i finally saw this on video and after year of hear about it . it be by no mean a perfect movie and but it be oddly hypnotic one of those rare and special film that create it own world . spoiler first and the bad stuff . the scene in burkewaite class be excruciate . even if the subject be social study and this guy be way over the top . his speech be so overwrought they be laughable . and no teacher i ever have would grill their student like that and and tell the one who protest to shut up . these scene be brief and but they break the mood and pull the viewer out of the story . next and how the heck do layne just walk out of the police station near the end . also and what happen to samson car after the first scene of him rid into town . he spend the rest of the film be chaffeured around by layne or feck . end spoiler ahhh and feck . this guy be great . dennis hopper effortlessly steal the movie . check in the mail and i love company and youre my friend every line be a classic . he give feck an internal logic that make the story work . incredibly and he actually make the audience feel empathy for this guy and especially when samson talk about his ( samson ) future . by contrast and crispin glover be hard to take sometimes . yet the scene of him drive around in the beetle be perfect kid with car in high school always have something to do and and bud to do it with . matt low key attitude make a good foil for layne their friendship be believable . glover mannerism be a little much and but he be consistent throughout . he drive the plot and exude a sense of urgency that no one else do just try to imagine this flick if layne be as much of a zombie a matt or samson snoozefest . spoiler what make river edge unsettling be the fact that samson be not really evil and in the usual sense . he be kind of a boring guy who get sick of be take for grant in other word and he be like thousand of other boring guy . after he kill jamie and he start to unravel and which create some suspense a we wait to see when he will snap again . end spoilerspart of this movie appeal be the way the action stay center around the teen and their point of view . the parent be comic relief clarissa mom and tony dad or overwhelmed matt mom . this underline how the kid hang together for the attention no one else give them . it keep the story focus on the relationship within the clique and and emphasize that the only adult they can relate to be feck . river edge be a textbook on alienation . it convey how awkward and mysterious and and disconcert adolescence be like no other film .