Vice Squad

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Audience Member The real story of things that happen on the streets of Hollywood A Los Angeles businesswoman, known only by her street name of Princess, turns to prostitution to support herself and her young daughter Then she's forced by Detective Tom Walsh and his vice squad to help them arrest a brutal pimp named Ramrod for the murder of a prostitute named Ginger But when Ramrod learns that he was set up, he escapes from police custody and begins a long night of tracking down Princess while Walsh and his vice squad are always one step behind him Truth be told I'm not familiar with any of these actors But the movie takes place on one night with Princess unknowingly put in harms way and with Walsh attempting to stop Ramrod as fast as possible The real trick perhaps other than prostitution is staying alive There are decent thrills in this cause you're rooting for Walsh to bring down this pimp Can the streets ever be changed? Probably depends on who's looking out for who A smaller flick but with a worthy hero and a worthy villain caught in a world where the girls are either profits against their will or end up collateral damage that's all too real Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/24 Full Review Audience Member The only reason I cant give this movie the full 5 stars is because of the blatant, obvious insertion of the stunt woman wearing the horrible wig while getting smacked over the head with the chair near the end of the film. Horrible edit! Other than that - one of the greatest and grittiest movies of the 80s! Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review justin t This is true grit originating from the eighties. It is almost unbelievable that this is based on real life as there is so much sleaze. Everyone in this film is either a prostitute, a pervert or a cop. The story is good though and this lifts the production. It is hampered by rather bad technical aspects such as jump cutting, continuity and a bloke with a lens standing clearly in shot in a supposedly empty room. Not scary but the action is oddly thrilling. It is violent although not extreme or gory. Alright for a watch as long as you can get past the huge stack of eighties inner-city clichés. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review jon c The real story of things that happen on the streets of Hollywood A Los Angeles businesswoman, known only by her street name of Princess, turns to prostitution to support herself and her young daughter Then she's forced by Detective Tom Walsh and his vice squad to help them arrest a brutal pimp named Ramrod for the murder of a prostitute named Ginger But when Ramrod learns that he was set up, he escapes from police custody and begins a long night of tracking down Princess while Walsh and his vice squad are always one step behind him Truth be told I'm not familiar with any of these actors But the movie takes place on one night with Princess unknowingly put in harms way and with Walsh attempting to stop Ramrod as fast as possible The real trick perhaps other than prostitution is staying alive There are decent thrills in this cause you're rooting for Walsh to bring down this pimp Can the streets ever be changed? Probably depends on who's looking out for who A smaller flick but with a worthy hero and a worthy villain caught in a world where the girls are either profits against their will or end up collateral damage that's all too real Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Pretty awesome, sleazy little B-movie, about a douchebag pimp who tries to carve up a prostitute that turned him in. It's a surprisingly effective cat and mouse game, even if it's a bit implausible. Swanson is really interesting as the cop who's trying to catch the scumbag. It's too bad he didn't have a bigger career, he makes a really engaging leading man. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/09/20 Full Review Audience Member Vice Squad is about a violent pimp who brutalizes his prostitutes, which seems illogical since they are his source of income, but it’s a movie! Meanwhile a determined police detective seeks to track him down before he hurts or potentially kills another woman. Season Hubley, an actress I’ve never heard of, plays the prostitute that has been targeted because she is willing to testify against the rogue pimp. Her performance is about average, and any time she’s supposedly dealing with a “John” it felt cold and sterile, as if she was terrible at her job. I struggled to establish the history of this character anyways, because at first it seemed she was nothing more than a soccer mom, then we establish that she has a past on the street, and after one phone call of desperation from a friend she goes back to the street. I needed to understand her thought process a little more, and if this was something she never stopped, or was reluctantly returning to out of necessity. The reason for the return was also somewhat lost on me. But she was fine as the damsel-in-distress that she is forced to play most of the run-time. In truth, Vice Squad is really just the tale of two performances. On the one hand, we have Gary Swanson as the police detective from the vice squad. He is flat and bland from the first scene on. I found his performance so wooden that it made the investigation almost seem boring. In fact, I kept getting him confused with the extras in the scenes because he did not stand out from the pack at all. On the other hand, Wings Hauser is playing the most comically diabolical character I’ve seen in ages. This guy chews up the scenery like Jaws. This is what made the film engaging for me. Vice Squad is not a good movie, but it is oddly enjoyable because it has Hauser hamming it up in every one of his scenes. When the big chase began I was fully engaged, and wondered how Lame Cop would track down Psycho Pimp in time. There are some comically bad scenes in the film as well, and several of them felt wildly out of place. In the middle of the climax the entire movie halts for some insane fetishist who hires the leading lady to fulfill his bonkers fantasy. I am far from calling Vice Squad a good movie, yet it was strangely interesting and held my attention from start to finish, so I guess it was OK. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 12/04/19 Full Review Read all reviews

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