Prayer of the Rollerboys (1990)

After becoming one of the biggest child stars of the 1980s, Corey Haim got off on the wrong foot in the 90s, thanks to this thoroughly misconceived US/Japan co-produced thriller.

In a dystopian “near future” (in which everyone really loves inline skating!), America is broke, Harvard has been sold to the Japanese (who have moved it brick by brick to Japan) and the streets of Los Angeles are dominated by a gang of white supremacist drug dealers on rollerblades, known as the Rollerboys.

Rebellious teenager Griffin (Haim) lives in a tent with his younger brother Miltie (Devin Clark), and supports them both by driving an armoured pizza delivery truck.

They are trying to come to terms with the death of their parents and have been befriended by the elderly Speedbagger (Julius Harris).

Griffin helps Rollerboy Bullwinkle (Morgan Weisser) when he’s trapped in a fire, and Miltie is greatly impressed when the Roller Boys’ leader Gary Lee (Christopher Collet) and members of his gang skate up to offer Griffin their thanks. It transpires that Griffin and Lee had known each other as children.

Though the Rollerboys profess to be anti-drugs, they are the largest sellers of the drug “mist” and Miltie ends up selling the stuff.

Furious and desperate, Griffin finally agrees to the entreaties of cop Jaworski (JC Quinn) to join the Rollerboys in an effort to get the goods on Gary Lee and take the gang down from the inside.

The other undercover cop in the area, sexy Casey (Patricia Arquette), is attracted to Griffin, and he to her. Mark Pellegrino stands out as a lemon-haired creep named Bango.

The script by W. Peter Iliff – who described his story (with delusions of grandeur) as “A Clockwork Orange meets Blade Runner via Lord of the Flies“- tries hard to be topical and thought-provoking, but it’s clear that the filmmakers were mostly interested in trying to make an edgy, hip movie that teens of the time would respond to.

Clearly made on a low budget, there is no futuristic technology depicted here.

Griffin
Corey Haim
Casey
Patricia Arquette
Gary Lee
Christopher Collet
Speedbagger
Julius Harris
Miltie
Devin Clark
Bango
Mark Pellegrino
Bullwinkle
Morgan Weisser
Tyler
Jake Dengel
Watt
G Smokey Campbell
Pinky
John P Connolly
Jaworsky
JC Quinn
Little Boy
Trevor Eyster
Teen Boy
Aron Eisenberg
Rollerboys
Joel Bott
Doug Boyce
Chad Bruechart
Mike Colabella
Tim Dennis
Chris Edwards
Greg S Fawley
Kent W Landfield
Chris C Mitchell
Aaron Olivas
Pat Parnell
Casey Pieretti
Chris Pietrofesh
Chris Schaffer
Shon Tomlik
James Treat
Dylan Westall
Eric Wylie
Steven Zakki
Thomas G. Zeiss

Director
Rick King