Teenage Gang Debs is exactly the kind of cinematic trash‑treasure that Gen‑X latchkey kids like us used to stumble across on late‑night UHF channels when the antenna was bent and the world felt just a little bit dangerous. The American Genre Film Archive’s Blu‑ray rescue mission only confirms what the depraved already knew: this 1966 juvenile‑delinquent fever dream is a gutter‑glam time capsule of bad attitudes, worse decisions, and the kind of “teen” casting where everyone looks 27 and already tired of their parole officer. Directed by Sande N. Johnsen and written by Hy Cahl—names that feel like they should be printed on the side of a cigarette machine—this thing struts in like it owns the block, even though it’s clearly been banned from most blocks for loitering.
The plot, such as it is, follows Terry (Diane Conti), a new girl in town who joins The Rebels, a Brooklyn girl gang with more eyeliner than strategy. Terry immediately starts climbing the social ladder the old‑fashioned way: seducing the male gang leader, manipulating the girls, and generally acting like she’s auditioning for a proto‑Mean Girls remake directed by Russ Meyer. The IMDb summary politely calls it a story of a girl who “quickly rises to the top of the gang,” which is adorable, because what actually happens is a slow‑motion implosion of hormones, jealousy, and turf‑war melodrama that feels like West Side Story if everyone had been held back a grade.
The cast is a glorious roll call of mid‑60s exploitation energy: Diane Conti, Linda Gale, Eileen Dietz, Sandra Kane, Robin Nolan, and Linda Cambi. They deliver performances that oscillate between “earnest high‑school drama club” and “I will absolutely stab you behind the A&P.” Dietz, who later terrified the world in The Exorcist, already had the eyes of someone who’d seen things. Conti, meanwhile, plays Terry like she’s one bad afternoon away from starting a cult. It’s all so wonderfully unpolished you can practically smell the hairspray and street‑level ambition.
What really sells the movie is its chaotic sincerity. There’s no winking, no irony, no self‑aware camp. These kids believe in their gang, their turf, their melodrama. The fights are scrappy, the romances are messy, and the power plays are so earnest they loop back around to being hilarious. It’s a world where a cardigan can be a symbol of dominance and a side‑eye can start a war. The film barrels forward with the confidence of someone who has never once considered the concept of consequences.
By the time the final act rolls in—complete with betrayal, violence, and the kind of moral lesson that feels like it was stapled on by a nervous producer—you’re either fully on board or you’ve fled the room. But if you’re the kind of viewer who delights in exploitation grit, girl‑gang chaos, and the cinematic equivalent of a cigarette flicked into a puddle of gasoline, Teenage Gang Debs is your new best friend. And thanks to AGFA’s Blu‑ray, it’s never looked better, sounded meaner, or felt more like a lost relic from the era when movies didn’t care if you liked them—they just wanted to corrupt you.
AGFA and Something Weird drag this gutter‑noir relic out of the shadows and polish it like a sacred artifact of bad behavior. The restoration pops with every scuffed sidewalk and side‑eye glare, resurrecting a world where teen rebellion meant actual danger, not a TikTok challenge. Diane Conti leads a cast of street‑tough dames and doomed boys who look like they’ve already lived three lifetimes and made poor choices in all of them.
Loaded with a bonus feature film, delirious educational shorts, and a commentary track that dives deep into the sleaze, this Blu‑ray is a shrine to the era when exploitation cinema didn’t wink—it bared its teeth. If you crave delinquent drama, girl‑gang power plays, and the pure, uncut thrill of vintage cinematic misbehavior, this release hits like a brick through a rival gang’s window.
Slipcover in Original Pressing / Includes bonus movie: The Rebel Set
This special limited edition spot gloss slipcover is limited to 2,000 units and is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them.
Home Video Distributor: AGFA
Available on Blu-ray - August 26, 2025
Screen Formats: 1.33:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Video: 1080p
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
Terry doesn’t just join a gang—she detonates one. When this hard‑eyed new girl hits the Brooklyn streets, The Rebels think they’re getting fresh meat. Instead, they get a chain‑smoking apex predator in a cardigan, clawing her way to the top with seduction, sabotage, and the kind of dead‑eyed ambition that would make a soap‑opera villain whisper slow down. Shot guerrilla‑style in real New York grime, this 1966 juvenile‑delinquent blast delivers switchblades, turf wars, and enough hormonal chaos to power a small city.
Video
AGFA’s Blu‑ray re-release is the real revelation here. The restoration gives the film a crisp, grimy beauty—like someone lovingly polished a switchblade. The grain pops, the shadows brood, and the Brooklyn locations feel like they were shot guerrilla‑style because they absolutely were. AGFA leans into the film’s sleazy charm, packaging it with the kind of archival love that makes you feel seen as a viewer who appreciates both cinema history and the occasional trash‑fire masterpiece. It’s the kind of release that whispers, “Yes, you’re the target audience, and no, we’re not judging you.”
Audio
The AGFA Teenage Gang Debs Blu‑ray comes in swinging with a DTS‑HD MA 2.0 mono track that’s been cleaned up just enough to keep the grime authentic without sanding off the film’s glorious rough edges, giving you dialogue that sits dead‑center like a threat, music cues that punch through with garage‑band swagger, and ambient street noise that reminds you this thing was shot fast, cheap, and probably without permits; it’s stable, consistent, and free of the tape‑damage chaos you’d expect from a 1966 exploitation relic, but still warm, hissy, and analog enough to feel like you’re eavesdropping on a turf war through a cracked transistor radio, making it the perfect audio presentation for anyone who prefers their juvenile‑delinquent cinema with a little dirt under its nails and zero modern sweetening.
Supplements:
While short on extras, the commentary is just a plethora of film history talking about everything from Whale to the actors to Pre-Code history and much more. It more than compliments the film well.
Commentary:
- None
Special Features:
The AGFA Teenage Gang Debs Blu‑ray comes loaded with the kind of special features that feel like a care package for the beautifully depraved—an archival mixtape of delinquent cinema, educational‑film oddities, and commentary tracks that dig into the film’s sleaze, history, and accidental brilliance. It’s the sort of bonus‑feature lineup that reminds you why boutique labels matter: they don’t just restore a movie, they resurrect the entire ecosystem around it, giving you context, chaos, and a few surprises that feel like they were smuggled out of a forgotten 16mm film closet.
- Bonus feature film: The Rebel Set
- Audio commentary with Lisa Petrucci (Something Weird), Alicia Coombs (AGFA), and Janet Harvey
- Short film: Summer Decision (1965) – 28:51
- Short film: Teenage Diary (1960) – 29:21
- Teenage Turmoil
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Composite Blu-ray Grade
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MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 73 mins
Director: Sande N. Johnsen
Writer: Hy Cahl; William Shakespeare
Cast: Diane Conti; Joey Naudic; John Batis
Genre: Crime
Tagline: The Go-Go Girls Who Go Too Far!
Memorable Movie Quote: "She's got a but--about as much chance of getting in as I do of flying to the moon."
Theatrical Distributor: CIP
Official Site: https://vinegarsyndrome.com/products/teenage-gang-debs?_pos=1&_sid=16959342d&_ss=r
Release Date: November 4, 1966
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: August 26, 2025
Synopsis: A girl from Manhattan moves into a neighborhood that is the turf of the Rebels, a female teenage gang. She quickly rises to the top of the gang and sets her sights on the leader of the neighborhood tough guys.
