Review of Vice Squad (1982) by Bill M — 14 Aug 2016

Vice Squad is a gloriously nasty little bit of filthy early eighties sleaze, a lean, squalid vicious neon noir crime thriller. Concerning a prostitute trying to survive a night on the job being hunted down by the brilliant named and utterly terrifying psychopathic pimp Ramrod (played by the possibly even more brilliantly named Wings Hauser, who also supply's the movie's great opening rock tune "Neon Slime") Ramrod is the real standout element here, easily one of the best screen villains ever, an almost impossibly horrible, slimy, brutal, feral monster who is completely mesmerizing thanks to Hauser's fantastic and full on, raw performance.

Season Hubley too is really good as luckless prostitute Princess. There's just this great grubby vibe to this film, it feels a bit unsafe and dirty, especially viewing it on VHS (this movie is either really hard to get on dvd or extortionate in price if you can) which adds to the un-glossy, grindhouse aesthetic.

A hard edged, willfully unpleasant and thrillingly suspenseful gem of 80's trash cinema.