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. 🙄😔
Thanks JM and A Casual for the review and comments...i was gonna track down Vice Squad next...likely via some shitty youtube rip as i dont think its streaming...but im having so much fun with his movies that i may just snag that 4k!
Mushke, it's your money. But if you can get the Kino Blu-ray of "Vice Squad" for a couple of teners or cheaper it beats paying $35+ for a 4K that looks identical to the cheaper BD. I wish l bought the BD. 😳😢😓
First time watch of VICE SQUAD for me and it was the most exploitation movie I’ve watched this month.
It’s the perfect realization of the type of movie it’s trying to be. But it was so disturbing, I don’t know if I will ever want to watch it again. Maybe if it screens at the New Beverly Cinema in a double with MaXXXine, but never again by myself in my living room on a Wednesday morning.
The theme song sung by Hauser is one of the best I’ve ever heard.
Apparently i had a Vice Squad shaped hole in my life, so i bought it on amazon
I went with the Kino 4k, the regular was marginally cheaper and Shout was the same price (i'm in Canada, so things are different). The extras are mostly the same.
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.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind a.k.a. Sight Unseen (1990, dir. Greydon Clark)
A billionaire investor's estranged wife is attacked and their young daughter killed by a serial killer. Months later, she convinces her doctor she's dealt with the trauma and is released from the mental hospital, but keeps having visions of her daughter, while being bothered by her husband and a persistent cop.
A pretty boilerplate thriller with some clunky dialogue and "twists" that are both absurd and extremely predictable, but Clark adds a few stylistic touches to the direction and Wings plays the billionaire philanthropist husband like only Wings can to keep the movie from being completely forgettable.
Once again Junesploitation opens my eyes to a new-to-me area of film. It has lifted me up cinematicaly to become..ahem..the wind beneath my Wings. (#dadjokes!)
The Art of Dying (1991)
Looking at several suggested Hauser best-of lists my initial expectations were that he made alot of skinimax type movies. So i went into this with pretty low expectations. Somewhere early in viewing the movie and Wings won me over..big time! This flick features Wings as a bit of a sarcastic @sshole cop (who deep down has a heart of gold) searching for a serial killer. Turns out its serial killerS as a couple low rent movie producers are killing young actors by having them recreate famous movie scenes and actually killing them during filming. There's a jazzy noir soundtrack and a lot of Wings being a grouchy d@ck (which is hilarious as he's a successful cop with a beachfront home and a strong/independent model girlfriend who wants a no strings attached relationship). But the movie is wierdly well made (directed by him as well!) and he has an undeniable charm. The killer concept is fun as well. I was so caught off guard at how much i enjoyed this that as it ended i started another Wings flick immediately!.....
LA Bounty (1989)
Im only 1/2 way thru but, again, enjoying this Wings flick bunches! In this case we get Sybil Danning playing an almost terminator-disposition bounty hunter and Wings playing an over the top crazy gang leader with a penchant for painting. dig it!
(PS: 1.5 movies into his filmography and i keep getting strong "young-Gary-Busey" vibes. Hes sarcastic, curmudgeonly, funny, capable of crazy, and charismatic)
With this "masterpiece" John De Hart firmly confirmed his place on the Mount Rushmore of inept actor/directors. An objectively dumb and terribly made film that takes 180 degree turns at a whim and has charisma-void De Hart as the lead. Very unnecessary scenes of sexual violence jar heavily with the goofiness of the infamous "Shimmy Slide" song break.
It is pretty evident that this was filmed during a very low point in Wings Hauser's career/life and that he probably ad-libbed 90 percent of his performance. It's a mixture of unhinged, hilarious and pathetic. I'm happy that Hauser didn't die during or immediately after this film or it would have had a much darker legacy.
The sound mixing to this is equivalent to the editing in a Glenn Danzig film... non-existent.
Pitch Black (2000): Yeah, I went with a movie starring Wings Hauser's son, Cole Hauser (I like to cheat). The movie is awesome, what can I say. And while I would love to get more stuff from the franchise, I'm fine with what we got. Between the 3 movies, 1 animation, and 2 video games (and possibly comic books), I think we got enough to keep us entertained.
