Review of The Death Squad

What an incredibly crazy and pointless idea to do a TV-remake of the Clint Eastwood smash-hit "Magnum Force" not even one year after its release? That's like stopping at McDonald's for a burger right after you had a perfectly fine steak diner. This is probably also the reason why "The Death Squad" is completely unknown and that I could pick up an ex- rental copy for $0.20 at a flea market. Try purchasing "Magnum Force" for that price… As said, the plot of "The Death Squad" is pretty much identical to that of "Magnum Force", except of course that the emphasis more lies on the actual vigilante coppers instead of on the Dirty Harry trying to stop them. The movie boosts a multi-talented and experienced cast, which kind of makes you wonder why all these acclaimed names bother to appear in such a low-keyed TV-production. Perhaps they all thought the aforementioned Dirty Harry flick was too gratuitously violent? The lead roles are for Robert Forster ("Alligator" and "The Don is Dead") and Claude Akins (that really creepy guy from "The Farm") and in the supportive cast we find names like Melvyn Douglas, Jesse Vint and even that cherubic blond singer from the band The Mammas and the Pappas. Forster plays the dishonorably discharged inspector Eric Benoit, dragged back aboard of the police team by the commissioner himself because his city is suffering from a so-called death squad; a bunch of vigilante cops that "correct" the mistakes made by courthouses and annihilate the scum that walk the streets. Benoit is asked to investigate because he's an old-fashioned righteous police officer, but also the members of the death squad – including his direct partner and even his mentor – want him to join them. "The Death Squad" certainly isn't a bad movie. There are a couple of noteworthy moments of action and suspense, most of them thanks to Akins' creepy charisma and scary grimaces, but the plot is simply too predictable and derivative. There are literally hundreds of obscure but genuinely worthwhile made-for-TV thrillers available from the early 70's, so don't waste your time on this one.