Hollywood Vice Squad (1986) Cinema Group/Action-Comedy RT: 103 minutes Rated R (language, violence, nudity, sexual content, drug use, mature themes) Director: Penelope Spheeris Screenplay: James J. Docherty Music: Michael Convertino and Keith Levene Cinematography: Joao Fernandes Release date: February 28, 1986 (US) Cast: Ronny Cox, Frank Gorshin, Leon Isaac Kennedy, Trish Van Devere, Carrie Fisher, Evan Kim, Joey Travolta, H.B. Haggerty, Cec Verrell, Julius Harris, Beau Starr, Robert Miano, Ben Frank, Tom Everett, Eloy Casados, Robin Wright, Marvin Kaplan, Sandy Crisp (aka Goddess Bunny), Larry Mintz, Loyda Ramos, Alice Spivak, Phil Rubenstein. Box Office: N/A
Rating: ***
Hollywood Vice Squad, a de facto sequel to 1982’s Vice Squad, is actually more of a reworking of Hardcore with its plot about a single mother looking for her runaway daughter on the mean streets of Hollywood. It also doesn’t wallow in sleaze and slime like Vice Squad did. It’s cartoonish in its approach to the crime and criminals faced by the titular police unit on a daily basis. How seriously can you take Frank Gorshin (aka The Riddler from TV’s Batman) as the sleazy head of a prostitution ring?
Directed by Penelope Spheeris (The Decline of Western Civilization), Hollywood Vice Squad is supposedly based on real life cases handled by the real life police unit, but they’re not depicted in a way that anybody would consider realistic. Such is the essence of B-movies. However, I suspect that Spheeris wanted to make a serious movie, but decided to throw comedy into the mix to make it easier for fun-seeking audiences to take. It’s an uneasy mix to say the least. At times, the comedy cancels out the drama and vice versa. Yet, I still find Hollywood Vice Squad entertaining. What can I say? I have a soft spot for movies that played at grimy urban grindhouse theaters in the 70s and 80s, but you already know that.
Hollywood Vice Squad has three storylines going at once which makes for a very busy flick. The first story concerns an Ohio mother (Van Devere, The Hearse) who comes to Hollywood in search of her runaway teenage daughter (Penn, The Princess Bride). She’s aided in her efforts by the sympathetic police captain (Cox, Beverly Hills Cop) who oversees the unit. It’s discovered that she’s working for a sleazy pimp named Walsh (Gorshin) and is hooked on smack. Captain Jensen assigns two of his best undercover detectives to the case, Hawkins (Kennedy, Penitentiary) and Judy (Verrell, Runaway). Hawkins poses as a bad ass Detroit pimp looking to buy girls from Walsh. That way, they can bust him for slavery.
The second story has novice detective Betty Melton (Fisher, Star Wars) teaming up with two more experienced men, Miller (Everett, Air Force One) and Chavez (Casados, Down and Out in Beverly Hills), to bring down a child pornography ring. The third story has two detectives, Tank (Haggerty, The Big Brawl) and Daley (Frank, Death Wish II), leaning on a bookie (Harris, Live and Let Die) to help them nail a New York gangster (Miano, Chained Heat) looking to take over criminal operations on the West Coast.
By way of comic relief, we have Detective Chang (Kim, The Kentucky Fried Movie) wearing crazy disguises in order to bust hookers on Hollywood Boulevard while his partner Stevens (Travolta, Oscar) looks on in bemusement. They’re ultimately recruited by Jensen to help Hawkins with his case.
I didn’t get to see Hollywood Vice Squad at the cinema, but I’m certain it would have been a blast to watch this one with an urban audience. It’s a great deal of fun and tailor-made for inner city theaters and late night viewing on cable TV, the ideal places to catch exploitation flicks like this one. I don’t watch a movie like this expecting an Oscar caliber film. I understand the terms and take it as such. It’s odd that there appears to be a serious movie about a teenage prostitute hidden amongst all the silliness, but it kind of adds to its sleazy charm.
It should be noted that Hollywood Vice Squad is Ms. Penn’s film debut. Okay, it’s not the most auspicious of debuts, but things still turned out all right for the actress as she went on to co-star with Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump. Gorshin camps it up nicely as the film’s main heavy. Honestly, I like the whole cast, especially Kennedy who looks a lot like Lionel Richie in this role. Fisher is quite good, better than the material deserves. Kim and Travolta (John’s big bro) make a humorous, not-quite-dynamic duo. It’s always cool to see Haggerty (a former pro-wrestler) turn up in a movie. Marvin Kaplan (of TV’s Alice) turns up as a pervert with a “little friend” that he calls Mike.
It’s funny to watch Hollywood Vice Squad now and take in the 80s fashions and music, not to mention the fact that movies like this would die out by decade’s end. Well, they didn’t really die out completely, they just bypassed theaters and went directly to home video. I think this kind of takes away from the experience. Like I said, I always enjoyed watching crappy B-movies in theaters.
Hollywood Vice Squad may not be as bad ass as Vice Squad, Walsh is definitely no Ramrod, but it’s still pretty cool. So what if it’s uneven at times? The incongruity between comedy and drama gives it a unique vibe. I like that! It makes for a more memorable picture.
SIDE NOTE: I noticed a mistake that only true movie lovers like me would spot. The movie takes place in July ’85, yet the theaters on Hollywood Boulevard are showing Rocky IV, Clue and Young Sherlock Holmes, movies that didn’t come out until the end of the year.
