Vice Squad
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Movie Reviews of Vice Squad
Movie Review: "Just another happy go lucky day on the vice squad."
Summary: 4 Stars
According to the film Vice Squad (1982), the streets of Hollywood seem to be the place to be if you're a hustler, hooker, pimp, fiend, junkie, pusher, freak, weirdo, drag queen, deviant, reprobate, toe sucker, or just a degenerate miscreant in general...co-written and directed by Gary Sherman (Death Line, Dead & Buried, Poltergeist III), the film features Season Hubley (Escape from New York), Gary Swanson (The Bone Collector), and Wings Hauser (Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time, Tales from the Hood). Also appearing is former MTV video disc jockey Nina Blackwood, Beverly Todd (They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!), Lydia Lei (Doctor Detroit), Fred `Rerun' Berry ("What's Happening!!"), and Hispanic character actor Pepe Serna (Red Dawn, Silverado), whom your may remember as Al Pacino's henchman who lost a few inches off the top via a chainsaw in the 1983 Brian De Palma film Scarface.
Season Hubley plays a single mother with a young daughter, relatively new to town, who makes ends meet as a prostitute named `Princess'. As she's preparing to send her daughter away for the weekend so that she can hit the streets to ply her trade, she gets a frantic phone call from another streetwalker named `Ginger' (Blackwood), who's since gone into hiding after a vicious beating she received from her psychotic cowboy pimp named Ramrod (Hauser). Princess, who's what's known as an `outlaw' (she works for herself), tries to give Ginger some advice, but it's pretty much a waste of time as Ginger's kind of stupid, possibly due to the fact Ramrod cracked her in the skull a few too many times (Ramrod eventually catches up to Ginger and whips her Mommie Dearest style with a `pimp stick', which is basically a bent out of shape clothes hanger). A vice detective named Walsh (Swanson) makes the scene and vows to get Ramrod after seeing his overly sadistic handiwork. To this end he enlists the aid of Princess (actually, he blackmails her) to lure Ramrod into a trap, which is successful, but a wily Ramrod manages to escape custody and is back on the streets...with a vengeance. As you can imagine, old Ramrod is pretty P.O.ed about being set up (one might say he's seething cauldron of hostility, with serious anger management issues), so after equipping himself with a few, choice weapons (including a switchblade that looks more like a machete), he begins scouring the streets for Princess, who's unaware of his subsequent escape (and the beating she's surely in for once Captain Insano catches up to her). Walsh and his colleagues are now desperately searching for either Princess or Ramrod before the nastiness goes down, sticking mainly with the latter as his trail of carnage is much easier to follow (Princess continues to work, taking on various clients including a rich weirdo and a sleazy conventioneer, among others). The situation eventually comes to a head as the vindictive Ramrod catches up to Princess, and Walsh and his crew catch up to Ramrod, who isn't about to go down without a fight.
Vice Squad is a mean, grimy, sleazy, nasty and misogynistic film, seeped with a strong sense of realism driven by the composite characterizations and various location shots. On the surface the main characters seem pretty standard (a hooker with a heart of gold, a sadistic pimp, an overworked veteran vice cop who's seen too much), but the lead actors manage to infuse enough in terms of personal touches to keep things interesting. I originally saw this film a number of years ago on cable, and since then whenever I hear the name Wings Hauser, my mind immediately goes to the character he played here, mainly because his presence so fills the screen. The one scene that really sticks with me is during the sting operation. The cops bust in on his pad, attempt to subdue him, but he manages to grab Princess and use her as a shield with one arm, while beating her over the head with a barstool with the other arm. Hauser didn't appear to be holding anything back, and I will admit sometimes it did seem a little comical, but more often than not it provided for some pretty tense stuff. Swanson, on the other hand, felt reserved most of the time, which would seem in tune with the character as if I were a vice detective cruising Hollywood's mean streets, I probably wouldn't want to get to close to the ever present slime and moral decay for fear it might glom on...I thought Season Hubley also did very well as a woman who does what she feels she must for her and her daughter to survive, basically disconnecting herself from the harsh, nasty, seedy reality of her job if only to keep from taking her own life out of misery. Keep an eye out for the late, great Fred `Rerun' Berry, as a hustler named `Super Pimp', in a short, but memorable scene in which Ramrod is shaking him down for information, right before he uses his giant switchblade to do something very unpleasant...let's just say Rerun won't be dancing for awhile. As far as Ms. Blackwood, I didn't even recognize her in her role, given her character's used and seriously abused appearance. This is a very violent film, but the really brutal bits aren't shown as the scenes ends prior to the nastiness, usually picking up again during the aftermath, supplying the viewer enough visuals to draw their own mental images. I thought director Gary Swanson did a wonderful job as the pacing rarely slowed down. I especially liked the latter half of the film, as the story breaks off into three, separate threads, one following Princess, the second Ramrod, and the third Walsh and the police. We're constantly switching between these three elements until they finally converge near the end, providing for a highly climatic and satisfying finish.
