Todesschwadron (1983)

Todesschwadron: Directed by Paul Aaron. With Wings Hauser, Joyce Ingalls, Paul Shenar, Al Ruscio. Stoney Cooper, a former Los Angeles police officer, is at a low point in his life. Kicked off the force because of his anti-authority attitude, he now ekes out a living as a freelancer in New York. All this changes when the daughter of an old friend is killed by a serial killer terrorizing L.A. Although almost nobody in his old home town is happy to see him back, Cooper pledges to bring the killer to justice before any more innocent people die.

“What we have here is a typical run-of-the-mill eighties crime/action/thriller from the somewhat lower budget regions. The plot involves a (very active) serial killer running amok in L.A. One of the apparently random victims, being killed at the very start of the movie, is the granddaughter of an ex-thief. Granddaddy then calls in the help of Stoney Jackson Cooper (Wings Hauser), a former hard-boiled cop from the L.A. police force who doesnu0026#39;t like playing by the rules. When he arrives in L.A., the authorities, local criminals as well as his (soon-to-be) ex-wife are not too happy with his return. But Stoney doesnu0026#39;t care. Heu0026#39;s got a job to do and a promise to keep: track down the vile killer and put a stop to his activities.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe story bounces to the left u0026amp; the right at an uneven pace, but still manages to be quite coherent and even turn in a twist at the start of the third act (albeit one youu0026#39;ll probably see coming). Wings Hauser is in top shape in this one and pretty much owns the movie. One scene has him relaxing in a bath tub, and then going after the killer butt-naked after the whole loft has been shot to pieces during the killeru0026#39;s surprise attack. Even a pretty decent but obviously very standard climax is added to the mix (Wings vs. the killer, after his true identity is exposed). Other forms of entertainment, aside from shooting u0026amp; killing, are included also, like a soft-core sex-scene (Wings u0026amp; Joyce Ingalls) and an obligatory car crash/explosion. Yes, u0026quot;Deadly Forceu0026quot; does its best to play it right.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSadly, one of the worst aspects of u0026quot;Deadly Forceu0026quot; is the musical score. The main theme – if you can call it that – doesnu0026#39;t work at all. Itu0026#39;s too rocky u0026amp; funky and is used too often u0026amp; inappropriately (even during the climactic fight u0026amp; chase scene at the end). It gives the film a much sillier u0026amp; dated vibe than it should have. A more gritty u0026amp; tense analog synth score would have worked wonders, Iu0026#39;m sure. But in the end, u0026quot;Deadly Forceu0026quot; is much more entertaining than itu0026#39;s poor rating on here would lead you to believe. And itu0026#39;s mainly thanks to Wings Hauser and a typical B-movie script that at least tries to make things work.”