Nobody listened. Nobody cared. Until the night they went "Over the Edge"

Watch Out For Children

...A real story of teenage rebellion.


The protagonists of Over the Edge are the teen-aged offspring of the residents of a planned suburban community. This bland little town has been designed with conformity in mind, and with no thought of making the kids' lives worth living. Even worse, there is very little opportunity for any of the teens to grow "out" of the community and live elsewhere. Consequently, the kids rebel by drinking themselves sick, dealing in drugs, and indulging in deadly violence. Inasmuch as the local cops are predisposed to beat the teens into submission, the kids retaliate by directing their frustrations at the Law; the results are tragic, to be sure, but in no way predictable. Over the Edge struck as sensitive a nerve with young 1970s moviegoers as Rebel Without a Cause did with their 1950s forebears. Matt Dillon made his screen debut in Over the Edge, distinguishing himself in an ensemble cast that also includes Vincent Spano, Andy Romano, Ellen Geer, and Harry Northrup. The screenplay was written by Charles Haas and Tim Hunter; the soundtrack songs feature the Ramones.


Over the Edge is a coming-of-age drama film directed by Jonathan Kaplan released in May 1979. Due to the negative publicity surrounding a wave of recent youth gang films such as The Warriors and Boulevard Nights, Over the Edge had a limited theatrical release in 1979. It stars 14-year-old Matt Dillon in his feature film debut.[1]
Depicting suburban life in the late 1970s and including themes of teenage rebellion and drug and alcohol use by junior high school students, and a rock music soundtrack featuring such bands as Cheap Trick, the Cars, and the Ramones, Over the Edge has achieved cult film status, and was an inspiration for the music videos for the songs "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana [2] and "Evil Eye" by Fu Manchu.[3]
Over the Edge was inspired by actual events that took place in Foster City, California in the early 1970s. Those events were chronicled in a November 11, 1973 article titled "Mousepacks: Kids on a Crime Spree" from the San Francisco Examiner.[1]


New Grenada is a planned community set in the desert where there is nothing for the kids to do, save for a rec center - which closes at 6 PM. The parents, in their zeal to attract industry to their town, have all but neglected their children. As a result, the kids begin to create their own entertainment, which involves vandalism, theft, and general hooliganism. During an incident when one of the kids brandishes an unloaded gun at town cop Ed Doberman, he is shot and killed. When the parents gather the next night to discuss the killing and the level of lawlessness among the youth, they soon find out that their kids have had all they can take.

Release Date: May 23, 1979

Distrib: Warner Brothers