Don't listen to the negative reviews

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I forgot about this film until the other night, one of the premium cable channels dug this up. Then I remembered it. It was not an academy award winning drama by any stretch of the imagination and the best thing about this film is watching actors who went on to bigger and better things.That is the beauty of a film like this...you look at it from "back in the day" and say, "Hey isn't that so-and so ... who was in such and such?" There's a lot of that here.The story is simple, girl leaves home, turns street walker to survive on the mean, dirty, slimy streets. The small twist is that she runs away with her little brother. And you've got Antonio "huggy bear" Fargas playing...gasp...a pimp! Whata stretch! You'll get to see the street competition with pimps, drug use, cheesy lines, slapping around your ho's ...all sorts of things like that before Disney got a hold of street walkers to make them look super clean and cute.Yes, this movie consists of all the things that made movies like this a nice springboard and paycheck for up and coming actors to cut their teeth with.Low budget, low acting film.

I recently had the pleasure of viewing this work of art and I was utterly spellbound. Every second of this film felt like a miracle on the screen of my television. By the time the credits rolled, I was breathless. A prime example of perfect casting, the characters went from working the streets of The Big Apple to finding a place in my heart. The plot is everything you could dream of. A high school dropout (Melissa Leo) ventures to New York City with her younger brother and becomes a prostitute. 'Nuff said, great movie. It really is a shame that this film will never be seen on DVD. I would enjoy hearing commentary tracks from director Joan Freeman and co-star Dale Midkiff( best known for his role in Pet Semetary). I put this gem on my personal top ten list; above Titanic and Wizard of Oz. If you are fortunate enough to find this movie in the $1 bin of your local video store, don't hesitate to buy it. This is the Gone With The Wind of 80s sleaze films. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll watch it again...

Streetwalkin' is no classic, but it does have some points in its favor. The film's gritty ambiance is certainly of tremendous value, and the undervalued Melissa Leo (21 Grams) delivers a reasonably good performance as Cookie, a young woman forced onto the streets when she runs away from home and her family refuses to take her back. She's also responsible for her annoying younger brother (Randall Batinkoff)and is soon in the grips of psychotic pimp Duke (Dale Midkiff), who likes to beat his women when he isn't selling them. The film's screenplay, a collaboration between Robert Alden and director Joan Freeman, takes a determinedly feminist stance, with all the male characters basically being scum. Alden and Freeman's only other credit is the nearly unwatchable rock and rock fable Satisfaction, which makes Streetwalkin' look like Citizen Kane in comparison. All in all, an interesting exploitation film that belongs more to the sleazy 70s than to the corporate 80s.

This movie is a good depiction of life on the streets as prostitution is often glorified in other movies (eg Pretty Woman). This movie shows the grim reality and gruesomeness of a street walking prostitute. It shows the rough relationship between Pimp and Hooker. There are many scences in this movie that are funny too! One scene is where the pimp Duke comes back to the apartment looking for Cookie who got him abducted. Here in the apartment he rips the whole place apart and acts like a madman - quite funny! Then another scene shows Cookie and another prostitute forcing a client to act like a cow as they humiliate him. All in All, not a movie of the modern day, but still worth a watch. The action packed chase at the end is really adrenalizing as you feel as if you are in the movie too! Not to forget lots of violence in this film.