Enemy Territory

Just bought this on video to see Jan Michael Vincent's part. What a fun movie this was! Urban decay as literal nightmare - huge ghetto apartment, graffiti everywhere, people out to kill you, gangs running rampant - this movie has it all! It captures 'scary' New York very well. I guess you might call it soft-core Blax-sploitation. The music is 80's, but the sheer adrenaline this movie creates still registers today. Jan Michael Vincent has one of the best cameos you will ever see in a movie! He plays 'Parker', a whacked out, bubba-Vietnam vet in a wheelchair (still handsome, but crazed!) who tries to help a remarkably decent-acting Ray Parker Jr. (Yes, the very same Ghostbusters singer in his first acting role) and his white companion. JMV gives an electrifying performance! One wishes he could have had more screen time - but it's well worth seeing his brilliant 10 minutes! Tony Todd (yes, the "Candyman" himself!) is also great as the "Vampire" gang leader in this.

This flick is a good representative of the 80's underrated B-movies, that gets you not by the quality, but specially by the lack of it. The best thing is when a movie does not take itself seriously, the essence of a nice low-budget production. The acting is poor and over the top, the surroundings are clearly used from another pictures done before, very goofy lines and involuntary humor. And you gotta love it! All these are present here, helped by the reverse Midas touch of the prolific producer Charles Band, notorious for his Roger Corman wannabe personality, that guarantees the fun for a penny. In the story, a phone company worker (Ray Parker Jr., whose sole glory was the making of the hit song "Ghostbusters", in his acting debut) is caught up in the middle of a crisis with a violent street gang called the Vampires, that control a project building where a rundown insurance salesman played by Gary Frank stepped on the wrong toe by touching a gang member after dark; the Vampires leader, The Count (Tony Todd), wants blood to make amends and the duo must fight for their lives until the sun comes up, with the helping hand of some courageous inhabitants. This suspense is OK, the situations are OK, I am OK and you are OK. Be OK by watching this OK movie. You'll feel just OK after.

I saw this movie a looooooooooooong time ago. At that time I didn't like it. But I decided to try it again to see whether I like it better now. I think that when you re-watch a movie after a few years the possibility is there that you will like it even more or hate it even more. The more movies you watch the more you broaden your horizon and the more your opinion on movies changes. Well, after re-watching this movie my conclusion was "Oh my god, this is great stuff". And it is. It's very 80ies and has a lot of suspense. You are into it very fast and then it's a long ride till the end. Just awesome.

I was put on to this film by a friend of mine. It's a great flick with a good pace and interesting characters. Admitted some of the acting is a little shameful, but Jan Michael Vincent supplies us with a solid performance as the gruff ass kicking paraplegic with Knives in his wheel chair (how cool is that?). If you enjoyed the Warriors than this is definitely worth a watch.

But why is this not on DVD? Have searched high and low and can't find it anywhere.

Had to watch in poor VHS quality with German subs which was a little annoying, but did not detract from my enjoyment of the film.

New York has never looked so good! This is a gritty thriller set in a tower block, where an unfortunate insurance salesman finds himself trapped on the top floor in a building controlled by the local gang called the Vampires. The Vampires are out for blood after the salesman unwittingly insults one of the gangs younger members on his way to sign a deal which should earn him a nice commission. Luckily he gets some help along the way by none other than Ray Parker Junior, and together with some friendlier residents of the block, they try to escape certain death. Quite a tense movie with a cool soundtrack and a nice score. But the best thing is Tony Todd (pre - Candyman) as the demented evil leader of the Vampires and his sidekick - Psycho! I own a copy of this on VHS Pal and think it,s well worth watching if this sort of thing is your cup of tea.