''Vigilante'', later released on video as ''Street Gang'', is a 1982 American

vigilante film The vigilante film is a film genre in which the protagonist or protagonists engage in vigilante behavior, taking the law into their own hands. Vigilante films are usually revenge films in which the legal system fails protagonists, leading them to ...

directed by

William Lustig William "Bill" Lustig (born February 1, 1955, in The Bronx, New York) is an American film director and producer who has worked primarily in the horror film genre. He is the nephew of former middleweight champion Jake LaMotta. Film career As ...

and starring

Robert Forster Robert Wallace Forster Jr. (July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019) was an American actor, known for his roles as John Cassellis in '' Medium Cool'' (1969), Captain Dan Holland in ''The Black Hole'' (1979), Abdul Rafai in '' The Delta Force'' (1986 ...

and

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), also known as The Hammer, is an American actor and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s. Williamson is perhaps ...

. Lustig came upon the idea for the film through a news article about "a group of blue collar workers in southern New Jersey who had organized to fight crime in their neighborhood".

Plot

Eddie Marino (

) is a factory worker in New York City. He has a wife named Vickie (

Rutanya Alda Rutanya Alda (born Rūta Skrastiņa; October 13, 1942) is a Latvian-American actress. She began her career in the late 1960s, and went on to have supporting parts in ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), ''Rocky II'' (1979), and ''Mommie Dearest'' (1981). S ...

) and an eight-year-old son named Scott ( Dante Joseph). Eddie's friend and co-worker, Nick (

), and two other co-workers, Burke and Ramon, have formed a secret vigilante group because Nick and the group are fed up with the crime in their neighborhoods. Nick and his group are also tired of the police, because the police always fail to protect people. Nick's "group" has support of various residents of the neighborhood who indirectly help them. In one example, a local thug stalks and chases a young woman to a rooftop of an apartment building where the thug robs and then kills her. An old lady who witnesses the thug says nothing to the police, but points out the thug to Nick and his group the next day. Nick and his friends forcibly grab the thug off the streets and place him in their van and drive away. The thug is later found dead in a vacant lot with all of his arms and legs broken and his head bashed in. One evening, Eddie returns home from work only to discover that Vickie has been stabbed, and Scott has been shot dead in a

home invasion A home invasion, also called a hot prowl burglary, is a sub-type of burglary (or in some jurisdictions, a separately defined crime) in which an offender unlawfully enters into a building residence while the occupants are inside. The overarching ...

which was in retaliation for Vickie aiding a gas station attendant who was being assaulted earlier. Frederico "Rico" Melendez (

Willie Colón William Anthony Colón Román (born April 28, 1950) is an American salsa musician and social activist. He began his career as a trombonist and also sings, writes, produces and acts. He is also involved in the politics of New York City. Colón ...

), the punk leader of a Puerto Rican street gang, is arrested for the crime. Assistant District Attorney Mary Fletcher (

Carol Lynley Carol Lynley (born Carole Ann Jones; February 13, 1942 – September 3, 2019) was an American actress known for her roles in the films ''Blue Denim'' (1959) and '' The Poseidon Adventure'' (1972). Lynley was born in Manhattan to an Irish ...

) seeks a lengthy jail sentence, since New York does not have the death penalty. Nick tries to convince Eddie to join the vigilante group, but Eddie turns Nick down, preferring to let the courts handle Rico. Nick's lack of faith in the system is proven correct when Rico is set free after his right-hand man, Prago (Don Blakely), bribes both Judge Sinclair (Vincent Beck) and Eisenburg (

Joe Spinell Joe Spinell (born Joseph Spagnuolo; October 28, 1936 – January 13, 1989) was an American character actor who appeared in films in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as various stage productions on and off Broadway. He played supporting roles in ''The ...

), Rico's attorney. Enraged, Eddie attacks the judge and is sentenced to 30 days in jail. With Eddie in jail, the vigilante group tracks down the source of the drugs in their neighborhood. After roughing up a small-time drug dealer (

Frank Pesce Frank Pesce (December 8, 1946 – February 6, 2022) was an American film and television actor. Early life Born in New York City, Pesce was the son of two working-class Italian-American parents. Career Pesce started his film career as an e ...

