Vice Squad

Gary Sherman – 1982 – USA

Mean – (and controversial in its day) – crime drama about a call-girl named ‘Princess’ (Season Hubley) being pressured by the cops into going undercover to nail the man who killed her sister, a sadistic pimp named “Ramrod” (Wings Hauser).  An exploitation film masquerading as a sober expose on the depravity of L.A. street life, the structure of the film is actually much more interesting than its pretensions let on.  The plot plays out mostly in a single night as Princess first seeks out Ramrod and then, after he escapes police custody, tries to evade his vengeance.  Hands-down, Hauser steals the show in a career-defining performance as the brutal, snarling, psychotic Ramrod.  Though a white hick in a cowboy getup, he never hesitates in resorting to threats and violence to get his way with prostitutes, cops and other underworld heavies alike, as if sheer savage bluster is enough to intimidate everyone around him.  The film is pretty thrilling throughout, but it stumbles badly in its climax by removing Princess from any (well-earned) involvement in Ramrod’s comeuppance.