CRUISIN’ HIGH (1976) **

The Silks are a high school gang who are at war with a rival Mexican gang called the Rudeas.  When they kill the Silks’ leader, Punch (Derrel Maury) in a drive-by shooting, the hot-tempered Cat (David Kyle) takes command.  He orders retaliation upon the Rudeas, which leads to more dead bodies.  Cat idolizes his older brother, Joey (Steve Bond), who used to lead the Silks and is now serving a prison sentence.  Joey gets out of jail and tries to go straight, effectively turning his back on the gang.  This infuriates Cat, and he sets out to make Joey pay by killing his girlfriend (Kelly Yaegermann). 

Cruisin’ High is a ho-hum high school gang drama that feels more like a collection of clichés tossed in a blender rather than a straightforward narrative.  None of it quite works either, as it plays like a ‘50s Juvenile Delinquent flick (unsuccessfully) updated for the ‘70s drive-in crowd.  As such, it’s remarkably low on anything that would appeal to exploitation fans.  The violence is rather lightweight and the nudity is fleeting.

None of that would’ve mattered if the drama between the gang members was involving.  The conflict between the opposing gangs is negligible at best, and the stuff with the feuding brothers is introduced too late in the picture to make much of an impact by the time the finale runs around.  Director John (Day of the Nightmare) Bushelman doesn’t stage the gang violence particularly well, but the cinematography by Bruce Logan (who would go on to be the D.P. on Tron) is crisp and at least gives the scenes of gang rumbles, teacher intimidation, and classic cars cruising up and down the strip a touch of class.

Two years later, Kyle went on to play Judith Myers’ boyfriend in Halloween.

AKA:  Cat Murkil and the Silks.  AKA:  The Silks.