VICE SQUAD (1982, KINO 4K UHD) THE WIND (1986, TUBI) THE SIEGE OF FIREBASE GLORIA (1988, ROKU CHANNEL) L.A. BOUNTY (1989, YOUTUBE)
An eventful day/night in the life of L.A. cops from the Hollywood vice squad and the colorful characters they run into (mostly pr@ist!tues, their p!mps and drug add!cts), "Vice Squad" centers on working girl Princess (Season Hubley) trying to make enough money to join the little daughter she has shipped to San Diego. Those plans change when short-tempered p^mp Ramrod (Wings Hauser, looking like a cross between John Lithgow and OG "Night Court's" Harry Andrews) and Princess are dragged into a police sting by a righteous cop (Gary Swanson) convinced Ramrod murdered one of Princess' friends. A night-long chase ensues with Ramrod going Terminator in his mad quest to get payback from Princess, with the vice squad one step behind. Played straight with almost no humor except for a couple of goofy scenes (one involving a little old man at a motel who acts/fights like Bruce Lee! :-P), "VS" felt at the time of its release like the sordid real-life stuff you couldn't see on TV's "Hill Street Blues." It lacks the heart and colorful personalities of "Angel" using the same locations a year later, but as a white-knuckle intense thriller it's an exploitation masterpiece. 5 WEDDING CORPSES (out of five). This is peak Hauser (including singing the theme song), with no role afterwards matching the intense animal ferocity he exhibits here.
Of course Wings Hauser would appear in a Nico Mastorakis joint playing a deranged next-door neighbor to an American novelist (Meg Foster) spending alone time during the off-season in an old Greek island during a windy storm. "The Wind" narrative tries to create the illusion that the deadly cat-and-mouse game between Foster and Hauser is either a novel that the writer's concocting in her mind or that she herself committed some heinous acts of violence (Meg not reacting hysterically at the mayhem around her hints at this direction). Sorry Nico, but don't believe for a moment you'd cast Wings to play anything other than a real-life p$ycho. Hans Zimmer (alongside Stanley Myers) composed the cheap sounding music score. 3 DUSTY WIND MACHINES CRANKING (out of five).
If you wanted to see Sgt. Hartman live to fight in the Vietnam portion of "Full Metal Jacket" then this is your movie. :-O "The Siege of Firebase Gloria" has (a) young-ish R. Lee Ermey as a voice-over narrating (swoon!) Vietnam platoon leader with (b) his trusted right-hand man (Hauser's Corporal DiNardo, his goofy face reflecting the absurdity/crazy of its time/place) (c) engaging in bloody military battles against Vietcong troops around the 1968 Tet Offensive in (d) a super violent action war epic helmed by Aussie director Brian Trenchard-Smith that also doubles as (e) a character study for the strained father/son bonding between Ermey and Hauser's soldiers. Wing's 'F**k the corp' 3rd act speech shows the man had dramatic range. There's even narrative space for the role of women in the front lines (on both sides) and the POV of the Vietcong platoon bosses, so this isn't braindead pro-USA military p@rn. Shot in the Philippines during the heyday of Hollywood's obsession with Vietnam, so you know Cirio H. Santiago re-used this footage in at least half-a-dozen of his war flicks. 4.5 DEC. '68 PLAYBOY CENTERFOLDS (out of five).
Sybil Danning in da house! :-D She co-wrote and produced "L.A, Bounty," a rather dull action star vehicle in which she plays revenge-driven bounty hunter (huntress?) Ruger. Sybil doesn't say much (couple of dozen words total) and lets her guns and imposing presence do the talking. Her path crosses with Cavanaugh (Hauser, who never leaves the warehouse all his scenes were shot at), a ruthless drug dealer that kidnaps an L.A. mayor candidate for... reasons. There's a decent parking lot car chase and a "Home Alone"-style finale, but other than Wings hamming it up while painting a nude or offing his own men this one's a dud. 2.25 POLAR BEAR BOOBY TRAPS (out of five).
Shame that the video transfer on the new Kino 4K UHD is so underwhelming. I compared the 4K to the Blu-ray included in the Kino package and they're identical, both soft and super grainy. 🫤🥺
I have the older Shout Factory blu-ray (picked up cheaply when, sadly, the local FYE was going out of business) and have not watched it. Since I always test out discs when I get them, I know it works. That is all I can say about it.
Checking out the version of Vice Squad on Tubi, I can easily tell that it is a full-screen VHS rip. I am sure you 4K is better than that.
A little better during some close-ups and isolated shots (in the correct AR), but l have boutique label DVD's that look sharper and better than Kino's 4K "VS" disc. Could have saved myself $15-20 if l had bought the Kino BD-only "VS." 🥺😭
Every review l've read said "Vice Squad" has a soft/cheap stock film look, but l expect at least a miniscule resolution boost from 1080p BD to 4K UHD. There's none in the Kino 4K. 🙄😔
I own Vice Squad and Siege of Firebase Gloria (not watched yet), but what I wanted for a change in my Junesploitation diet was some horror. Seeing a horror film in Hauser's filmography, that is what I went with.
Mutant is... not bad. Wings Hauser and his younger brother get stuck in a Southern town where the population is disappearing. Bodies are also disappearing. I do not wish to spoil any more of it. Mutant is one of those horror films that begins in an intriguing manner but gets predictable by the conclusion. The low-budget shows. The deliberateness of certain scenes is contrasted with a rushed air to others. There seem to be details that were either not in the script or got lost during the shooting or editing. Wings Hauser was a professional, doing the best with the material he was given. For a fix of 1980s horror, I have seen worse.
