Over The Edge

“They were old enough to know better, but too young to care. And now this town is… Over the Edge.”

Richie (Matt Dillon) and Carl (Michael Kramer) being arrested by Sergeant Doberman (Harry Northup).

Over the Edge

Over the Edge

Over the Edge

Dazed and Confused

Over the Edge

Vice

Over the Edge

The teenage shit-starters of Over the Edge: Mark (Vincent Spano), Claude (Tom Fergus), Carl (Michael Kramer), Cory (Pamela Ludwig), and Richie (Matt Dillon).

BEFORE

Charles Haas (co-screenwriter):

San Francisco Examiner

Tim Hunter (co-screenwriter):

Excerpt from “Mousepacks: Kids on a Crime Spree,” the San Francisco Examiner, November 11, 1973:

Mousepacks. Gangs of youngsters, some as young as nine, on a rampage through a suburban town. One on a bike pours gasoline from a gallon can and sets it afire. Lead pipe bombs explode in park restrooms. Spray paint and obscenities smear a shopping center wall. Two homes are set ablaze. Antennas by the hundreds are snapped off parked cars in a single night. Liquid cement clogs public sinks and water fountains. Street lights are snuffed out with BB guns so often they are no longer replaced. It sounds like the scenario for an underage

, a futuristic nightmare fantasy. But all the incidents are true. They happened in Foster City where pre-teenage gangs—mousepacks—constitute one of the city’s major crime problems.

Tim Hunter (co-screenwriter):

Mousepacks

Examiner

Charles Haas (co-screenwriter):

Excerpt from “Mousepacks: Kids on a Crime Spree,” the San Francisco Examiner, November 11, 1973:

Last summer the Foster City parks department sponsored ‘drop-ins’ at a junior high gymnasium. “Within two months the gym had been destroyed—pool tables ripped, ping-pong tables broken,” said Juvenile Officer Rick Rivera. “The program had to be cancelled.”

Tim Hunter (co-screenwriter):

Roman Holiday

An accomplice and Mark (Vincent Spano) take potshots after shooting Sergeant Doberman’s cop car with a BB gun.

George Litto (producer):

White Line Fever

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

Over the Edge

Who Killed Bambi

Over the Edge

Over the Edge

Super Fly

Over the Edge

Andrew Davis (cinematographer):

Charles Haas (co-screenwriter):

Tim Hunter (co-screenwriter):

Charlie Haas (co-screenwriter):

Jane Bernstein (talent scout who discovered Matt Dillon):

Happy Days

Matt Dillon (Richie):

George Litto (producer):

Jane Bernstein (talent scout who discovered Matt Dillon):

Cory (Pamela Ludwig) and Carl (Michael Kramer) wandering the underdeveloped fields of New Granada.

Matt Dillon (Richie):

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

Pamela Ludwig (Cory):

Matt Dillon (Richie):

The Godfather

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

Charlie Haas (co-screenwriter):

Carl (Michael Kramer), Cory (Pamela Ludwig), Richie (Matt Dillon), and Abby (Kim Kliner) up to no good in New Granada. There’s a gun in the bag Abby’s holding.

THE SHOOT

Andrew Davis (cinematographer):

Over the Edge

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

NEVER

Vincent Spano (Mark):

Matt Dillon (Richie):

Michael Kramer (Carl):

Pamela Ludwig (Cory):

Harry Northup (Sergeant Doberman):

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

Andrew Davis (cinematographer):

The Magnificent Seven

Over the Edge

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

Students riot after locking their parents inside the school during a parent-teacher meeting. Fuck yes.

Charles Haas (co-screenwriter):

Frank Mugavero (party host):

Tim Hunter (co-screenwriter):

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

Matt Dillon (Richie):

you

two

Ellen Geer (Sandra, Carl’s mother):

Andy Romano (Fred, Carl’s father):

Harry Northup (Sergeant Doberman):

Julia Pomeroy (Julia, the rec counselor):

Frank Mugavero (party host):

Behind-the-scenes photo from the filming of Over the Edge.

