A mother goes to Hollywood to find her runaway daughter. The Vice Squad discovers that a dangerous gangster has turned the girl into one of his junkie teen prostitutes. The Squad also investigates illegal betting and a BDSM pornographer. Three different teams of Hollywood Vice Squad officers work on three separate cases involving illegal betting run by the Mob, a sleazy BDSM porn director and a ruthless old gangster who runs a teenage prostitution ring. Officers Chang and Stevens work the streets busting hookers. Chang's favorite m.o. is turning into an exaggerated caricature of a stereotypical Asian tourist to gain the girls' trust and then bust them. Things take a serious turn when one of the girls turns out to be a dangerous man in drag who puts a knife to Chang's throat and forces him to take a ride with him, forcing Stevens to engage in hot pursuit. Officer Betty Melton is a rookie who wants to prove herself but her superiors, officers Chavez and Miller, won't let her. When she accidentally witnesses a sleazy backyard BDSM porn shoot involving what seems to be an underage actor, Betty turns to Captain Jensen in hopes of finally getting a case to investigate by herself, but Jensen orders Chavez and Miller to grow up and help her. Officer Daley and hulking officer Tank investigate a proud elderly African-American bookie named Jesse who takes illegal bets for a mobster called Luchessi. They need Jesse's cooperation to get Luchessi but can they guarantee Jesse's safety in return? Meanwhile, Pauline Stanton, a desperate mother who arrived in Hollywood to find her beautiful innocent runaway teenage daughter Lori, asks Jensen for help. His men suspect that the girl is alive and may be turning tricks for Walsh, a ruthless old gangster who seduces teenage girls with promise of fame and stardom only to turn them into his junkie prostitutes. Worse yet, once he has no more use for them they usually end up dead from "accidental" overdose. Jensen gives the case to his top undercover officers Hawkins and Judy. Hawkins pretends to be the new player in town with Judy as his main squeeze to get Walsh and his right hand man Farber to literally sell him Lori. After another hot pursuit involving a rampaging man on PCP who stole a bus full of passengers, Chang and Stevens join Hawkins as backup. However, Walsh also has a backup, his equally ruthless madam Veronica and psychotic shotgun-loving goon Daniello. Without seeing this film and reading the plot outline, I can see that this is clearly a rip-off of Paul Schrader's classic film entitled, "Hardcore" starring George C. Scott from 1979. Check out this plot outline from Hardcore: "A conservative Midwest businessman ventures into the sordid underworld of pornography in California to look for his runaway teenage daughter whom is making porno films in the porno pits of Los Angeles. " Sound familiar?<br/><br/>What a rip off of the Scrhrader/Scott classic. It is funny to note and to Carrie Fisher's delight that there are a few references to Star Wars…watch and see, you won't believe your eyes. Hollywood Vice Squad passes itself off as a comedy, even though it's really a drama. Given it's subject, it could of been a much better drama, as some bits work quite effectively, but I'm talking only a minority of scenes. The film has an interesting cast of actors, some lesser known types, like Evan Kim, and Joey Travolta, John Travolta's lesser known brother. It also stars veteran actor, Frank Gorshin, as a sleazy old pimp, well suited to his features. It also has Carrie Fisher, after her Star Wars days, a cop with potential, wanting to make a difference. Her frustration is only increased when stumbling across a kiddy porn flick being made in one of L.A.s own backyards. Ronny Cox, I guess, is kind of stereotyped here as a caring detective who tells mother (Trish Van Devere) straight out the facts on missing teenagers who go searching for their dreams. This film also has Robin Wright in one of her earlier roles, (years before becoming Mr Penn's better half) as a teen pro and junkie who works for pimp, Gorshin, (again what a sleaze). So it's up to the vice squad who must track her down, the missing teen, suspected as belonging to Gorshin's stable. Evan Kim is an asset to this movie in a parade of bad disguises, while working undercover, the last one, before the curtain comes up, a must see, though I did like the first one with as the eager sex tourist. Leon Issac Kennedy, another one of the squad, has his moments too. He plays cool, great, almost a clone of Lionel Richie. The scene in particular that convinced me mentally of this, was when one of Gorshin's women, a tall long legged hottie, strips for Leon's character, who's masquerading here as an upscale pimp, competing with Gorshin, who finds him a hoot as he does a joke, This scene is my favorite scene, that stands superior to the others, but also not forgetting the one with Ms Wright, in nightwear making out with an older client. One thing that freaked me out about the movie was Gorshin's, shockingly thin and short receptionist. Some scenes in this movie stay with me, one a raid with Fisher's mob crashing another kiddie porn flick, this one has it's youngsters in viking gear, horns and all. But this movie is really laughable, but a lot of fun too. It's a pity in one sense, as this flick showed promise, but on the other scale, it's really entertaining B grade fun, Evan and Leon as it's saving grace.
Cerelfar replied
355 weeks ago