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Sweet Sixteen (1983)

Directed by: Dimitri Sotirakis (as Jim Sotos)
Screenplay by: Erwin Goldman
Starring: Aleisa Shirley, Dana Kimmell, Steve Antin, Don Stroud, Glenn Withrow, Bo Hopkins, Don Shanks
Rated: R (violence, coarse language, nudity)

Sweet 16 is a horror movie (more suspense/murder mystery, I'd say), that came out in the early '80s.

It took awhile for me to watch the film - I originally turned it off after Glenn's character was killed (Yes, he dies. Again. It's a horror movie, it was bound to happen). I do have to say that from the first half hour, and despite the gratuitous nudity, I think this is quite a different kind of "horror" movie.

Glenn plays Johnny Franklin, a local boy that the lead character, Melissa, meets. She's new in town and is weeks away from turning sixteen. She ends up parking with Johnny, getting creeped out when he mentions they're parked near the old Indian burial ground. Johnny drops her off, getting into a slight confrontation with her father, then drives off.

This being a horror movie, Johnny's truck runs out of gas on a desolate stretch of highway. Drunk, high and stumbling into the scrub, Johnny sobers up quickly when he hears something. Moments later he's attacked and killed. His body is found the next morning when the local sheriff (Bo Hopkins) and his two kids (Steve Antin, Dana Kimmell) come across the abandoned truck, and the daughter finds Johnny's body.

More boys keep dying around Melissa, and the mystery is in figuring out who is responsible. In this way, it's a bit more interesting than the average slasher movie.

This movie was filmed around 1981, I think. Rated R for nudity (the character is supposed to be fifteen, so there's a vaguely squicky quality to it), violence and horror suspense, which I didn't actually think was that bad - maybe I've been watching too much CSI? I am so not a horror movie person, but this one didn't bother me too much.

I'm borrowing these screencaps from LJ user sassygirl who actually took 145 screencaps of this movie. I bow down to her awesomeness.

I've only got a couple here to whet your appetite ...

Purchase Information

DVD - It was released on DVD October 14, 2008 with commentary by director Jim Sotos and Aleisa Shirley. It's available at Amazon.com and CDUniverse.com (As well as other online retailers, like Chapters/Indigo in Canada).
VHS - Often appears on eBay; not worth it now that there's a DVD release.

Links

If you'd like to see the 49 other screencaps of Glenn in this movie (and you do), visit Rumble Fish Online's Glenn Withrow Gallery.

Pictures
(Click to enlarge)



Glenn's character Johnny (right) and the sheriff's son Hank (Steve Antin) hang out playing pinball.



Hank and Johnny harass a local Native Indian who passes on 15-year-old Melissa's advances.



And quickly set a landspeed record for back-pedalling when he makes a move towards them lol. (This whole scene was funny as hell)



Melissa works on Johnny. I am embarrassed to admit to owning a shirt almost identical to this, but in white. And there were beads hanging off each strip.



Melissa succeeds in getting some action.



After dropping Melissa at home, Johnny runs out of gas. This is a horror movie, and thus, never a good sign.



Drunken Johnny stumbles around sans leather jacket, muttering to himself and almost pitching headfirst into the ground numerous times before hearing something suspicious.



Yep, it was suspicious alright. Suspiciously full of knives.



He's found by the sheriff's daughter in the morning. THE EYES. Dear God, they're awesome. Even covered in freaking blood (which, seeing as he's been dead at least a few hours, should be much darker since the iron in the blood would have oxidized by then ... )

 

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