Oh Thrashin'... what else could I want from a 1980's teen skateboarding movie? You've got a cliched storyline, a strange club scene, lots of skateboarding, a young Josh Brolin, and stunt doubles wearing terrible wigs.
Cory (played by Brolin) moves to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of getting sponsored and getting his own signature board. He hangs out with friends, builds a ramp, and (since he's new in town) doesn't understand the politics of the local skatepark where he ignores his friends pleas, and skates into the off limits area which has been claimed by tough guy skate gang, The Daggers.
Hook, the leader of The Daggers, has a sister named Chrissy who is visiting from out of town. Chrissy is a clean cut girl, not like those nasty skanks that the Daggers hang out with. After being impressed with Cory earlier at the park, Chrissy runs into him that night at the punk club, and the two leave to hang out together.
What kind of a club is this anyway? There's a bouncer, but no cover charge. They don't check IDs, yet they appear to sell alcohol. There's a band playing, yet the crowd brought skateboards. Sometimes there is skating on the dance floor. This is one odd club.
But damn it, the over protective Hook doesn't want Chrissy dating some loser from the Valley, especially the guy who invaded their space. So during a local skating competition, Hook and the Daggers sabotage Cory's run. Surprisingly no one notices that the jacks they threw in the pool causing Cory to crash. Come on! They must have had to clean them out before the next skater.
You just know this isn't going to sit well with Cory and his friends. So plan for some future revenge, a skateboard jousting fight, and another competition. How much excitement can one person stand?
This movie is pretty silly, but fun. It's a totally cliched plot you can find in loads of 1980s teen movies, but with skateboarding, a performance by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (when they still had Hillel on guitar), and famous skateboarders doing stunts and playing some of the Daggers. I'm not sure of everyone who was in it, but it includes Chrisian Hosoi, Lance Mountain, Tony Hawk, Tony Alva, Per Welinder, Rodney Mullin, Mike McGill, and Steve Caballero. None of these guys are featured but they do stunts or play gang members.
Watch for the lack of continuity before the downhill. At the Dagger house, Hook puts on studded leather arm bands, but needs help lacing them up. When they arrive at the downhill, he's not wearing them anymore. But then he lines up to skate and they're back.
The weird thing about deciding to watch this movie is that at the exact same time and night that we were watching this, a couple of friends in New York were in the theater watching the same movie. What the hell? How can that even happen? And how did this get into a theater?
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| Josh Brolin as dreamy Cory, the new skater in town |
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| The horror of the horrible wigs |
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| The Ramp Locals aka the good guys |
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| Our star crossed teens |
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If you misread this as La Massacre instead of L.A. Massacre,
it takes on a much more sinister tone |
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| The Daggers aka the Villians |
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| Promo photo of the Ramp Locals |
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Promo photo with Chuck McCann as the skateboard
company owner showing Josh Brolin around the factory |
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Sherilyn Fenn, Robert Russler, and the rest
of the gang |
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| Yugoslavian poster |
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| US poster |
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| VHS |
Oh Thrashin'... what else could I want from a 1980's teen skateboarding movie? You've got a cliched storyline, a strange club scene, lots of skateboarding, a young Josh Brolin, and stunt doubles wearing terrible wigs.
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