VICE SQUAD (1982, KINO 4K UHD)
ReplyDeleteTHE WIND (1986, TUBI)
THE SIEGE OF FIREBASE GLORIA (1988, ROKU CHANNEL)
L.A. BOUNTY (1989, YOUTUBE)
An eventful day/night in the life of L.A. cops from the Hollywood vice squad and the colorful characters they run into (mostly pr@ist!tues, their p!mps and drug add!cts), "Vice Squad" centers on working girl Princess (Season Hubley) trying to make enough money to join the little daughter she has shipped to San Diego. Those plans change when short-tempered p^mp Ramrod (Wings Hauser, looking like a cross between John Lithgow and OG "Night Court's" Harry Andrews) and Princess are dragged into a police sting by a righteous cop (Gary Swanson) convinced Ramrod murdered one of Princess' friends. A night-long chase ensues with Ramrod going Terminator in his mad quest to get payback from Princess, with the vice squad one step behind. Played straight with almost no humor except for a couple of goofy scenes (one involving a little old man at a motel who acts/fights like Bruce Lee! :-P), "VS" felt at the time of its release like the sordid real-life stuff you couldn't see on TV's "Hill Street Blues." It lacks the heart and colorful personalities of "Angel" using the same locations a year later, but as a white-knuckle intense thriller it's an exploitation masterpiece. 5 WEDDING CORPSES (out of five). This is peak Hauser (including singing the theme song), with no role afterwards matching the intense animal ferocity he exhibits here.
Of course Wings Hauser would appear in a Nico Mastorakis joint playing a deranged next-door neighbor to an American novelist (Meg Foster) spending alone time during the off-season in an old Greek island during a windy storm. "The Wind" narrative tries to create the illusion that the deadly cat-and-mouse game between Foster and Hauser is either a novel that the writer's concocting in her mind or that she herself committed some heinous acts of violence (Meg not reacting hysterically at the mayhem around her hints at this direction). Sorry Nico, but don't believe for a moment you'd cast Wings to play anything other than a real-life p$ycho. Hans Zimmer (alongside Stanley Myers) composed the cheap sounding music score. 3 DUSTY WIND MACHINES CRANKING (out of five).
If you wanted to see Sgt. Hartman live to fight in the Vietnam portion of "Full Metal Jacket" then this is your movie. :-O "The Siege of Firebase Gloria" has (a) young-ish R. Lee Ermey as a voice-over narrating (swoon!) Vietnam platoon leader with (b) his trusted right-hand man (Hauser's Corporal DiNardo, his goofy face reflecting the absurdity/crazy of its time/place) (c) engaging in bloody military battles against Vietcong troops around the 1968 Tet Offensive in (d) a super violent action war epic helmed by Aussie director Brian Trenchard-Smith that also doubles as (e) a character study for the strained father/son bonding between Ermey and Hauser's soldiers. Wing's 'F**k the corp' 3rd act speech shows the man had dramatic range. There's even narrative space for the role of women in the front lines (on both sides) and the POV of the Vietcong platoon bosses, so this isn't braindead pro-USA military p@rn. Shot in the Philippines during the heyday of Hollywood's obsession with Vietnam, so you know Cirio H. Santiago re-used this footage in at least half-a-dozen of his war flicks. 4.5 DEC. '68 PLAYBOY CENTERFOLDS (out of five).
Sybil Danning in da house! :-D She co-wrote and produced "L.A, Bounty," a rather dull action star vehicle in which she plays revenge-driven bounty hunter (huntress?) Ruger. Sybil doesn't say much (couple of dozen words total) and lets her guns and imposing presence do the talking. Her path crosses with Cavanaugh (Hauser, who never leaves the warehouse all his scenes were shot at), a ruthless drug dealer that kidnaps an L.A. mayor candidate for... reasons. There's a decent parking lot car chase and a "Home Alone"-style finale, but other than Wings hamming it up while painting a nude or offing his own men this one's a dud. 2.25 POLAR BEAR BOOBY TRAPS (out of five).
Vice Squad is a masterpiece, J.M. Hauser's Ramrod is utterly despicable but captivating to watch.
DeleteShame that the video transfer on the new Kino 4K UHD is so underwhelming. I compared the 4K to the Blu-ray included in the Kino package and they're identical, both soft and super grainy. 🫤🥺
DeleteI have the older Shout Factory blu-ray (picked up cheaply when, sadly, the local FYE was going out of business) and have not watched it. Since I always test out discs when I get them, I know it works. That is all I can say about it.
DeleteChecking out the version of Vice Squad on Tubi, I can easily tell that it is a full-screen VHS rip. I am sure you 4K is better than that.
A little better during some close-ups and isolated shots (in the correct AR), but l have boutique label DVD's that look sharper and better than Kino's 4K "VS" disc. Could have saved myself $15-20 if l had bought the Kino BD-only "VS." 🥺😭
DeleteLooking at the Shout release now. It is grainy too. Perhaps the film materials are very grainy to begin with.
DeleteEvery review l've read said "Vice Squad" has a soft/cheap stock film look, but l expect at least a miniscule resolution boost from 1080p BD to 4K UHD. There's none in the Kino 4K. 🙄😔
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteMUTANT (1984)
ReplyDeleteI own Vice Squad and Siege of Firebase Gloria (not watched yet), but what I wanted for a change in my Junesploitation diet was some horror. Seeing a horror film in Hauser's filmography, that is what I went with.
Mutant is... not bad. Wings Hauser and his younger brother get stuck in a Southern town where the population is disappearing. Bodies are also disappearing. I do not wish to spoil any more of it. Mutant is one of those horror films that begins in an intriguing manner but gets predictable by the conclusion. The low-budget shows. The deliberateness of certain scenes is contrasted with a rushed air to others. There seem to be details that were either not in the script or got lost during the shooting or editing. Wings Hauser was a professional, doing the best with the material he was given. For a fix of 1980s horror, I have seen worse.