Coventry Review of Vice Squad

Vice Squad (1982)

One Night on the Streets of Hollywood. No Glitter. No Glamour.

[7/10 · 15 September 2008]

There are a lot of people around this website – whose opinions I always respect and value – that recommended "Vice Squad" to me because they all think it's one of the grittiest, toughest and most relentless action/exploitation movies of the 80's. They are right, and I was pretty impressed with how violent and sleazy it was, but I guess I still expected it to be even MORE violent and sleazier. "Vice Squad" is particularly disturbing in its themes and the atmosphere (the story revolves on embittered prostitutes, perverted clients, abusive pimps, hardcore cops and depressing neighborhoods) but there's actually less-than-expected graphic aggression shown on screen. The scene where a sadistic pimp beats up one of his girls and abuses her with a folded coat hanger is appalling and grueling, but it largely remains suggestive. The entire story covers the events of one night on the streets of Hollywood and we're tagging along with members of the Vice Squad as if the film is some sort of reality-TV show in the style of "Cops". In fact, the movie even opens with a message stating that, even though a fictional film the events illustrated really do occur on the streets of LA almost every night. How's that for feel-good television, huh? Following the brutal murder of one of her closest friends, the experienced prostitute Princess collaborates with veteran cop Tom Walsh and his team to trap the feared and infamous pimp Ramrod. They succeed, but Ramrod escapes again during his transportation. Since Ramrod swore to avenge himself against Princess, the Vice Squad rapidly has to set up a virulent battue to catch him before he catches Princess. "Vice Squad" is a raw and depressing movie, which is exactly the kind of ambiance director Gary Sherman wanted to reflect for his epic about Hollywood after dark. The moody theme song, the sleazy bars, ramshackle motels and dark parking lots, the sober photography and even the suppressed black humor are all factors that contribute in making "Vice Squad" one of the most potent exploitation flicks of the early 80's. A movie such as this also owes a lot of its impact and reputation to the involved cast and crew members. The masterful cinematography was in the skillful hands of John Alcott (a frequent collaborator with Stanley Kubrick) and Gary Sherman proves once again – after the excellent "Raw Meat" and "Dead & Buried" that he's a multi-talented cult director. I'm seriously disappointed he wasn't offered the opportunity to shoot more and better movies after these three efforts. Sherman only returned for the lame "Poltergeist III" and a handful of TV-movies after this. The cast is sublime as well. Fans of the film endlessly praise Wings Hauser's performance as the sadistic pimp Ramrod, but he definitely deserves every positive word that is being said or written about him. Hauser is effectively menacing, crazy-eyed and maniacal. Like the DVD-cover aptly states it: it's a mind-blowing, take-no-prisoners performance.