#107. Vice Squad (1982)

DVD Synopsis: Season Hubley (Hardcore) stars as Princess, a loving single mom turned Hollywood hooker who can provide any depraved pleasure for the right price. But when a volatile cop (Gary Swanson) uses her to trap a sadistic killer, Princess becomes the prey of a psychotic pimp known as Ramrod (a mind-blowing, take-no-prisoners performance by Wings Hauser). Tonight, the neon jungle of Los Angeles will explode in an orgy of vengeance and violence. And the only outlaws more desperate than the hustlers, whores and freaks that rule the streets are the Vice Squad.

Vice Squad takes place on a single night along Hollywood Boulevard, where the cops battle it out with pimps, prostitutes, pushers and freaks of all kind. A thrilling crime / action / drama, Vice Squad is well-paced, well directed (by Gary Sherman, who also was at the helm of the entertaining Dead & Buried), and very well-acted. 

Season Hubley turns in an impressive performance as a mother forced to work the streets to get by, but it's Wings Hauser who delivers Vice Squad's juiciest turn, playing her psychotic pimp, Ramrod. Ramrod is a real terror; he beats up women for kicks, and has absolutely no fear when confronting the cops (at one point, he even manages to escape custody while handcuffed and sitting in the back of a police car). Ramrod is one of the all-time great movie villains, and Hauser's wild-eyed performance is the reason why. 

Also keep an eye out for Nina Blackwood, one of the original Veejays on MTv when the channel launched in 1981. In her big screen debut, Blackwood plays Ginger, the first of Ramrod's many victims.