VIGILANTE FORCE (1976) **

George (Miami Blues) Armitage wrote and directed this muddled tale of a small southern California town overrun with crime.  With their police force depleted, they turn to a former war hero named Aaron (Kris Kristofferson) and his buddies to patrol the streets.  They clean up the place in no time at all, but they soon prove to be even worse than the criminals they ran out of town.  It then falls on Aaron’s brother (Jan-Michael Vincent) to set things right.

Vigilante Force plays almost like a remake of Bucktown.  Unlike that film, it’s awfully slow-moving and has very little drive.  It’s ninety minutes, but it feels much longer than that.  Folks expecting nothing more than standard issue Drive-In fare will probably enjoy it.  As a fan of Armitage’s work, I’m sad to report that Vigilante Force lacks the flare Armitage usually brings to his movies.  

A lot of that has to do with the clunky plot.  The big twist seems more random than anything.  When Kristofferson makes the switch from Good Ol’ Boy to villain it feels like he only does so because the plot needs him to; not necessarily because his character wants to.  Also, Kristofferson seems too nice to be a villain.  He would go on to play good villains later in his career, but he just seems too affable to be menacing here.  When he kills someone in cold blood, it just feels off.  

Jan-Michael Vincent is a bit bland for a leading man and can’t command the screen.  Since he’s unable to wrangle the movie away from Kristofferson, we’re really left with no one to root for.  At least the supporting cast is a veritable who’s who of exploitation stars and ‘70s personalities.  Victoria Principal, Bernadette Peters, Paul Gleason, and Andrew Stevens have some fine moments, and there are bits by Charles Cyphers, Dick Miller, and Loni Anderson too.

The bulk of Vigilante Force is lazily plotted and lackadaisically paced, but the last reel is really something.  The final showdown between the two brothers features lots of shit blowing up and plenty of guys falling out of high-story windows.  If only the rest of the movie had the same amount of energy.