Review of Vigilante (1983) by Ola G — 28 Apr 2016

Eddie Marino (Robert Forster) is a factory worker in New York City. He has a wife named Vickie (Rutanya Alda) and an eight-year-old son named Scott. Eddie's friend and co-worker, Nick (Fred Williamson), and two other co-workers, Burke and Ramon, have formed a secret vigilante group because Nick and the group are fed up with the crime in their neighbourhood. Nick and his group are also tired of the police, because the police always fail to protect people. Nick's "group" has support of various residents of the neighbourhood who indirectly help them. In one example, a local thug stalks and chases a young woman to a rooftop of an apartment building where the thug robs and then kills her. An old lady who witnesses the thug says nothing to the police, but points out the thug to Nick and his group the next day. Nick and his friends forcibly grab the thug off the streets and place him in their van and drive away. The thug is later found dead in a vacant lot with all of his arms and legs broken and his head bashed in.One evening, Eddie returns home from work only to discover that Vickie has been stabbed, and Scott has been shot dead in a home invasion which was in retaliation for Vicki aiding a gas station attendant who was being assaulted earlier. Frederico "Rico" Melendez (Willie Colón), the leader of a Puerto Rican street gang, is arrested for the crime. Assistant District Attorney Mary Fletcher (Carol Lynley) seeks a lengthy jail sentence, since New York does not have the death penalty. Nick tries to convince Eddie to join the vigilante group, but Eddie turns Nick down, preferring to let the courts handle Rico. Nick's lack of faith in the system is proven correct when Rico is set free after his right-hand man, Prago (Don Blakely), bribes both Judge Sinclair (Vincent Beck) and Eisenburg (Joe Spinell), Rico's attorney. Enraged, Eddie attacks the judge and is sentenced to 30 days in jail. With Eddie in jail, the vigilante group tracks down the source of the drugs in their neighbourhood. After roughing up a small-time drug dealer (Frank Pesce) and torturing his supplier, they are led to a high-ranking member of the New York mayor's office. Meanwhile, in prison, Eddie befriends an inmate named Rake (Woody Strode) who saves him from being gang raped in the showers. As soon as Eddie is released from jail, he joins the vigilante group so he can track down and kill Rico, Prago, and Judge Sinclair...

Dave Kehr of The New York Times wrote that "Vigilante" was "directed with classical, self-effacing skill". Kehr identified influence from New York street realism and stated that the film was only possible in the period between the collapses of the Motion Picture Production Code and grindhouse theaters. Randy Fox of the Nashville Scene called it "a grindhouse classic". Rodney Perkins of Twitch Film called it derivative of Death Wish but memorable for its cast and nihilistic tone. Chris Claro of DVD Verdict called it an incoherent ripoff of Death Wish that is still entertaining. The film was very popular overseas such as Scandinavia, Germany and in particular, England where it was the number one video rental for six months. The only place according to director William Lustig that the film "didn't do anything" was in Japan. This is just a nasty B-Movie revenge thriller in the wake of "Death Wish" (1974) and "The Exterminator" (1980). "Vigilante" is a true child of shoddy 80´s movies in my opinion. The acting is wobbly, the editing is superwobbly, the storyline a bit too simple and the dramatisation isn´t all that exciting and pretty wobbly as well. However, I did like the gritty NYC locations and the vibe in the film. But, that´s not enough to satisfy.