If one looks at my other reviews, one would be very much forgiven if they thought that 'Vice Squad' wouldn't be my style or something that would typically be watched by me. Actually have a diverse taste (or at least that's intended) in film and television, spanning all genres and decades with a wide interest in actors, actresses and directors with no bias intended.Like action-crime-dramas a good deal and while not one of my absolute favourites, 'Vice Squad' was a very enjoyable and well done film for what it was and achieved what it set out to do. It may not have the best script in the world, some of it is laughably cheesy even by 1982 standards. The ending is a bit silly and lacks the tension and suspense of the rest of the film. Gary Swanson does his best and does decently, but the rest of the characters are more colourfully written and stay in the memory longer (especially Ramrod).It didn't actually bother me, due to the entertainment value and being pleasantly surprised by how well most individual components worked, that for a film about prostitution it's fairly tame in terms of nudity and sex and that it's talkier than one would expect. It may do for others though.However, 'Vice Squad' is made with plenty of atmosphere and style, the photography is stylish and almost eerie and the editing is suitably crisp. The soundtrack is infectiously funky as well as hauntingly creepy.Story-wise, it's remarkably compelling and always goes at a snappy pace without being rushed. It's a lot of fun and is very rich in tension and suspense. The exploitation and prostitution world is certainly suitably sleazy, while the violence is relentless but never gratuitous, the film admirably doesn't hold any punches or take any prisoners which adds to the intensity. Gary Sherman directs tautly, and of the characters Ramrod and Princess (especially the former) maintain a lot of interest.Season Hubley brings a strong-willed and sassy personality to Princess. Sticking most in the memory is the star-making performance of Wings Hauser, Ramrod is one of the nastiest pieces of work one will ever find on film and Hauser chills the bone in a truly incredible performance.Overall, very enjoyable. 7/10 Bethany Cox

"Princess" (Season Hubley) is what is known as an "outlaw" hooker, meaning that she answers to no pimp. She's also the mother of an adorable little girl. She agrees to help intense vice detective Tom Walsh (Gary Swanson) trap a particularly evil pimp with the memorable moniker of "Ramrod" (Wings Hauser). Ramrod is a sadist who enjoys mutilating prostitutes, and has the tenacity of The Terminator. When he realizes that Princess set him up, he becomes determined to get revenge. After he makes an escape from the cops, he spends an action-packed night hunting her down."Vice Squad" is a solid credit for the under appreciated director Gary A. Sherman. Sherman had already made two excellent fright features, "Raw Meat" and "Dead & Buried". Loathe to be typecast as a genre director, he took on this project, and does a fine job with it. He gives it great pace and entirely convincing atmosphere. This movie really does immerse its viewers in a seedy L.A. underworld. The characters are often flamboyant but believable. Cinematographer John Alcott gives everything a stylish look. To be sure, the material is plenty sleazy, but that's entirely the point. The script was written by co-executive producer Sandy Howard, Robert Vincent O'Neill (director of the exploitation classic "Angel"), and "Kenneth Peters", a pseudonym for a real life L.A. detective who provided all important technical advice.The violence is as harsh and off putting as it should be, and there's great curiosity value in discovering the various fetishes and perversions that johns are prone to enjoy.Hubley is good in the lead role; Princess may take her lumps before the story ends, but she also gives Ramrod a hell of a good fight. Swanson is likewise effective as our hard assed hero. A steady parade of familiar actors play roles big and small: Pepe Serna, Beverly Todd, original MTV VJ Nina Blackwood, Lydia Lei, Kelly Piper, Fred Berry, Michael Ensign, Jonathan Haze, Robert Miano, Stack Pierce, and Cheryl Smith. But the person who leaves the biggest impression is the excellent Hauser, who gives us a creepily charismatic villain for the ages. Furthermore, Wings also entertains us by growling and snarling the ultra catchy rock theme song "Neon Slime".This is a gem of a B movie: flashy, trashy, and most certainly *not* dull.Eight out of 10.

Although I am tired of sex and violence in movies, there are times when a movie can incorporate them and still be intelligent and memorable.This is one of those movies.It is obvious that all who were involved in its production had a clear vision and executed it perfectly.The atmosphere just oozes menace and sleaze, but there are blackly humorous episodes -- such as when an aging, wealthy pervert invites a prostitute to officiate at his "funeral" in a classically ostentatious Hollywood estate complete with church pipe organ music.Such details are what make this movie, and some of them are so bizarre that -- as in life -- they must be true because no one could have thought them up.And yet they were thought up.So this movie ends up vindicating the power of imagination, as the best art must do. Okay, I'm going a bit overboard here, calling this movie "art," but let's just say it's very artful and leave it at that.I sense the influence of Stanley Kubrick in the way the movie was directed: a succession of set pieces, almost as if one were in the audience facing a stage.Now after saying all of these nice things, let me warn the potential viewer that this is indeed a brutal, disturbing and depressing movie insofar as the subject matter is concerned.It will give some people nightmares. And it will satisfy the lusts and violent desires of others.And as far as the violence goes, it is scary precisely because we know that these things really do happen to people.

I was in my early teens when this film began in heavy rotation on HBO. My mother didn't screen many films, but she happened to catch one or two scenes of Ramrod brutalizing Ginger or Princess and forbade me to watch it. Of course I could not resist, was caught, and had my TV privileges taken away from a month.Are these scenes of brutal violence towards women tame by today's standards, have they since been topped? Not really! Perhaps if it was tried today we'd get a bit more insight into Ramrod's motivations. Childhood trauma and what not, not just revenge. The actors play this pretty much straight forward. Hauser is singular in his approach, and Hubley alternates between faux-demur and animalistic rage. Quite a lot of anger in her own right. Sherman the lead/director comes off as rather wooden, but give him credit for his Dirty Harry-esqueness and his place in cinematic history. Cable TV audiences have enjoyed this sleazy classic for three decades with more to come!