The Hang Up

The Hang Up (1969)

** (out of 4)

Sgt. Walsh (Tony Vorno) is a tough-as-nails detective who will do whatever it takes to keep scum off the streets. His attitude changes when he meets a young prostitute named Angel (Sharon Matt) and soon he finds himself falling for her as well as getting pulled into the underworld.

THE HANG UP isn't an awful movie but at the same time it needed a bit more sleaze to be more memorable. As it stands, this John Hayes film has a couple decent performances, some at times bizarre nudity and a decent story but there's just not enough bite here to make it more memorable and more entertaining.

As I said, the biggest problem with this movie is that the Hayes screenplay simply doesn't go far enough in the sleaze factor to make it more entertaining. If you've seen the director's THE CUT-THROATS from the same year then you'll know that he was certainly capable of doing more in the sexploitation genre but sadly none of that is to be found here. While you're at least mildly entertaining in what's going on, at the same time you can't help but feel you're watching something a bit too tame.

I will say that I enjoyed the performances of both Vorno and Matt. I thought of two of them at least had some nice chemistry and I thought both of them fit their roles quite nicely. As I said, there is some nudity throughout and a couple action scenes but just not enough to keep you more glued to what's going on.

Tony Vorno gruffly plays Sgt. Robert Walsh, a bigoted, surly vice detective who professes to despise "freaks" of all kinds, especially as he's obliged to dress in drag in the opening sequence to snare some white collar deviates. His attitude seems to change when he is touched by a young prostitute, "Angel" (Sharon Matt) working for a smiling, crazed pimp named Pyrano (Peter Balakoff). Walsh and Angel enter into an affair that leads to the grumpy middle aged fart being stuck in a compromising position.

"The Hang Up" is good enough entertainment for lovers of adult-oriented fare. Written and directed by John Hayes ("Dream No Evil", "Grave of the Vampire"), it does offer a stinging commentary on hypocrisy in the law enforcement community. It's reasonably sleazy - if maybe not sleazy enough for some tastes - and there's a steady supply of very lovely young ladies on hand who show quite a bit of flesh without going full frontal. The decadence on display is still pretty amusing. The lounge style music score by Mario Toscano is enjoyable, as is the crisp cinematography by veteran B movie D.P. Paul Hipp and camera-work by Henning Schellerup. And while the movie is certainly sexy, it's never very violent. It runs a fairly trim 76 minutes, with a very sobering wrap-up.

The performances are all generally good. Vorno is convincing in the lead, and the gorgeous Matt is appealing as his love interest. Appearing uncredited are Bambi Allen as a performer named Suzette, and Erik Stern ("The Love Butcher") as Walsh's by-the-book, quick tempered partner.

Overall, an agreeable mix of exploitation, crime, and melodrama.

Seven out of 10.