Enemy Territory

Plot synopsis:
Barry (Frank) is a formerly successful insurance executive whose career and life are being destroyed by alcoholism. As the day ends, he is sent to a notorious New York City housing project, the Lincoln Towers, to try and complete a life insurance policy sale to a nice elderly woman named Elva (Foster). Meanwhile, a man named Will (Parker Jr.), a soft-spoken but tough employee of the telephone company, also heads to the building to hook up with his girlfriend and repair the phone lines. Unfortunately for Barry, while inquiring where Elva's apartment is, he taps a boy on the shoulder and quickly becomes the hated target of a savage gang called the Vampires, who run the Towers. The gang is led by their ruthless leader the Count (Todd).
An attempt to kill him leads to the death of the building's security guard. With Barry's entrapment inside the building, he crosses paths with Will and makes his first reluctant ally willing to help him. They take safety in Elva's apartment, but escape when the Vampires trap them. Leaving Elva behind, they find Elva's determined granddaughter Toni (Dash), visiting with her neighbors. Toni suggests they go to the apartment of Mr. Parker (Vincent), a unstable yet vicious Vietnam vet the gang fears. Paid for his help, Parker lets the trio in. Then Toni leaves to check on her grandmother. When she arrives, she discovers Elva beaten. And she is forced to reveal where Barry and Will are.
The Vampires, holding Elva and Toni hostage, arrive at Parker's apartment. Barry surrenders himself to save them. As Barry and Will exit, Parker and the Vampires engage in a shootout. In the midst of the gunfire, Barry, Will, and Toni escape. When Elva and Parker retreat back inside his apartment, Parker is shot in the chest and a short time later dies. Next, the trio head to the apartment of Chet Cole (Richmond). A little boy, living with his mother, whom they heard is the only one who knows a way out of the building that no one else knows, not even the Vampires. According to Chet, the way out is in the building's basement. Chet offers to show them, but his mother sends him to bed, leading him to sneak out.
After saving them from being killed, Chet joins the trio as they descend to the basement through the elevator shaft. In the basement, Chet shows them the way out, but the opening is too small for either Barry or Will to fit through. Toni however is able to fit through and runs to get the police. But when she arrives at the station, the officers refuse to help, due to other officers being shot on a previous visit to the building.
While Barry and Will wait, Will comes up with another plan. Using the money that Elva gave Barry earlier in the film, they send Chet back upstairs. With sunrise approaching, Chet litters the money out a window to the Vampires guarding the basement door to the outside. At the same time, the Count and other Vampires realize that after checking every apartment in the building the basement is the only place left to look. When the money distraction works, Barry and Will escape just as the Count and his remaining Vampires arrive, and Barry is shot in the ankle.
Outside, Will and a wounded Barry start running as they are being chased and tormented by the last of the gang. Cornered, Will uses the one shot he has left in his gun to protect Barry and himself. He does this by having a final showdown with the Count. As the Count closes in, Will shoots him and struggles with him, until he knocks him to the ground. The Count dies and the other Vampires prepare to gun down Barry and Will. But Elva, using Parker's machine gun, fires shots at them from the apartment window to hold them at bay. Seconds later, Toni and the police finally arrive. Having survived a deadly night against a vicious gang, the film ends with Will and Toni accompanying Barry as he is taken to an ambulance.