) and torturing his supplier, they are led to a high-ranking member of the New York mayor's office. Meanwhile, in prison, Eddie befriends an inmate named Rake (

Woody Strode Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (July 25, 1914 – December 31, 1994) was an American athlete and actor. He was a decathlete and football star who was one of the first Black American players in the National Football League in the postwar era. Aft ...

) who saves him from being gang raped in the showers. As soon as Eddie is released from jail, he joins the vigilante group so he can track down and kill Rico, Prago, and Judge Sinclair. Eddie, Nick, Burke and Ramon confront Rico in his seedy apartment, where Rico denies killing Eddie's son and insists it was Prago. An unmoved Eddie shoots him dead, but narrowly escapes death when Rico's girlfriend attempts to shoot him; she wounds Burke instead, and Nick kills her in self-defense. Upon hearing about Rico's death, Prago takes over command of the gang and mistakenly assumes that dirty cops killed Rico. The following night, Prago and the gang ambush a police car and kill both cops. Vickie is released from the hospital, but refuses to come home to Eddie and she leaves him, unable to be in the very house where their son was killed. Eddie decides to move away, too, disgusted with himself over killing a man as well as in fear that the gang will track him down. Nick unsuccessfully attempts to persuade him to stay and fight. As Eddie leaves Brooklyn, he recognizes Prago and follows him on foot. Prago soon spots Eddie and they shoot at each other. Prago hijacks a car, and Eddie steals a car to follow him. The chase leads to a local dockyard mill where both cars crash. Eddie chases Prago on foot again, then confronts him on a storage tower. Sadistic and insane to the last, Prago admits to killing Scott, and then dares Eddie to kill him; Eddie responds by throwing Prago off the tower to his death without hesitating. Later, Eddie plants a bomb in Judge Sinclair's car, then watches from a distance as it explodes and kills Sinclair. The film ends as Eddie drives away to an unknown destination.

Cast

as Eddie Marino *

as Nick * Richard Bright as Burke *

as Vickie Marino * Don Blakely as Prago * Joseph Carberry as Ramon *

as Rico *

as Eisenberg *

as Mary Fletcher *

as Blueboy * Steve James as Ptl. Gibbons (as Steve W. James) *

as Rake * Vincent Beck as Judge Sinclair

Release

''Vigilante'' premiered at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

on May 18, 1982. This was followed by a sneak preview in New York City on July 23, 1982 and a wide release in the United States on March 4, 1983. It grossed $5,091,888 in the United States.

Blue Underground Blue Underground is an American company specializing in releasing authoritative editions of cult and exploitation movies on Blu-ray Disc and DVD. It was originally formed as a shell company to oversee 'making of' documentaries during founder ...

released it on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

for the first time in September 2010, and again on

Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players, though a traditional Bl ...

in December 2020, boasting a new 16-bit restoration from the original camera negative, HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and a new Dolby Atmos soundtrack.

Reception

Dave Kehr David Kehr (born 1953) is an American museum curator and film critic. For many years a critic at the ''Chicago Reader'' and the ''Chicago Tribune,'' he later wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' on DVD releases. He later became a c ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote that ''Vigilante'' was "directed with classical, self-effacing skill". Kehr identified influence from New York street realism and stated that the film was only possible in the period between the collapses of the

Motion Picture Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

and

grindhouse A grindhouse or action house is an American term for a theatre that mainly shows low-budget horror, splatter and exploitation films for adults. According to historian David Church, this theater type was named after the "grind policy", a film ...

theaters. Randy Fox of the ''

Nashville Scene ''Nashville Scene'' is an alternative newsweekly in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1989, became a part of Village Voice Media in 1999, and later joined the ranks of sixteen other publications after a merger of Village Voice Media with ...

'' called the film "a grindhouse classic". Rodney Perkins of

Twitch Film Screen Anarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...

called it derivative of '' Death Wish'' but memorable for its cast and nihilistic tone. Chris Claro of

DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose reviews ...

called it an incoherent ripoff of ''Death Wish'' that is still entertaining. Stuart Galbraith of

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

rated it 2.5/5 stars and called it "an undistinguished, forgettable throwaway".

References

External links