“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