As a long time fan of the San Francisco 49ers, I was very interested in seeing the great Roger Craig, the running back who was a member of 3 Super Bowl winning teams in the 80's in his acting debut. He doesn't disappoint in his cameo, playing a detective who is investigating a murder and chases a suspect who was pointed at by someone who saw him with the victim. Roger runs down an alley, showing off the moves that made him the NFL's first 1000-1000 player, including a nasty stiff arm and some strong language to boot. He then gets into his police car and barrels down the road, still on the suspects trail. After the car can't be driven no further, he gets out and while continuing the chase, is tripped up by the suspect's brand new friend. Roger then proceeds to beat him up and handcuff him to a pipe. Roger then lights a cigarette and gets back in the car, where he suddenly has a heart attack and dies.
How did this happen? William Katt plays Franklyn Carlisle, a councilman who is running for Mayor. One of his plans is to clean up the city of it's filth. One night, while driving through the red district, he is mugged. He wakes up in an alley and meets up with a strange man named Sam Silver. Mr. Silver introduces Franklyn to the sins of the Ying Yang Club, a gentleman's club. One of the ladies who works there (Maria Ford) takes a liking to him, which excited him because he isn't happy with his marriage. He also finds that his car has miraculously returned after it was stolen.
The next night, Franklyn returns to the area to search for Sam again. They meet and talk. Sam isn't happy with proposals to close down the club, saying that cities need to have a good side and and bad side. The woman that likes him has finished her shift and asks if he can drive her home. He agrees and you know what happens next. There is an interesting storyline with Lynn Hauser's interest in being choked while having sex.
The night was such a smashing success that the next morning Franklyn goes down to Lynn's house for another session, only to find she's been murdered. Roger does his thing, then after he expires, Franklyn uncuffs Sam and tells him what happened. Sam just gives him some cryptic advice or something. Franklyn goes back home to discover his wife is having an affair with his best friend. They have a fight, and when he wins it, his wife admonishes him and goes to see how her lover is. While cleaning up in the bathroom, Franklyn hears gunshots and discovers his wife and friend have been murdered. He's also given a note to be at the Ying Yang Club, which is closed due to the investigation of the murder and to Roger's death. He goes in, is knocked out, awakens to see someone on stage doing a striptease, and finds out it's his secretary who has a big crush on him. She decides to choke him to death because he'd had sex with Lynn, but just before he's about expire, Sam comes in and shoots her with a gun to save his life. Sam also had a tape of what she said, admitting she'd killed Lynn and the others. Franklyn decides that he doesn't want to change the world any more and just decides to live a new life because his reputation was ruined, but he never finds out the true mystery of Sam Silver. Is he an angel, or the devil, or both?
I loved this movie. It has good acting, direction, and the storyline has lots of twists. It's a bit silly, too. Fred Olen Ray, the infamous B-movie director, has a cameo, playing the MC who announces the acts at the Ying Yang Club. Maria Ford and Elena Sahagun are great, too, and do a better job of doing a striptease than Demi Moore could. Rick Dean is terrific as well. But it's Roger Craig who steals the show. Why he didn't get more offers after this is beyond me. See it just for him, you won't be disappointed.
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