Michael Kramer (Carl):

laughs

Vincent Spano (Mark):

Long Jean Silver

Matt Dillon (Richie):

Julia Pomeroy (rec-center counselor):

Pamela Ludwig (Cory):

Michael Kramer (Carl):

Vincent Spano (Mark):

Harry Northup (Sergeant Doberman):

laughs

Over the Edge

Taxi Driver

Charles Haas (co-screenwriter):

Tim Hunter (co-screenwriter):

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

Behind-the-scenes photos from the filming of Over the Edge. Click for enlargements

Vincent Spano (Mark):

George Litto (producer):

Cameron Crowe, “Sounds Like a Top Flick,” Sunday Mail, February 12, 2006:

There’s a movie called

… and it was the first time I’d seen contemporary rock used in this way. It was a precursor to a lot of so-called teen movies that happened. It was suburban and crazy and great.

George Litto (producer):

Over the Edge

Pamela Ludwig (Cory):

Bun E. Carlos (drummer for Cheap Trick):

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

Mean Streets

Over the Edge

George Litto (producer):

Richie (Matt Dillon) and some lucky girl make eyes in between classes.

POST

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

Children of the Damned

Richard Linklater (director, Dazed and Confused):

Matt Dillon (Richie):

Over the Edge

My Bodyguard

Over the Edge

Tim Hunter (co-screenwriter):

Boulevard Nights, The Warriors, The Wanderers

George Litto (producer):

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

Charles Haas (co-screenwriter):

Variety

Variety

Frank Mugavero (party host):

Michael Kramer (Carl):

still

George Litto (producer):

Andy Holtzman (former film curator):

Over the Edge

New York Times

From the New York Times; Vincent Canby; December 15, 1981:

The movie cannot help romanticizing its mostly mindless teenagers, their inarticulate longings and fears, their demoralization, and, finally, their furious rebellion… Unlike other such films, though,

dramatizes the boredom and pointlessness of [the teens’] world with extraordinary conviction… As you watch it, you are frequently caught halfway between a giggle and a gasp.

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

Holy shit

Charles Haas (co-screenwriter):

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

Over the Edge

Charles Haas (co-screenwriter):

Kurt Cobain, from Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, by Michael Azerrad

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

Over the Edge

Rock and Roll High School

Over the Edge

—From Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, by Michael Azerrad

Richard Linklater (director, Dazed and Confused):

Over the Edge

Over the Edge

Dazed and Confused

Over the Edge

Tim Hunter (co-screenwriter):

Over the Edge

E.T.

Poltergeist

Richie (Matt Dillon) falling to the ground after being shot dead by Sergeant Doberman.

Frank Mugavero (party host):

Harry Northup (Sergeant Doberman):

Over the Edge

The Accused

Over the Edge

Rebel Without a Cause

Tom Fergus (Claude):

Michael Kramer (Carl):

Over the Edge

—IMDb User Comment

—IMDb User Comment

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

George Litto (producer)

Matt Dillon (Richie):

Over the Edge

Excerpt from “Mousepacks: Kids on a Crime Spree,” the San Francisco Examiner, November 11, 1973:

The solutions to pre-teen crime are not obvious, nor are they easy. In Foster City, police have retreated to the hard line. Last year they tried all sorts of different ways to deal with the problem—short of arrest. This year it’s handcuffs.

Ironically, if the Mousepacks are the tip of a trend, it may be the current pre-teen generation which is forced to come up with the answers when it grows to maturity.

—End of Newspaper Article

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO…

Jane Bernstein (talent scout who discovered Matt Dillon):

Andrew Davis (cinematographer):

Above the Law, Under Siege, The Fugitive

Matt Dillon (Richie):

My Bodyguard, Tex, The Outsiders, The Flamingo Kid, Drugstore Cowboy, To Die For, City of Ghosts

Tom Fergus (Claude):

Ellen Geer (Sandra, Carl’s mother):

Falcon Crest, Patriot Games, Desperate Housewives

Charles Haas (co-screenwriter):

Tex, Gremlins 2

Andy Holtzman (former film curator):

Tim Hunter (co-screenwriter):

Tex, River’s Edge, Twin Peaks, Mad Men

Jonathan Kaplan (director):

Project X, The Accused, Unlawful Entry, E.R

Michael Kramer (Carl):

Pamela Ludwig (Cory):

Frank Mugavero (party host):

Harry Northup (Sergeant Doberman):

Taxi Driver, The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, The Manchurian Candidate

Andy Romano (Fred, Carl’s father):

Hill Street Blues, Pump Up the Volume, Bugsy, The Fugitive

Vincent Spano (Mark):

City of Hope, Good Morning, Babylon, Law & Order