Vice Squad

I enjoyed this film. Wings Hauser is so good and has such presence. When you watch him, as Ram Rod, you hate him. This film is taut and gritty. It captured street life, perfectly. I like the fact that the film doesn't linger on morality. It had quite a nihilistic feel to it. There's one particular scene, in which Season Hubley is at a bar talking 'shop' with her fellow hookers. It was a scene of pure honesty. Some women do what they've got to do to make a living and there's nothing wrong with it.

Wings Hauser plays a crazed pimp, Ram Rod, who loves to punish his hookers by torturing them to death. Gary Swanson, plays a determined vice cop out to stop this psycho. When Hubley's best friend is killed by Hauser, she is blackmailed, by Swanson, to go undercover to bring this psycho pimp down.

This film had such a relentless pace and it puts you on the edge of your seat. This is the type of film that graced the screens at 'The Deuce', during it's hey-day. It's a forgotten gem, an exploitation classic.

Let me start out by saying you just GOTTA love any movie sporting a theme song called "Neon Slime." One of the best B-Movies of the 80s. This is a great guilty pleasure type of movie, well acted, solidly directed, and very handsomely photographed for such trash, with occasional unintentionally funny dialogue. There are plenty of cliches in the "life is Hell on the streets of L.A." storyline, but director Gary Sherman keeps the pace fast, tough and violent and gets colorful performances from even the minor supporting characters. Wings Hauser makes the chief baddie, a sadistic, psychotic pimp by the name of Ramrod a real piece of work. He's right up there with other classic movie villains such as Scorpio in "Dirty Harry" and Bruce Dern's Longhair in "The Cowboys." He's truly a scumbag you'll LOVE to HATE!

Note of trivia: Incidentally, Gary Swanson (as the lead cop hot on Ramrod's trail) beat Clint Eastwood to the punch by nearly two years when he uttered the line "Go ahead...make my day" to the pimp on an initial capture in one scene.

Gary Sherman's "Vice Squad" is all show, but powerfully biting and sordid exploitation of the seedy strip of Hollywood and Sunset Boulevard when the sun finally goes down. For such luridly unpleasant context, the film manages to amuses with rousing suspense, sharply-witted (if foul) script and its authentically raw atmosphere. Even the performances figure prominently. Wing Hauser deservedly dominates the limelight as the frighteningly, aggressive pimp Ramrod. His turn is that of pure spontaneous and nightmarish intensity. Truly hard to forget. Gary Swanson's courageously humane performance as Detective Walsh, the leader of the 'Vice squad' is downright solid, and there's a confidently brassy and strong-willed go-it-alone portrayal by Season Hubley as the prostitute Princess that Ramrod is after for setting him up. The support cast racks up recognizable bit players (Pepa Serna, Beverly Todd, Maurice Emanuel, Nina Blackwood, Michael Ensign, Cheryl Smith, Fred Berry and the list goes on) of rich characterisations. Sherman's sensationally gripping direction doesn't let up or beat around the bush, as he cranks up the energy and brutality. Still there's a slickly professional manner about it, and cinematographer John Alcott shots it with great ticker, and stylish verve. The screeching rock title track "Neon Slime" sung by Hauser sets the tone, and the saucy score has a feverish pitch that enhances the downbeat atmosphere and daring intensity.

"Princess" (Season Hubley) is what is known as an "outlaw" hooker, meaning that she answers to no pimp. She's also the mother of an adorable little girl. She agrees to help intense vice detective Tom Walsh (Gary Swanson) trap a particularly evil pimp with the memorable moniker of "Ramrod" (Wings Hauser). Ramrod is a sadist who enjoys mutilating prostitutes, and has the tenacity of The Terminator. When he realizes that Princess set him up, he becomes determined to get revenge. After he makes an escape from the cops, he spends an action-packed night hunting her down.

"Vice Squad" is a solid credit for the under appreciated director Gary A. Sherman. Sherman had already made two excellent fright features, "Raw Meat" and "Dead & Buried". Loathe to be typecast as a genre director, he took on this project, and does a fine job with it. He gives it great pace and entirely convincing atmosphere. This movie really does immerse its viewers in a seedy L.A. underworld. The characters are often flamboyant but believable. Cinematographer John Alcott gives everything a stylish look. To be sure, the material is plenty sleazy, but that's entirely the point. The script was written by co-executive producer Sandy Howard, Robert Vincent O'Neill (director of the exploitation classic "Angel"), and "Kenneth Peters", a pseudonym for a real life L.A. detective who provided all important technical advice.

The violence is as harsh and off putting as it should be, and there's great curiosity value in discovering the various fetishes and perversions that johns are prone to enjoy.

Hubley is good in the lead role; Princess may take her lumps before the story ends, but she also gives Ramrod a hell of a good fight. Swanson is likewise effective as our hard assed hero. A steady parade of familiar actors play roles big and small: Pepe Serna, Beverly Todd, original MTV VJ Nina Blackwood, Lydia Lei, Kelly Piper, Fred Berry, Michael Ensign, Jonathan Haze, Robert Miano, Stack Pierce, and Cheryl Smith. But the person who leaves the biggest impression is the excellent Hauser, who gives us a creepily charismatic villain for the ages. Furthermore, Wings also entertains us by growling and snarling the ultra catchy rock theme song "Neon Slime".

This is a gem of a B movie: flashy, trashy, and most certainly *not* dull.

Eight out of 10.

I remember this movie very well as one of the most suspenseful movies of the 80's. Definitely Wing's best performance. Very menacing as the pimp "Ramrod". You really feel for his victims and want to see him get his.

Don't watch "Terror in the Isles" before you see this movie. The clips they show give the ending away.

Watch for a small part by Re-Run (What's Happening).

Where's the DVD?!?!

Nine out of ten stars.