This isn't as easy or as fun of a watch as the other decline movies, but it is just as important, if not more so. While the other films showed us a glimpses of the dark side of the punk world, this film throws us right in the fires with those who have little hope of escaping. It's a harrowing look at a lifestyle many of us might drive by on our way to work everyday and never even think about. I would recommend this film much like I'd recommend the others in this trilogy, though I'd recommend preparing yourself for this one.

This documentary on the bleak and rough lifestyle of homeless gutterpunk teenagers and young adults who eke out a thankless existence on the mean streets of Los Angeles paints a searing and startling portrait of a segment of society that's basically been ignored and abandoned by the mainstream culture. Director Penelope Spheeris does a remarkable job of getting these kids to open up and lays themselves bare emotionally for the camera: They are essentially toxic products of abusive and dysfunctional families who drink lots of beer and embrace the nihilistic ethos of punk as a means of surmounting the pain and anguish bubbling just underneath the surface of their devil-may-care posturing attitude. It's particularly depressing to witness how the gutterpunks have completely given up on hope for a better tomorrow: When asked where they will be in five to ten years, the bulk of them answer that they will most probably be dead -- and two of them it's revealed did indeed die prior to the release of this movie. Not surprisingly, the few punk bands featured herein are extremely bitter and more critical and resentful of both politicians and organized religion. (In a neat ironic touch, the various members of the group Naked Aggression turn out to be classical musicians!). An extremely sad and sobering film.

It's a small but significant crime that this didnt receive diddly squat in distribution at the time it was made; I shouldve been able to rent this from my local Blockbuster like 40 times in high school (or at least as with Decline 2 get it on eBay - the first one I got through bootleg from I can't remember where). I just dont see why an indie distributor wouldn't take this as seriously as any other documentary about marginalized people (yes, including the final title card that all profits will go to the homeless and childhood abuse victims).

This could be criticized as not as organized as the first Decline, like there are a few points where it comes close to a home movie (albeit, what a home, or lack thereof),and it may be repetitive in its points and I may have liked to have seen a few more people from the "old days" (Flea and the former lead singer of Black Flag make appearances). But I dont care. It's a Decline doc!

It's an essential document of young people, often genuinely abused and neglected since, well, they're not living on the streets just for kicks, and some talk about being force fed alcohol as babies and being beaten and neglected - and a sadness covers a lot of this. I don't think Spheeris intended that necessarily, but she also doesn't try for anything for effect inasmuch that her approach to camera and cutting or how she asks questions sensationalizes these kids. It creates empathy because, hey, this could have been me or you or anyone else. The humanity is unvarnished, exciting, and distressing. A particularly eerie highlight, so to speak, are parts of an interview she has with a junkie who is... What that looks like.

"Where are you going to be five years from now?" "Drunk!"

PS: look for a Dudes movie poster on one of the walls at the party scene.