Anchor Bay Entertainment provides a good-looking anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) print on this DVD release. There is a noticeable graininess in some scenes, but it didn't draw away from the images on the film. Other than that, the print is very clear and sharp. The Dolby Digital mono audio comes through well, although some of the dialog was kind of muffled at times, making me wish there were English subtitles provided, but there aren't. None of Anchor Bay Entertainment's past releases feature subtitles, which always seemed odd to me given their general commitment to quality overall. As far as extras included, there's an audio commentary track with director Gary Swanson, a theatrical trailer for the film, two radio spots, a poster and still gallery, and a five page insert booklet with liner notes provided by Richard Harland Smith, a staff writer for Video Watchdog Magazine.
Cookieman108
By the way, Hauser himself sang the theme song titled `Neon Slime', played at the beginning and end of the film. Also, I learned cops get pretty upset when you steal their paper clips.
Movie Review: A.K.A The Adventures of Ramrod The Pimp
Summary: 4 Stars
Vice Squad is a pretty cool movie. This was back in the day when crime dramas were nice and gritty without any real message to get across. Plotwise it's kept basic: Season Hubley's a hooker. An "outlaw" hooker coz she ain't got no pimp. She's also an equal opportunity hooker catering to foot fetishists, golden shower enthusiasts and amputees. She helps the cops nail a psychotic pimp named Ramrod(Great name. I have to laugh ever time this name is spoken in the film), he escapes custody, then the search is on for the vice suad to find either Hubley or Ramrod before Ramrod gets his revenge on the sneaky hooker. That's all it really is. Ramrod arms himself and searches the streets of Hollywood for Hubley. Hubley continues to do her job, meeting an interesting bunch of "johns" along the way. B movie regular Wings Hauser appears to be having the time of his life playing Ramrod, a character who should earn his place right next to Cape Fear's Max Cady or Blue Velvet's Frank Booth. Hubley is a decent actress in this, but I certainly don't see what all the guys in this film are drooling over(then again I must consider the guys doing the drooling). The film was directed by Gary Sherman who horror fans may remember as the director of Dead and Buried as well as Poltergeist 3. A very fun piece of junkfood for around midnight on Saturday. Leonard Maltin calls it "dull and sleazy", but he's only half right. Plus, Maltin's a schmuck. A priceless theme song sung by Hauser as well.Movie Review: Good action from the 80's!
Summary: 4 Stars
Vice Squad is a great action movie from the 80's if you like shows like "The Shield". The movie stars a young "Wings Hauser"(Ramrod) and "Season Hubley"(Princess). Ramrod is a pimp in the dark streets of L.A. who kills one of his ladies of the evening (Ginger) who is friends with Princess. After speaking with the police, Princess is distraught over the death of her friend Ginger and agrees to set up Ramrod. The two battle it out in the means streets!! Check out this action thriller!!Movie Review: A "vice" that isn't very nice!
