Vigilante Force - Das Gesetz sind wir

I was in elementary school when I last read it, but "Vigilante Force" actually reminded me of the classic biblical story of Cain and Abel; the harsh and bloody battle between the strong and treacherous brother versus the physically weaker but forthright brother. George Armitage, the hugely underrated cult director of "Gross Pointe Blank" and "Miami Blues", transferred this basic given from the Biblical era to the trashy 70's and a small Californian town setting. When the previously dormant oil deposits nearby are re-opened again, the charming little town of Elk Hills all of a sudden becomes a lawless boom town. The local authorities instruct the town's mechanic Ben Arnold to call in his elderly brother Aaron for help. Aaron is a Vietnam veteran as well as a local legend, so they draft him and a handful of his Tour of Duty buddies to come and restore the law and order in Elk Hills. Aaron and C° quickly rid the town of all the scum, but then subsequently take over all the illegal activities themselves. The alleged heroes start up a felonious gambling network in town and even force the local merchants to participate in mafia practices. It takes the town of Elk Hills, and particularly younger brother Ben, a very long time to realize their new deputies are bigger criminals than they dealt with before and even longer to stand up against them. "Vigilante Force" is an interesting albeit heavily flawed mixture between urban western, guerrilla action and family melodrama. The tone of the film is very uneven, as Armitage interchanges wild & virulent bar fights (the absence of a Buddy Holly record in the jukebox is enough to drive these hicks insane, apparently) with overlong and dull morality speeches. Luckily there are a couple of powerful and memorable moments, like the cowardly assassination of a pivot character and the extremely explosive climax, to help "Vigilante Force" qualify as precious drive-in exploitation heritage. And the catchy banjo soundtrack helps a great deal as well to achieve this, of course. The best performances are given by Kris Kristofferson as the corrupt and totally unreliable anti-hero Aaron and Bernadette Peeters as a cocky but down-on-her-luck barroom singer. Personally I'm a tremendously big fan of Jan-Michael Vincent, especially of the cult hits he made around that era like "Shadow of the Hawk" and "White Line Fever", but here in this film he mainly just drives around town. Seriously, his red pick-up trucks deserves top-billing as well. For the seekers of hidden cult accomplishments

The title sums it up. Vigilante --- yes experienced hired man to clean up a town. Force --- they become a powerful opponent that succumbs to own personal gain. "Anybody having a good time. Gotta be breaking the law. Let's bust them". This is what they were cracking out during the period, as "Vigilante Force" is purely a rough and ready exploitation slice out of the 70s drive-in market.

A small rural Californian town is skyrocketed by crime and violence due the boom of their nearby oil reserve. Ben Arnold turns to his war-hero brother Aaron (who doesn't have a great past with the town's folk) to lead a vigilante force to rid this problem by restoring law and order. At first this is what he does, but soon his back to his old ways as he abuses his power and becomes what he was their to rid. Ben shakes it off at first thinking that the town's folk aren't giving Aaron a fair go, but eventually they come to blows when Ben finally realises what Aaron is really up to.

Typical fodder, but accommodatingly well done and shining through its material is a traditional old-west build-up with an operatic closing between the brothers. Lined up is a bang-up cast of Kris Kristofferson, Jan-Michael Vincent, Bernadette Peters, Victoria Principal, Brad Dexter and David Doyle. Kristofferson ideally fits in the role as Aaron, rugged but with a dark underlining and Vincent is sympathetic as the well-meaning, clean-cut Ben. A doll face Peter is charmingly angelic as Aaron's squeeze and Principal is spirited as Ben's flame. Andrew Stevens shows up, as well as Charles Cyphers and Dick Millar appears in a throwaway cameo.

Director / writer George Armitage's sufficiently tight and hardy handling keeps it moving at a fast clip, where the sharply bright narrative (it's all politics -- involving greed) is always busy (maybe a little too so at times with its tit for tat and scheming with a touch of corruption) and the intense action is nothing but brutal and chaotic. It really does get outrageous towards the dying stages. It's war! Bullets, explosions and leaping stunts galore… where it does go out on a bang. Just can't get enough fire power. The lean photography likes to invoke that guerrilla style when it wants to get up and personal, but also it establishes the sunbaked backdrop accordingly too.

Just a few months before "A Star Is Born" was released and made him a box-office name, Kris Kristofferson took on this ungainly role, that of a Vietnam vet who appoints himself judge and executioner in a backwater town run amok. He eliminates anyone (including women) who question his authority, making resident and younger brother Jan-Michael Vincent really sorry he ever asked for his help. Thoughtless and mean-spirited action-thriller from writer-director George Armitage has good location shooting in Simi Valley, CA but an utterly unsympathetic script filled with redneck clichés and ugly violence. Armitage has managed to gather together a most curious supporting cast for the film, including Victoria Principal, Bernadette Peters, Loni Anderson in a bit part, Andrew Stevens, David Doyle, Brad Dexter and Paul Gleason. Unfortunately, the center of the whole thing is Kristofferson, who is despicable throughout. Even viewed as a tacky co-feature or drive-in entry, "Vigilante Force" is a nasty piece of work, and one with a ridiculous climax. * from ****

"Vigilante Force" could have been a good movie. Unfortunately, it's not. What a shame. This movie has a good premise, nice locations and a top-notch cast but its script is a letdown. I think they should have given up on the PG rating and went all out and made a R action movie. If they cranked up the violence, language and maybe had thrown in a little nudity, "Vigilante Force" could have been a movie worth seeing a second time. As it is, it's not. Honorable mention: a dreamy Bernadette Peters, a very dreamy Loni Anderson and a wildly dreamy Victoria Principal.

There is a ton that went wrong with this movie. Haha but the cast kept it alive. Dumb ending as well. About as shallow and thoughtless of a script as you can come by. Haha however again the actors kept it alive.