Little did I know when I attended a drive in theater and saw a double bill of Vice Squad and Fort Apache: The Bronx, my life would be changed. Wings Hauser, the demonic pimp from Vice Squad, became sort of a fascination for me. He gloriously portrayed lunatic psychos with more gusto and glee than just about anyone. His character from Vice Squad is named Ramrod, with good reason. He’s a mean motherfucker with a pinpstick and an attitude.
At long, LONG last, Vice Squad has come to DVD, courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment. It was long out of print in VHS and I’ve been waiting for it about as long as I’ve been waiting for Night of the Creeps.
Last Night I excitedly put the brand new Vice Squad DVD in my player. I was instantly gratified to hear the theme song called Neon Slime, belted out by none other than Wings Hauser, on the Menu Page. That is surely worth the asking price alone.
As the movie rolled, I felt a very comfortable nostalgia set in. The 80’s were a great decade for sleaze and exploitation. Arguably, it was the last great decade for true grindhouse pictures to come out.
Vice Squad deals with a viciously murderous pimp named Ramrod, as I said above. His main bitch holds out on him and is about to take her medicine, as the picture begins. The prostitute was played by early MTV VJ Nina Blackwood, which gained the film a lot of notoriety at the time. Now, who the hell knows who she was?
Anyway, the titular vice squad is after their man and they enlist the reluctant assistance of another streetwalker named Princess. Princess fingers Ramrod, yet the cops underestimate their quarry. A raving, drooling and bloodthirsty Ramrod is on the street seeking retribution.
That’s the nuts and bolts of the rather simple plot, but there are a lot of wildly entertaining sequences in Vice Squad. Life on the street for hookers is blatantly depicted, sometimes for shock and other times for humorous purposes.
On the faded memory front, Season Hubley didn't look nearly as good as my memory said that she did in the film. There was also some not-too-funny Keystone Kops shenanigans with a couple of junior detectives that lighten up the tension, but fail to really be really amusing or entertaining.
Now for the DVD…well, the picture is not as sharp as most Anchor Bay releases, and it is not presented in 5.1 Surround, damn it. But it looks pretty damned good. Far better than the old VHS tape and a lot better than that drive in screen looked too, for that matter. There’s an audio commentary from director Gary (Dead and Buried) Sherman and the trailer and a few radio spots. I would have killed for a documentary on the acting career of Wings Hauser, but such things are not to be. Yet.
With very minor complaints, Vice Squad is a major release for fans of exploitation and is right up there with street sleaze pictures like Angel, The Exterminator, Whore and Street Asylum in my book. This is a mandatory purchase.
At long, LONG last, Vice Squad has come to DVD, courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment. It was long out of print in VHS and I’ve been waiting for it about as long as I’ve been waiting for Night of the Creeps.
Last Night I excitedly put the brand new Vice Squad DVD in my player. I was instantly gratified to hear the theme song called Neon Slime, belted out by none other than Wings Hauser, on the Menu Page. That is surely worth the asking price alone.
As the movie rolled, I felt a very comfortable nostalgia set in. The 80’s were a great decade for sleaze and exploitation. Arguably, it was the last great decade for true grindhouse pictures to come out.
Vice Squad deals with a viciously murderous pimp named Ramrod, as I said above. His main bitch holds out on him and is about to take her medicine, as the picture begins. The prostitute was played by early MTV VJ Nina Blackwood, which gained the film a lot of notoriety at the time. Now, who the hell knows who she was?
Anyway, the titular vice squad is after their man and they enlist the reluctant assistance of another streetwalker named Princess. Princess fingers Ramrod, yet the cops underestimate their quarry. A raving, drooling and bloodthirsty Ramrod is on the street seeking retribution.
That’s the nuts and bolts of the rather simple plot, but there are a lot of wildly entertaining sequences in Vice Squad. Life on the street for hookers is blatantly depicted, sometimes for shock and other times for humorous purposes.
On the faded memory front, Season Hubley didn't look nearly as good as my memory said that she did in the film. There was also some not-too-funny Keystone Kops shenanigans with a couple of junior detectives that lighten up the tension, but fail to really be really amusing or entertaining.
Now for the DVD…well, the picture is not as sharp as most Anchor Bay releases, and it is not presented in 5.1 Surround, damn it. But it looks pretty damned good. Far better than the old VHS tape and a lot better than that drive in screen looked too, for that matter. There’s an audio commentary from director Gary (Dead and Buried) Sherman and the trailer and a few radio spots. I would have killed for a documentary on the acting career of Wings Hauser, but such things are not to be. Yet.
With very minor complaints, Vice Squad is a major release for fans of exploitation and is right up there with street sleaze pictures like Angel, The Exterminator, Whore and Street Asylum in my book. This is a mandatory purchase.
RAMROD
The author does not allow comments to this entry
No comments