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm something of an ametuer devotee of low budget, grindhouse films. From flicks of the 60's to the present, I've seen my fair share. However, "Vice Squad" is one that will probably always standout to me, both in good ways and bad.
The basic plot is that a prostitute named "Princess" (played by Season Hubley) helps a seasoned vice cop (played by Gary Swanson) to take down a violent and deranged pimp named "Ramrod" (played by Wings Hauser), after he kills another prostitute friend of her's (played by Nina Blackwood), but soon becomes the traget of the pimp's homicidal rage, after he escapse custody. Now the race is on between the vice squad and Ramrod, as to who will get to Princess first!
The film is certainly not for the faint of heart, or those who easily offend. No punches are pulled in the violence and degradation that is shown. It has a sort of gritty realism to it, but it doesn't quite make it over the hump to where you totally buy it. This is due to the streching of credibility in some key moments. I mean, would an entire vice squad really go all out to find a single prostitute, even if her life were in danger? No, probably not. One cop, maybe two, but not the whole squad. And the violent pimp, who seems to constantly flip from calm to pschopathic at the drop of hat, would he really be able to intimidate all the hard players of this underbelly of civilized society? Again, probably not. So, when such instances happen, it takes you out of the moment and costs the film a lot of the dramatic tension it's trying to build.
Director Gary Sherman certainly does a nice job of portraying the seedier side of the big city (in this case Hollywood), as the grunge and sleaze of society's "forgotten people" is well displayed almost constantly. Sadly, though, there is little shown to us beneath that grimy surface. You never get into the minds of any of the players. You get a brief scene with Princess sending her dughter away, to show she has a softer side, but you never get much context on it. Even worse is Gary Swanson's play at the vice cop who gives a damn. Besides a very wooden perfromance, you never really get any insight into his reasons for being a vice cop. As he is asked at the film's end, "Why do you do it, Walsh? The streets are never going to change." The question is never answered, either to the character in the film or the audience.
The one solid bit here, is Wings Hauser's turn as the ultra-violent Ramrod. He plays it up for all he's worth here. He is certainly one of the perennial heavies of the 80's, both in film and television, but he steps things up a notch here, going from mean to downright brutal. His use of a coathanger to whip up on prostitutes, shows a level of darkness that goes beyond ordinary misogyny. While most of the other actors just sort of plod along in their roles, Wings uses his to be a force of nature in the story, which is where most of the drama and action stems from.
The film is certainly not what one would call "classic," either in the award-winning sense or otherwise, but despite it's many flaws, it still manages to hold your attention and stick with you long after you've watched it. Whether that is due to it having that special 80's vibe, that made many less-than-stellar films give you that sensation, or merely the fact you can't look away from the sometimes over-the-top slimy nature of it all, I can't say for sure. All I can say is that, for good or ill, this is one film you won't soon forget.
Movie Review: On the street, the real trick is staying alive
Summary: 3 Stars
Oh, Vice Squad. A starring vehicle for our favorite girl in Chock Full O' Nuts, Season Hubley. What can i say? I haven't seen this in a while, so that was the biggest treat. Watching the trailer brought back memories of seeing the commercial over and over on tv. This film was the tail end of '70's exploitation holdouts, and delivers in so many ways as far as tactless brutality you just don't see anymore. Wings Hauser is of course fantastic as "Ramrod" (the killer pimp), and Gary Swanson has plenty of great lines as the cop possesed w/ bringing him down. The name says it all, so i won't waste time w/ a plot synopsis. What i will cover is what surely others will, and that's Anchor Bay's treatment. The movie looks and sounds fine, and thats probably all we really need. I'm content to have a dvd copy. (Do we need a HD transfer of this?) But Anchor Bay is spreading out and paying much more attention to it's other areas, and the days of 3 - disc Suspirias' may be gone. There is grainy film in several scenes, and the extras do not exist.(Trailer only) AB has gave us so much, so i can be forgiving, and Blue Underground has been spectacular, so....