From the writer of minor exploitation classic "Vice Squad" comes another sleazy 80s crime flick that boasts the film debut of the future "The Princess Bride" star Robin Wright. "Vice Squad" was about a killer targeting prostitutes, but this sudo sequel focuses on a mother searching the mean streets of Hollywood to find her junkie prostitute teen daughter, Wright. Mom finds out her daughter is involved in porn, drugs and general badness, so she then works with the Hollywood Vice Squad to rescue her. Part of the squad is rookie cop Carrie Fisher, who has to go undercover into this skeezy underworld to find Wright and bust the scumbags responsible. In real life, Fisher had just gotten out of rehab and the insurance company wouldn't give her bonding coverage, so director Penelope Sepheeris ("Suburbia" "Decline of the Western Civilization") cast a close friend of Fisher's for the movie so she could make sure Fisher showed up to work each day. Fisher later satirized the production of "Hollywood Vice Squad" in her novel and screenplay for "Postcards From the Edge." But back to the movie at hand, I did enjoy the sleazy 80s grit of the film, though in terms of storytelling and characters, it's pretty weak. Still, I was definitely entertained and would recommend it for fans of similar grimy 80s action flicks (i.e. "10 to Midnight," "Angel," "Vice Squad," etc.). Ronny "Deliverance" "Robocop" Cox, Frank "The Riddler" Gorshin, Leon Isaac "Penitentiary" Kennedy, Joey "Brother of John" Travolta, and character actors H. B. "70s bald guy actor" Haggerty and Evan C. "Kentucky Fried Movie" "The Dead Pool" Kim also appear in the film.
Review of Hollywood Vice Squad
