80's cop films are a genre of bad movie all to themselves. Even the good ones, like Fort Apache, The Bronx, don't hold up too well under scrutiny. Vice Squad is one of the gems of the time period. Filmed live on the street of Hollywood land, it gives an unflinchingly grim view of the city that was usually reserved for New York. Every parked car, litter-strewn alley, graffiti-covered storefront, and slime-filled gutter is captured in its own natural habitat. The prostitutes might have been shipped in from Seattle, but everything else is 100% the City of Dreams.
Not to be confused with Police Squad! (although it might actually be funnier), Vice Squad is the touching tale of a series of gruesome murders, an out-of-work actress, her suspended boyfriend cop, a psychotic pimp, and his beloved 'Hos'. There's a lot more to the story, but if you stray to far from the sex and violence, it gets a little confusing. Best not to stray too far from the death and degradation.
One of the highlights of Vice Squad (besides the bad acting and over-the-top sex and drugs exploitation that almost makes it a Caucasian Shaft) is professional television "Special Guest Star" Wings Hauser. Hauser not only performed as the badass pimp 'Ramrod' during night shoots while starring in The Young and the Restless during the day, but he also sang the song NEON SLIME that plays over the opening and end credits. This was decades before Chuck Norris would sing his own theme song on Walker, Texas Ranger (which Hauser has also appeared on as a "Special Guest Star").
Just watch this trailer and ask yourself: is this film worthy of Bad Movie Night?
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