REVIEW: Brigade de Moeurs / Brigade of Death (1985) Max Pécas returns to Vice City

 We do have a soft spot here for Max Pécas and would gladly present his work in one of the next issues of KRIMI!. But then some French connoisseur should step up to do the heavy lifting of archival research. So meanwhile, all we can do here is watch his movies.

After some initial hard-hitting low-budget films criminels in the 1960s, Pecas jumped on the wagon of the sexual revolution and became very comfortable producing SC masterworks like "I AM FRIGID, BUT WHY?" (1973), but when pornography became legal and he did not want to go there, he produced a steady flow of SC beach bunny comedies that - I have been told—influenced a whole generation of French men and certainly Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, who would produce the very successful "Lemon Popsicle" movies that would generate the money to start their CANNON adventure.

But now it is 1984, and sex comedies are a thing of the past. So Pécas comes up with this one:Clearly inspired by Michael Mann's Miami Vice, DEATH WISH and Lucio Fulci's NEW YORK RIPPER we are presented with the fascinating tale of "The Greek," who enters the drug business (after producing pedoporn without being harassed at all by the police) in Paris and Vice Squad Inspector Lattuada, who has the bad luck that nearly all his interrogation partners happen to fall from rooftops during the questioning. One of them is "The Greek's" wife, which proves quite problematic. As "The Greek" finds out by very viciously torturing an ex-girlfriend of Lattuada (who works as a prostitute), the inspector too has a girlfriend, and the hunt is on.

Believe me, it is not as simple as it sounds, as multiple characters are thrown into the plot, different gangs battle each other for influence, and we have got one "Death Squad" out there, happily killing and torturing prostitutes.

From the second ten (!) of this movie, we know exactly where this movie is being headed as it starts with street hookers (seconds 1-9) who pull out their schlong in the camera to make sure that everybody in the audience is aware that those hard-working girls are actually transvestites. Bad for them, as after the credits they all get shot by the death squad only to reappear on the coroner's table, naked, shot upwards. I am very sure that these actors are the real deal and were just happy for some extra money. 

Pecas knows when to keep things calm and when to switch things up and the overall vileness of the proceedings is illustrated quite drastically. This is, however, never done out of context; this is just life on the seedier side of Paris.

Pecas used to be a promising director, but sadly "Deadly Vice Squad" does not come close to his earlier works in crime cinema. He actively tries to blend into the 80s look and feel, and although the movie is sleazy and violent, it somehow is not very edgy.

But it oozes Paris, 1984 (I have been there, so I should know)....

If you want to get it, you should go with the German Blu-Ray by FilmART called "Todesbrigade", this has longer orgy-scenes for the "Export-Version". Oh dear.