The New Kids

The New Kids (also called "Striking Back") is a 1985 American thriller film, directed by Sean S. Cunningham, starring Shannon Presby & Lori Loughlin in the lead roles.

It was released on January 18, 1985 by Columbia Pictures.

Plot
Teenage siblings Loren (Shannon Presby) and Abby McWilliams (Lori Loughlin) move to the small town of Glenby, Florida with their aunt Fay and uncle Charlie after the death of their parents in an accident. Uncle Charlie and Aunt Fay own a gas station and a small amusement park (which are on their property).

Loren and Abby don't have much trouble making friends at the local high school; Loren starts dating Karen (Paige Lyn Price), who is the daughter of the local sheriff (Court Miller) while Abby starts dating a guy named Mark (Eric Stoltz).

One day in the school cafeteria, Loren begins feeling uncomfortable when he sees a blond-haired guy harassing Abby. Mark tells the McWilliams siblings that the guy's name is Eddie Dutra (James Spader), a drug-addicted teen whose friends are Gideon (John Philbin), Moonie (David H. MacDonald), Gordo (Theron Montgomery), and Joe Bob (Vince Grant).

When Dutra starts putting unwanted advances on Abby, Loren tries to keep him away from her which angers Dutra & he and his gang begin retaliating against him which start becoming more vicious.

Dutra forces a showdown at the amusement park by kidnapping Abby. During the showdown, Charlie is severely injured by Dutra. Gordo is killed by a vicious dog, but Dutra kills it. Loren causes Moonie to be thrown to his death from the Ferris wheel, causes Joe Bob to be electrocuted above the bumper car ride and uses the roller coaster to decapitate Gideon.

Then, Dutra fires a shot with a gun at Abby who escapes to the parking lot of the gas station where Dutra hits her with the gun & he grabs a nozzle from one of the gas pumps & proceeds to light it up and use it as a flame thrower, but Loren grabs him & the two of them fight over the nozzle. In the end, Loren overpowers Dutra and forces the nozzle to his face which sets Dutra on fire, killing him.

The end of the movie shows the amusement park has re-opened after it has been repaired and Charlie survives from his injuries. As Abby, Loren and Karen are shown driving away, Joe Bob's little brother looks on at them in a threatening state.

Cast

 * Shannon Presby as Loren McWilliams
 * Lori Loughlin as Abby McWilliams
 * James Spader as Eddie Dutra
 * John Philbin as Gideon
 * David H. MacDonald as Moonie
 * Vince Grant as JoeBob
 * Theron Montgomery as Gordo
 * Eddie Jones as Charlie McWilliams
 * Lucy Martin as Fay McWilliams
 * Eric Stoltz as Mark
 * Paige Lyn Price as Karen
 * Court Miller as Sheriff
 * Tom Atkins as Mac McWilliams
 * Jean De Baer as Mary Beth McWilliams
 * Robertson Carricart as Deputy

Production
The movie was filmed in Homestead, Florida.

Box Office
"The New Kids" opened at #24 at the box office, grossing only $199,108 with an average of $1,952.

Critical Reception
Allmovie's review of the movie was generally unfavorable, concluding: "The New Kids is nevertheless hard to take seriously as anything except an adolescent power fantasy with a particularly high body count."

TV Guide's review of the movie called it "trash" and also said, "It's not all that scary, either, making this psuedo-horror film largely a waste of time for even hard-core fans of the genre."