CHAMPAGNE AND BULLETS (1993) John De Hart produces, writes, directs, and stars in his very own crime/revenge epic. He plays a former cop turned chauffeur who returns to action when his girlfriend is kidnapped by an evil cult. Hauser is in and out of the movie at spots as the best friend. There’s a real outsider art aspect to this, in that no one involved knows how to make a movie, and yet they’re all so genuine and passionate about this that it becomes kind of hypnotic. But it’s more trash than fun – an ugly, angry, sweaty, shouty, movie that is not kind at all to women. I would say this type of pop culture-heavy crime flick is inspired by Pulp Fiction, but De Hart beat Tarantino to the punch by a year. Maybe that’s something.
30 days of Georges Melies, day 25: DEVIL IN A CONVENT (1899) In this prequel to 2018’s The Nun, we’ve got more devil stuff from Melies as Satan sneaks into a nunnery disguised a priest and then proceeds to wreck the place. It ends with the big confrontation between good and evil. Allegedly, that’s Melies himself on screen playing Satan, going wild with his arms and legs swinging all around. So, I guess Melies wasn’t just a genius, but a mad genius.
Wings plays a vacationing yuppie lawyer who gets trapped in a small western town that is being used as an experiment and the townspeople are poisoned and basically turn into rage zombies. Insane antics ensue. Co-starring Bo Hopkins and George Kennedy (who has one of the most hilarious death scenes I've seen in a while). This was pure entertainment, delivering action, comedy, and horror in a cool western atmosphere. This is what Junesploitation is all about!
I was happy to find that Wings Hauser’s final role was in this gonzo indie horror comedy that I’ve been meaning to see for years. A psychokinetic (and psychotic) car tire wakes up in the middle of a desert, shakes off the sand, and decides to go on a killing spree, starting with inanimate objects and gradually progressing to human beings. It is the silliest of premises, but the movie treats it with enough smarts and visual flair to make it an interesting, even fascinating experiment that’s very much worth your while if you can only get on its wavelength. Hauser appears as the aptly named Man in Wheelchair, one of meta-level spectators who serve as literal audience surrogates. The tone reminded me of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, another self-aware horror pastiche/homage/deconstruction from around the same time.
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.
DeleteThanks JM and A Casual for the review and comments...i was gonna track down Vice Squad next...likely via some shitty youtube rip as i dont think its streaming...but im having so much fun with his movies that i may just snag that 4k!
DeleteMushke, it's your money. But if you can get the Kino Blu-ray of "Vice Squad" for a couple of teners or cheaper it beats paying $35+ for a 4K that looks identical to the cheaper BD. I wish l bought the BD. 😳😢😓
DeleteFirst time watch of VICE SQUAD for me and it was the most exploitation movie I’ve watched this month.
DeleteIt’s the perfect realization of the type of movie it’s trying to be. But it was so disturbing, I don’t know if I will ever want to watch it again. Maybe if it screens at the New Beverly Cinema in a double with MaXXXine, but never again by myself in my living room on a Wednesday morning.
The theme song sung by Hauser is one of the best I’ve ever heard.
Apparently i had a Vice Squad shaped hole in my life, so i bought it on amazon
DeleteI went with the Kino 4k, the regular was marginally cheaper and Shout was the same price (i'm in Canada, so things are different). The extras are mostly the same.
Thanks for the tip JM! im going with the bluray per your suggestion!
DeleteWith Patrick dedicating today's podcast to it "Vice Squad" it's the darling of Wings Hauser Day. R.I.P. you scary, magnificent bastard. 🤘🤠
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.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind a.k.a. Sight Unseen (1990, dir. Greydon Clark)
ReplyDeleteA billionaire investor's estranged wife is attacked and their young daughter killed by a serial killer. Months later, she convinces her doctor she's dealt with the trauma and is released from the mental hospital, but keeps having visions of her daughter, while being bothered by her husband and a persistent cop.
A pretty boilerplate thriller with some clunky dialogue and "twists" that are both absurd and extremely predictable, but Clark adds a few stylistic touches to the direction and Wings plays the billionaire philanthropist husband like only Wings can to keep the movie from being completely forgettable.
Once again Junesploitation opens my eyes to a new-to-me area of film.
ReplyDeleteIt has lifted me up cinematicaly to become..ahem..the wind beneath my Wings. (#dadjokes!)
