Welcome back to the Lost and Found sweet spot, friends! You know what that means—we’re back on the gritty and glittering streets of Los Angeles, circa 1990, with hot prostitutes (or, in this case, hot college girls pretending to be hot prostitutes) and dangerous pimps in tow—meaning we have all the ingredients for primo late eighties, early nineties exploitation gold. This time out, we’re talking about Angels of the City (1990), a forgotten slice of cinematic sleaze from an era that produced cinematic sleaze by the truckload.
Angels of the City really hooked me with its opening establishing shot of nightlife in downtown LA—which really set the mood and serve as a time capsule for the late eighties. Unfortunately, the film never quite lives up to its gritty nightlife milieu, instead opting for a strange, lighthearted vibe, until the last act where things take a depressing turn.
As a longtime fan of what I’ve dubbed the Streetwalkin’ genre—named after the sublime 1985 film, which, alongside a film like Angel (1983), is the peak of the genre—I’ve seen an awful lot of these flicks. Angels of the City is definitely one of the goofiest. It’s an odd mix of what Joe Bob Briggs might call prostitute fu with co-ed bimbo fu. A couple of clueless college girls dress as prostitutes and try to pick up Johns as part of a supremely stupid sorority pledging assignment. Well, that plan doesn’t sound like it could wrong at all. The night takes a terrifying turn when the pretend-hookers are wrapped up in a war between Hollywood Boulevard pimps. There’s also a subplot about the girls’ boyfriends interviewing—and taking turns screwing—an actual prostitute for their term paper assignment. Boys will be boys, I guess.
The college babes are played by the admirably game Kelly Galindo and Cynthia Cheston. They’re spunky and sexy, especially when they suit up for street walking duty. Galindo masterfully fills out her skin-tight leopard print body suit, while Cheston shows off some killer gams, thanks to a sultry, thigh high stockings and garter belt combo. If anything I wish these two had more screen time, and the dopey boyfriends and hilariously inept pimps had less. Angels of the City is notable for being cowritten and directed by famed Cooley High actor Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs. He also plays a noir-inspired tough-guy police detective here, and cowrote the very silly, but sorta catchy theme song. In every way, Hilton-Jacobs is far better than this material. Angels of the City is not a lost classic, by any means, but there are worse ways to spend ninety minutes than watching hotties Galindo and Cheston tying to survive one wild night* on the mean streets of late eighties Los Angeles.
*Interestingly, Angels of the City also belongs in another favorite genre of mine, the one crazy night genre. Think Into the Night (1985), After Hours (1985), Adventures in Babysitting (1987), and Judgment Night (1993), all of which are light years better than Angels in the City, of course.
Before signing off, I’d remiss if I didn’t spotlight a certain side character of note. Lisa Michelle Axelrod plays the sassy and short-lived prostitute Carmen, who doesn’t get much screen time but sure leaves a lasting impression.
Gee, I wonder why??
Angels of the City is currently streaming on Our Lord and Savior, Tubi. It’s a subpar, grainy transfer, though. Normally, this is where I’d toss in a slew of shots from the film, but there are precious few to be found of this one on the interwebs, plus I’m no good at screen shots (as evidenced by most of the images above). Oh well, here’s Lisa Michelle Axelrod in black leather and fishnets, straddling a sweet, flame-adorned chopper, followed by Cynthia Cheston absolutely nailing some pitch-perfect “hot realtor” cosplay and showing she’s still got legs and she still knows how to use them (thanks IMDb, for both pictures).
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