Bullet Points: Streetwalkin’
Movies are a magical thing… some movies can make you laugh… some movies can you make you cry.
There are movies that can inspire you to follow your dreams and others that will make you think twice about going into the woods late at night.
And then there are movies like 1985’s Streetwalkin’ that make you want to take a shower after watching them…
- A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: The movie starts with two teenagers arriving in New York City, Cookie (Melissa Leo, Olympus Has Fallen) and her younger brother Tim (Randall Batinkoff, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Cookie goes to a pay phone at the train station and makes one last ditch effort to reason with her mother. We learn that it was Cookie and Tim’s stepfather that kicked them out of the house, but their mother is too drunk to care. With little or no money to their name, things are looking dire for the two siblings… and that’s when Duke (Dale Midkiff, Pet Sematary), a guy who had been eyeballing Cookie from the moment he saw her at the train station, extends a helping hand to Cookie. But we will soon learn that Duke has ulterior motives… and as the opening credits roll, Cookie goes from homeless teenager to a prostitute working Times Square.
- Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy: The next time we see Duke he is in his true form, cruising the streets of New York City in his pimped out convertible… he stops his car and checks in on one of his girls, Heather (Deborah Offner). Duke is not pleased with the amount of income that Heather has brought in for the evening and the two begin arguing, things get physical and Duke knocks Heather down to the pavement to teach Heather a lesson. Heather is fed up with Duke’s shit and heads home to pack her things and get out of Dodge. Heather lives with Cookie and Tim, and when Cookie finds out what happened she can’t believe it… Cookie looks at Duke as her protector and can’t imagine him hurting Heather like that. But one can’t grieve forever as they say, and Cookie goes off to work, while Heather finishes up packing her things. And that’s about the time time an angry Duke shows up at the house and finishes what he started on the street and delivers a vicious beating to her that leaves her out cold on the floor.
- That’s The Way The Cookie Crumbles: If it wasn’t obvious at this point that Duke was demented, it becomes abundantly clear after he hangs around the house after he nearly beats Heather to death… and when Cookie pops in to change her shoes, Duke starts sweet talking Cookie and it isn’t long before he is sampling his own merchandise. After their sexual encounter, Cookie discovers Heather’s near lifeless body, she freaks out as you might expect and goes off on Duke but quickly changes her tune in an act of self-preservation. After Duke leaves, Cookie takes Heather to the hospital and afterwards makes a call to another pimp, Jason (Leon, Cliffhanger), about coming to work for him.
- Pimp Wars: The rest of the movie quickly becomes Duke against the world. First we have Duke looking to replace Heather with Star (Khandi Alexander, Army of One), a hooker who works for one of Duke’s fellow pimps, Finesse (Antonio Fargas, Shakedown) and then getting into it with Jason’s henchmen after he learns that Cookie is looking to jump ship. After Duke dispatches of Jason’s men, he goes looking for Cookie and that leads to a Scene of the Week worthy street fight between Duke and another pimp named Spade, played by Kirk Taylor, who will always be The Giggler from Death Wish 3 to me. With Duke out of pimps to fight, he then turns his attention to Cookie, who will have to team up with some of her fellow working girls and her little brother, if she has any chance of surviving the wrath of Duke!
In many ways Streetwalkin’ is a time capsule look at a New York City that is very different than the New York City of today. The sketchy and seedy world of Time Square in the 1980’s was perfect for those peddling sex and drugs and while Streetwalkin’ does not present itself as a true story, it easily could have been.
Melissa Leo, in her first feature film, was a great choice as the fresh faced girl who gets caught up in an unforgiving world. But in my eyes the Streetwalkin’ MVP was Dale Midkiff and his portrayal of Duke. Duke’s downward spiral gave Midkiff a lot to sink his teeth into and
- Familiar Faces: Julie Newmar (Batman) plays the street smart prostitute Queen Bee, a veteran of the sex game who offers sage advice to Cookie… Tom Wright (Marked for Death) plays one of Jason’s henchmen who ends up on the wrong side of Duke… Kim Chan (American Shaolin) plays the desk clerk at one of the seedy motels where the girls take their clients. Chan has one of the finest IMDb profile pictures in the business.
- Nice Hat: The bouncer at the club where Finesse and Duke have their confrontation is sporting a classic blue and gold World Wrestling Federation trucker hat.
- Soundtraxx: The theme song “Streetwalkin” performed by Sylvia St. James can be heard in another movie that was distributed by Concorde Pictures, 1986’s Chopping Mall.
