Wings Hauser is a nightmare pimp out to kill Season Hubley’s sex worker in Vice Squad. New to 4K UHD from Kino Lorber.
The Film
Some films just absolutely floor you with just how good they are. Reputation proceeding them, they still knock you out. Gary Sherman’s Vice Squad is just one of those films. Part Cruising, Part Terminator, all 1980s Neon-Soaked Grimy Action Thriller. Saddled with an all-time lunatic performance by the indomitable Wings Hauser, Vice Squad is what you want every low-budget action VHS Action Film to be, but unfortunately, are not.
Set over the course of one night as Princess (Season Hubley) attempts to outwit, outrun, and outlive Ramrod (Hauser) the vicious pimp/psychopath she managed to set up with the help of cop Tom Walsh (Gary Swanson). It will not be easy as Ramrod is the Pimp equivalent of Schwarzenegger’s T-800; an unstopping killing machine. Ramrod evades cops, manages to torture or kill anyone that doesn’t help him in a tenth of a second (even those willing and compliant) because he is pure undiluted id. Walsh and the crew that makeup Vice Squad (including but not limited to Pepe Serna, Beverly Todd, Joseph DiGiroloma, and Maurice Emanuel) are a race against time to catch Ramrod before he kills Princess.
The primary reason for the success of the film is one man: Wings Hauser. As Ramrod, Hauser is next-level great. Ramrod is an unforgiving living nightmare that destroys anything in his path as anything we’ve seen on screen. There is a malicious glee that Hauser brings to Ramrod that elevates this from normal psychopath to amazing arched performance. Everyone is better because of him and his performance.
Director Gary Sherman, coming out of Chicago from a Photography and Art background (he worked with famous B&W Photographer Aaron Siskind), creates the perfect milieu of artful lighting and documentary style photography before it became a cliché. The results are something more akin to Michael Mann and William Friedkin. The film is shot beautifully by John Alcott giving the film’s nighttime setting a neon glow that would become a cliché eventually.
Vice Squad’s lean and economical unrelenting style recalls James Cameron’s The Terminator. The film deals in the sleazy milieu that Sex Workers must trade-in. Because of that efficiency in storytelling, the story never lingers on that sleaze. This makes Vice Squad one of the few films of this era dealing with this subject that doesn’t feel too exploitative. Vice Squad at its core is a fever fueled crime thriller that shouldn’t be missed.
The Transfer
The all-new UHD SDR Master by StudioCanal – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative is a beautiful upgrade from all prior home video editions. The transfer is so good that I’m unsure if a Dolby Vision/HDR10+ encoding could have made this better. The image is robust, sharp and colorful. The neon-drenched image pops off the screen for the entire runtime. The subtle grain structure of the John Alcott shot film adds a pleasing shimmer that gives the transfer the look of a beautiful freshly struck archival 35mm print. Kino Lorber continues to amaze with their work even when provided by another label like StudioCanal.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
- NEW Audio Commentary Filmmaker Steve Mitchell, the Writer/Director of Wings Hauser: Working Class Actor
- Audio Commentary by Director Gary Sherman and Producer Brian Frankish
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
- NEW Audio Commentary Filmmaker Steve Mitchell, the Writer/Director of Wings Hauser: Working Class Actor
- Audio Commentary by Director Gary Sherman and Producer Brian Frankish
- TV and Radio Spots
- Theatrical Trailer
DISC 3 (BLU-RAY):
- Tracking the Beast: Interview with Actor Gary Swanson
- Of Poltergeists and Neon Lights: Interview with Director Gary Sherman
- Hollywood Magic: Interview with Producer Brian Frankish
- The Roots of Reality: Interview with Actress Beverly Todd
- Catching a Killer: Interview with Actor Pepe Serna
- Princess Driver: Interview with Actor Michael Ensign
- Hollywood Streetwalking: Vice Squad Filming Locations
There are two commentaries. A newly recorded commentary track with Steve Mitchell (the writer/director of the documentary Wings Hauser: Working Class Actor). The other is an archival one by Director Gary Sherman and Producer Brain Frankish. It should be noted that the solo commentary by Sherman that was previously on the DVD and other Blu-ray releases back in the early 2000s is not present.
Some of the details from Mitchell’s commentary track include the origins of the project as a television documentary and how censorship evolved it into a feature film; the development of the project with screenwriters Sandy Howard, Kenneth Peters, and Robert Vincent O’Neil; a larger discussion the various projects outside of Vice Squad that was similar in setting and tone of the screenwriters ended up working on; a discussion of this being essentially Wings Hauser debut feature film; discussion of the LAPD in the 1980s and how different it was that the current LAPD even in film and television; how they chose and hired director Gary Sherman; the production schedule – which was mostly nights – and how that effects the cast and crew on a nighttime schedule; a locations the production used and did not uses sets and stayed accurate to the area of Hollywood; how Los Angeles has changed in the 40 years since the film was made; the work and career of actor Season Hubley; a discussion of what lead Hauser – who was an athlete – to go into acting; personal anecdotes about producer Sandy Howard – including the issues that he had with Gary Swanson during the production; the research that Wings Hauser did for the film; the thoughts on the film by Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino; the critical reception of the film upon release; a larger discussion of the visual style brought to the project by cinematographer John Alcott; a larger discussion of the various cast and crew that appeared and worked on the project and other projects as well; and much more. Mitchell’s track provides his usual deep dive into the films development and production including some great quotes from the cast and crew.
