The first movie New World made, I believe, after Roger Corman left. It's very good exploitation - a solid, easy to understand concept (high school student works the streets of Hollywood as a hooker), with a strong story engine (serial killer is knocking off hookers). Donna Wilkes plays a fifteen year old (!) who's been doing it since she was 12 (!!) but the impact of this is lessened as Wilkes looks so much older and never does nudity (there's more nudity from the girls in high school who all look as though they're in their twenties). Wilkes handles the lead quite well - she's very empathetic.
The unexpected strength of the film is its sense of family - Angel gets on with the other hookers (one of whom has a sweet prospective romance with a Charlie Chaplin impersonator), and has nice friendships with Susan Tyrell and cross dresser Dick Shawn, and cop Cliff Gorman isn't judgey about street walkers, and the most vile person in it apart from the serial killer are the male snots at high school. So when people die it means something. Elaine Giftos from Student Nurses pops up as the guidance counsellor and John Diehl is the killer.
Cliff Gorman actually doesn't so much - doesn't solve any crimes, get the killer , or even save Angel's life. That's all Dick Shawn, Rory Calhoun. But he's got gravitas.
The film surprised me. Not that sleazy and it had a lot of heart.
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