Vice Squad (1982, Gary Sherman)

"Come on, scumbag! Make your move, and make my day!"

3 REASONS TO SEEK OUT THIS FILM: 

1. IT'S GRITTY

If like myself, you enjoy all those 1970's - early 1980's gritty urban style thrillers, than my god look no further. From the opening sequence, we're thrown into the seedy underground world of Los Angeles in 1982, and man was it filthy. From street prostitution working for their pimps, to sleazy underground biker clubs, to all the grime and grit that the vice squad had to deal with on a day to day basis. Not to mention all the street lingo that this world entails, it just feels real.

Imagine watching a realistic exploitation film, that was so gritty it had to have 6 minutes cut in the UK, just to receive an 'X' rating. On the other hand, legendary director Martin Scorsese defended the film's depiction of grit and violence and thought the film deserved an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

2. THE VILLAIN 

Wings Hauser brilliantly plays a vicious homicidal pimp by the name of Ramrod, who's hellbent on killing a prostitute (princess) that aided the police in his arrest. This guy is a full on sadist, he'll do anything to get to princess, including cutting off the balls of a pimp in order to obtain information.  When Ramrod locks his eyes on his prey, he has that look that'll make you shit a brick.  

Apparently this performance came from sleep deprivation. He'd been filming the abysmally terrible show The Young and the Restless during the day, then come night time, he'd play Ramrod all night long. He had no time to do anything else so when it came time to play Ramrod he "just let go". For a lot of one take shots, he did a fantastic job, you really hate his character in the film, he's great.

3. THE ACTION SEQUENCES

We get some great realistic action sequences executed in this film, from some great shootouts to a savage hit and run. Director Gary Sherman (Death Line/Dead and Buried) is careful to direct realistic yet highly entertaining action sequences that are reminiscent of the works of Walter Hill. 

There is one scene in particular where Ramrod gets arrested, and is being taken into custody by two cops in a squad car. Yet he manages to escape, with such brute force and relentlessness, we know then and there, there is nothing he won't do get his revenge.

Click here for the trailer, and the awesome theme song sung by the villain himself.