Some of the details from the Sherman and Frankish track include Wings Hauser sings the song that opens the film; the opening title sequence opens with many scenes/shots that were stolen of real people on Hollywood Boulevard; how Sherman was able to get cinematographer John Alcott; the casting and work of Season Hubley; the casting of Wings Hauser; the work of cinematographer John Alcott; the work of production Lee Fischer; how Sherman approached the style of the film with multiple single shot takes – and the reasons why for this approach; the challenges of shooting completely at night; the way that a new Fuji filmstock gave them issues; a larger discussion throughout about the various actors that appear in the film; and much more. Sherman and Frankish provide a conversational and much more anecdotical track. Note there is quite a bit of silence throughout the track.
Tracking the Beast (58:09) – is an archival interview with actor Gary Swanson. The interview is divided into title card sections. Swanson covers all the bases here beginning in his childhood to teenage years that began his writing career and the “relationship” to writing to his transition from Writing to Acting (he was in the Actor’s Studio). The actor covers a lot of ground of an interesting life lived (like platform dividing off the Atlantic City Pier), working Soap Operas, Lee Strasberg, working on Kojack, but the main focus is the work done on Vice Squad. There’s a lot of great unfiltered stories about the production and release of Vice Squad.
Of Poltergeist and Neon Lights (72:23) – is an archival interview with director Gary Sherman. The interview is divided into title card sections like the Swanson interview. The director begins by discussing his childhood in Chicago and never thought he was going to be a director. How he became a student under Aaron Siskind (the world-renowned photographer) and the unusual eccentric nature of the man as he worked on his degree. How he found an old Arriflex and restored it to begin to make shorts. How he rose through the ranks and how it all ended and he left after the ‘68 national convention and moved to London. Workin in London, which lead to Raw Meat aka Deathline which lead to Dead and Buried which finally led to Vice Squad.
Hollywood Magic (62:30) – is an archival interview with producer Brian Frankish. The interview is divided into title card sections like the Swanson and Sherman’s interviews. Beginning with his humble origins as a child who was too poor to watch films going into college for Finance then changing to Theater Arts and, as the cliche goes, moved to Hollywood. Through rise-and-grind, he moved up through the ranks behind-the-scenes rather than acting (which he started). Working as a “can boy” he learned a lot about post-production and editing. Moving from Editing to Assistant Directing. Moving to New York over a beautiful woman where he found work as a Sales Rep for an Ad agency. Eventually discussing Vice Squad and hos he came to be involved.
Roots of Reality (44:07) – is an archival interview with actor Beverly Todd. The interview is divided into title card sections like the Swanson and Sherman’s interviews. The actress begins with her origins in Cleveland and a Karamu Theatre that she would eventually be working in. Inspired by Lena Horne and other starlets moved her to go into acting. Moving from Cleveland to New York to get into acting. Moving eventually from Broadway to London and working with Sydney Poiter. All leading to the work that was done in Vice Squad.
Catching a Killer (58:20) – is an archival interview with actor Pepe Serna. The interview is divided into title card sections like the Swanson and Sherman’s interviews. The character actor begins with his beginnings/childhood in Corpus Christi Texas and where he got the nickname Pepe. From Boxing and Childhood friends and creative outlets to the time with his Older Brother. Stories of Music and Movies with his mother. Working with Del Close the improv guru. Serna does a great job of not only discussing his humble origins but also with discussing the work done on Vice Squad.
Princess Driver (24:12) – is an archival interview with actor Michael Ensign. The interview is divided into title card sections like the Swanson and Sherman’s interviews. The character actor begins with his work in London as an actor and also going to drama school in the UK. The actor has some great stories about Vice Squad’s production.
Hollywood Streetwalking (11:37) – is an archival featurette where we return to the locations featured in Vice Squad. This is similar to the Horror’s Hallowed Grounds featurettes included in many of Scream Factory’s other editions.
Radio Spots (1:00) – two 30-second Radio Spots that play over the original poster art.
TV Spots (3:36) – four 30-second TV Spots and one 60-second TV Spot
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Vice Squad (0:57); Stick (1:12); The Hunter (3:15); To Live and Die in L.A. (2:08); Wanted: Dead or Alive (1:20); Code of Silence (2:39); Murphy’s Law (1:30);
The Final Thought
Kino’s 4K Transfer of Vice Squad is a reference quality upgrade. Highest Possible Recommendations!