The Art of Dying (1991)
Looking at several suggested Hauser best-of lists my initial expectations were that he made alot of skinimax type movies. So i went into this with pretty low expectations. Somewhere early in viewing the movie and Wings won me over..big time! This flick features Wings as a bit of a sarcastic @sshole cop (who deep down has a heart of gold) searching for a serial killer. Turns out its serial killerS as a couple low rent movie producers are killing young actors by having them recreate famous movie scenes and actually killing them during filming. There's a jazzy noir soundtrack and a lot of Wings being a grouchy d@ck (which is hilarious as he's a successful cop with a beachfront home and a strong/independent model girlfriend who wants a no strings attached relationship). But the movie is wierdly well made (directed by him as well!) and he has an undeniable charm. The killer concept is fun as well. I was so caught off guard at how much i enjoyed this that as it ended i started another Wings flick immediately!.....
LA Bounty (1989)
Im only 1/2 way thru but, again, enjoying this Wings flick bunches! In this case we get Sybil Danning playing an almost terminator-disposition bounty hunter and Wings playing an over the top crazy gang leader with a penchant for painting. dig it!
(PS: 1.5 movies into his filmography and i keep getting strong "young-Gary-Busey" vibes. Hes sarcastic, curmudgeonly, funny, capable of crazy, and charismatic)
Champagne and Bullets (1993)
ReplyDeleteDir. John De Hart and James Paradise
With this "masterpiece" John De Hart firmly confirmed his place on the Mount Rushmore of inept actor/directors. An objectively dumb and terribly made film that takes 180 degree turns at a whim and has charisma-void De Hart as the lead. Very unnecessary scenes of sexual violence jar heavily with the goofiness of the infamous "Shimmy Slide" song break.
It is pretty evident that this was filmed during a very low point in Wings Hauser's career/life and that he probably ad-libbed 90 percent of his performance. It's a mixture of unhinged, hilarious and pathetic. I'm happy that Hauser didn't die during or immediately after this film or it would have had a much darker legacy.
The sound mixing to this is equivalent to the editing in a Glenn Danzig film... non-existent.
Pitch Black (2000): Yeah, I went with a movie starring Wings Hauser's son, Cole Hauser (I like to cheat). The movie is awesome, what can I say. And while I would love to get more stuff from the franchise, I'm fine with what we got. Between the 3 movies, 1 animation, and 2 video games (and possibly comic books), I think we got enough to keep us entertained.
ReplyDeleteCHAMPAGNE AND BULLETS (1993)
ReplyDeleteJohn De Hart produces, writes, directs, and stars in his very own crime/revenge epic. He plays a former cop turned chauffeur who returns to action when his girlfriend is kidnapped by an evil cult. Hauser is in and out of the movie at spots as the best friend. There’s a real outsider art aspect to this, in that no one involved knows how to make a movie, and yet they’re all so genuine and passionate about this that it becomes kind of hypnotic. But it’s more trash than fun – an ugly, angry, sweaty, shouty, movie that is not kind at all to women. I would say this type of pop culture-heavy crime flick is inspired by Pulp Fiction, but De Hart beat Tarantino to the punch by a year. Maybe that’s something.
30 days of Georges Melies, day 25: DEVIL IN A CONVENT (1899)
In this prequel to 2018’s The Nun, we’ve got more devil stuff from Melies as Satan sneaks into a nunnery disguised a priest and then proceeds to wreck the place. It ends with the big confrontation between good and evil. Allegedly, that’s Melies himself on screen playing Satan, going wild with his arms and legs swinging all around. So, I guess Melies wasn’t just a genius, but a mad genius.
Nightmare at Noon (1988, dir. Nico Mastorakis)
ReplyDeleteWings plays a vacationing yuppie lawyer who gets trapped in a small western town that is being used as an experiment and the townspeople are poisoned and basically turn into rage zombies. Insane antics ensue. Co-starring Bo Hopkins and George Kennedy (who has one of the most hilarious death scenes I've seen in a while). This was pure entertainment, delivering action, comedy, and horror in a cool western atmosphere. This is what Junesploitation is all about!
Rubber (2010)
ReplyDeleteI was happy to find that Wings Hauser’s final role was in this gonzo indie horror comedy that I’ve been meaning to see for years. A psychokinetic (and psychotic) car tire wakes up in the middle of a desert, shakes off the sand, and decides to go on a killing spree, starting with inanimate objects and gradually progressing to human beings. It is the silliest of premises, but the movie treats it with enough smarts and visual flair to make it an interesting, even fascinating experiment that’s very much worth your while if you can only get on its wavelength. Hauser appears as the aptly named Man in Wheelchair, one of meta-level spectators who serve as literal audience surrogates. The tone reminded me of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, another self-aware horror pastiche/homage/deconstruction from around the same time.