3.15 is a mid-80s example of the high school gang/ youth-go-wild genre, which were prevalent in the decade. It’s a pacey, if thinly plotted affair- featuring from the off some fairly brutal violence, flits of nudity, and packed/ shifting soundtrack that moves from street smart 80’s groove, cheesy AOR, and later moodier synth scaping. Here from Ronin Flix is region A locked Blu Ray release of the film- the disc takes in a new HD master of the picture, and an interview with one of the films actors.

Appearing in the year 1986 3.15 aka 3:15 the Moment of Truth, Showdown at Lincoln High. It was the only feature-length directorial credit from Larry Gross, who is most known as action/thriller scriptwriter penning the likes of 48 hours, Another 48 hours, and late 90’s Clint Eastwood film True Crime. As a debut feature film 3.15 isn’t bad- with enough pace/ shift in its unfolding, and a feeling that anything can and will happen…though there are issues, but more on those later.

It kicks straight into the action as we see short, strutting, and rather unbalanced gang leader Cinco (Danny De La Paz) moving through the neon tipped streets pulling together the members of his Cobra gang. Someone rushes by, telling him a rival gang are tagging up and attacking folk- so he rushes to the scene, finding denim jacketed and pick-up truck riding gang members ripping cloths and exposing female breasts and causing general chaos. Cinco and his Cobra brothers brutally beat the group, but Cinco won’t let up on one guy, even after fellow gang member Jeff (Alan Baldwin) tells him to stop- he still carries on, throwing a knife into the crawling away guy- with this Jeff strips off his Cobra logo embossed jacket, walking away with Cinco left yelling behind him. We then flash forward a year and find that the Cobras are now ruling the local high school- they are beaten up and stealing money off other students regularly and supplying drugs in a very open manner. 
As the film/ day moves on we move back and forth between the office of principal Horner (Rene Auberjonois) who is at his wit's end, and the Cobras. In the office with Horner is cop Moran (Ed Lauter)- who is in charge of a planned raid on the school, so just as the Cobras are dropping drugs into school lockers- the cops' flood in. Cinco runs into the boy's dressing room, asking his towel wrapped former gangmate Jeff to hide the drugs for him- he refuses, and Cinco is dragged away threatening he’ll get his revenge. And from here the film is one big build-up to Cinco, coming out of the slammer to face Jeff- and he does this at 3.15 one afternoon, hence the film's title.

Also brought into the mix we have Jeff’s fairly strait-laced girlfriend Sherry (Deborah Foreman), and of course, a good selection of gang members, including briefly seen martial art fighting Asian gang, a group metal chicks’ gang, and a mean-looking 'n' ripped cam topped sub black panther collective. The film nicely builds and amps up the tension, with along the way darts of 80’s cheese- be it visually or sonically, and for the most part, 3.15 is one of the more rough, ready and stripped back films of the 1980’s high school gang genre.
 
Though as mentioned early we do have a few issues- the first big one is the teens look way older than they should be with some of them looking around mid-’20s to early 30s. Next, we get really zero character/ development, insight into the teens' home lives- aside from brief fleeting shots of Sherry’s house, and her big-haired parents. Lastly, some of the edits feel a little too brisk, as at points scenes are cut off before they should have been. If you can forgive the above issues and enjoy tight ‘n’ tense gang action thrillers, I think you’ll enjoy what is on offer here.
 
Moving onto this new Blu Ray- which as mentioned in my introduction is region A locked. It features a new HD master, and this is nicely bold and at times buoyant- really bringing to life the graffiti scrawled corridors of the school, and the battered neon touched streets. The only extra here is an eleven-minute interview with Danny De La Paz, who plays fiery gang leader Cinco- and this is worth a play. He moves from talking about how he got the role, and where his career was at this point. Going on to discuss his performance, which he feels is now rather intense. He talks about the film's director and cast, going to see the premiere, and some of his personal highlights from his acting career as a whole.
 
In finishing if you’re a fan of the high school gang thriller/ action genre 3.15 is most certainly something you’ll want to check-out, as it’s one of the punchier/ edgy takes on the genre.