What seems to be a teen sex comedy – the film started out as a sequel to Malibu High – becomes a violent vigilante movie after Tiffany Carrigan (April Dawn) is gang-raped and murdered on her way home from her first ball by a biker gang in a van, spurring her brother Kevin (James Van Patten) to seek revenge by taking up arms by night.
He teams up with a gang of his like-minded Phi Delta Tai frat buddies – Fred (Mike Norris), Scott (Tom Reilly) and Jorge (John Alden) – who set about brutally punishing any miscreants they catch in a criminal act.
Ernest Borgnine is Tiffany and Kevin’s cop dad, Lieutenant Bob Carrigan, who is partnered up with Richard (Shaft) Roundtree.
Also appearing are Nels Van Patten, Anne Lockhart, Mike Norris (Chuck’s son), Dick Shawn, B-movie scream queen Linnea Quigley – and an animation sequence.
If Young Warriors was supposed to illustrate how taking vengeance and doling out illegal justice was a bad thing, it was somewhat scuppered by adhering to so many conventions of the decade’s action cinema, therefore of course there is a car chase, a shootout and even an exploding helicopter.
There are also synths, drum machines, mullets galore and a dog in sunglasses and a hat, but no happy ending.
The director and producer were both in their early 20s.
Lt. Bob Carrigan
Ernest Borgnine Sergeant John Austin
Richard Roundtree Beverly Carrigan
Lynda Day George Kevin Carrigan
James Van Patten Tiffany Carrigan
April Dawn Lucy
Anne Lockhart Scott
Tom Reilly Stan
Ed De Stefane Fred
Mike Norris Jorge
John Alden Professor Hoover
Dick Shawn Ginger
Linnea Quigley Heather
Britt Helfer Roger
Nels Van Patten ‘Ice Test’ Monty
Jimmy Patterson Priest
Bernard Bloomer Officer Womby
Gregory Bennett ‘Brick Test’ Frank
Randy Woltz
Director
Lawrence D Foldes
Related Posts
Casualties of War (1989) Casualties of War is a haunting and emotionally moving morality tale, involving the gang rape and murder of a young…
Fish Called Wanda, A (1988) From the Monty Python stable, an English caper-comedy with a complex plot involving a gang of hopeless misfits who pull…
Porky's II: The Next Day (1983) The huge success of Canadian comedy Porky's (1981) - it grossed over $110 million - convinced the main creative talents…
Teen Wolf Too (1987) The original Teen Wolf (1985) was a big hit, although that was probably more to do with the fact that star…
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) Richard Donner’s sequel is only marginally less impressive than the original but was enough to set the law of diminishing…
Young and Wild (1958) Three youngsters steal a car for a joyride and encounter a couple out on a date. They drive the couple…
Drugstore Cowboy (1989) This provocative and downbeat drama set in early 1970s Oregon looks at the sordid life of four junkies who rob…
Young Guns (1988) In this version of the legend of Billy the Kid - set during an important frontier war - the young…
He teams up with a gang of his like-minded Phi Delta Tai frat buddies – Fred (Mike Norris), Scott (Tom Reilly) and Jorge (John Alden) – who set about brutally punishing any miscreants they catch in a criminal act.
