of the actors' own closets. Matt Dillon's first movie - I read that he auditioned for the part as something to do while he skipped school for a day. He reminded me utterly of my then high school boyfriend, right down to the voice, clothes and cocky attitude. The music was exactly what me and all my friends were listening to - Cheap Trick (the earlier, not-played-on-the-radio songs) and the Cars. Ok, so perhaps it was a little unrealistic at parts, and the soundtrack could have done without the Valerie Carter song, but wow, what a great little movie. Rent a copy, go home, slap it in your vcr, and get out your bong and a couple of beers. You won't be dissapointed, not even a little bit.