Tags: suspenseful, murder, violence

Review:
Though made in 1987, 'Enemy Territory' most resembles a drive-in exploitation movie from the seventies.
Silly script, over-acting by all concerned, non-stop action and a dated 'urban' soundtrack all mean one thing - FUN!!!
This is a gritty thriller set in a tower block, where an unfortunate insurance salesman finds himself trapped on the top floor in a building controlled by the local gang called the Vampires.
The Vampires are out for blood after the salesman unwittingly insults one of the gangs younger members on his way to sign a deal which should earn him a nice commission.
Luckily he gets some help along the way by none other than Ray Parker Junior, and together with some friendlier residents of the block, they try to escape certain death.
But the best thing is Tony Todd (pre - Candyman) as the demented evil leader of the Vampires and his sidekick - Psycho!
This movie, i must have watched it 40 times...but not in the last 10 years, would love to watch and see if it still scares me, it invoked alot of emotion in me as a child...racism....hatred...violence...all wrapped up into one big burrito is what you have here...i loved this movie, and it was my first exposure to a VERY underrated actor, Tony Todd...although reaching mimimal success as candyman...and recently as a 2 bit part of a mortician in final destination...he is very good onstage with the creepy image, needs to be his own villain!!!
Urban decay as literal nightmare - huge ghetto apartment, graffiti everywhere, people out to kill you, gangs running rampant - this movie has it all!
Jan Michael Vincent has one of the best cameos you will ever see in a movie!
He plays 'Parker', a whacked out, bubba-Vietnam vet in a wheelchair (still handsome, but crazed!) who tries to help a remarkably decent-acting Ray Parker Jr.
Tony Todd (yes, the "Candyman" himself!) is also great as the "Vampire" gang leader in this..
This flick is a good representative of the 80's underrated B-movies, that gets you not by the quality, but specially by the lack of it.
In the story, a phone company worker (Ray Parker Jr., whose sole glory was the making of the hit song "Ghostbusters", in his acting debut) is caught up in the middle of a crisis with a violent street gang called the Vampires, that control a project building where a rundown insurance salesman played by Gary Frank stepped on the wrong toe by touching a gang member after dark; the Vampires leader, The Count (Tony Todd), wants blood to make amends and the duo must fight for their lives until the sun comes up, with the helping hand of some courageous inhabitants.
Insurance salesman Barry (Gary Frank) visits an urban ghetto to sell insurance to a client and has a run in with a young member of a vicious street gang called the Vampires.
Soon their leader, aptly named 'The Count' (Tony Todd) hears about this and wants Barry dead.
Barry teams up with Ray Parker Jnr and they also enlist the help of the only man the gang supposedly fears, the wheelchair bound Parker, a Vietnam War veteran, (played by Jan-Michael Vincent).
The vampires are after blood.The film is fast paced and entertaining but does has strong violence and racism in as well so be warned.
Also a great music soundtrack from the Boogie boys an American hip hop band group from New York, where this film was shot.
The band sadly spilt up a year after this film was made.Watch out for the clever ending; note the gang are called Vampires when you look for this.
Admitted some of the acting is a little shameful, but Jan Michael Vincent supplies us with a solid performance as the gruff ass kicking paraplegic with Knives in his wheel chair (how cool is that?).
Have searched high and low and can't find it anywhere.Had to watch in poor VHS quality with German subs which was a little annoying, but did not detract from my enjoyment of the film..
I think that when you re-watch a movie after a few years the possibility is there that you will like it even more or hate it even more.
Well, after re-watching this  movie my conclusion was "Oh my god, this is great stuff".
A nice assortment of characters, are terrorized by a gang called the "Vampires", while desperately trying to escape from a "project" high rise.
The strength of this film is having very sympathetic heroes, Gary Frank, and Ray Parker Jr., interacting with likable tenants, including Jan Michael Vincent playing a whacked Vietnam Vet. The "Vampire"gang are all generic, unmemorable, minority thugs, with the notable exception of "The Count".
Considering the limited budget, "Enemy Territory" is a surprisingly good film.....
This was one of those films I constantly saw on the video previews of ex-rentals and each time I saw it pop up my hunger only grew to watch it.
Produced by Charles Band's Empire pictures, "Enemy Territory" was a nice surprise (strangely not on DVD yet) and truly a sock 'em urban action survival romp that is compulsively brutal, raw and relentless in its tightly constructed surges.Barry (Gary Frank) a struggling insurance salesman heads out to a rundown complex building the Lincoln Towers late one evening for a client (Frances Foster) to sign some very important papers for his company and especially for himself.
However he gets caught in an altercation which sees him fighting for his life against a savage gang called the vampires, who rule the building at night.
It's going to be one long night for the pair, as they try seeking help from the buildings tenants or it would be their blood for the vampires.
Gary Frank is fittingly good in his meek portrayal and Ray Parker, Jr is affably brought across.
The tremendous standout would be aggressively hammy and towering Tony Todd as the count, the leader of the gang.
When the sun goes down and the moon shines brightly, the tenants inhabiting the Lincoln Towers tremble in fear...terrified of an evil, omnipotent presence, a merciless street gang calling themselves the "Vampires." The Vampires are lead by none other than Tony Todd as the Count!
As the King of these apartments, he strikes fear into the hearts of his innocent prey...Gary Frank is an insurance salesman, an ordinary, blue collared John Doe. Ray Parker Jr.mis a telephone repairman.
Their only essence to triumph over adversity is a motley of courageous souls including a tough elderly woman, her beautiful teenage granddaughter, Toni (Stacey Dash), and a crippled, psychopathic Vietnam veteran (Jan-Michael Vincent.
This Vietnam vet may very well serve as much of a hostile threat rather than an ally to both Frank and Ray Jr. The clash between good and evil continues in a vortex of anxiety and perturbation until the last survivors of both sides meet in a final confrontation...Enemy Territory is a creepy urban thriller with satisfactory performances and a fair amount of tension and uneasiness.
The two also manage to save each other's rear ends a few times from the aggression of the innumerable Vampire gang members.
Tony Todd arrogantly proclaims himself as the emperor of his territory, and he does a great job playing a demonic guy on the edge.
Jan-Michael Vincent gives a nutty performance as an insane Vietnam veteran who's screws are not tightened on properly.This low budget formula offers a few violent action scenes and lots of blood.
I also observed how offensively mean-spirited and racist this movie was at times.Enemy Territory is not bad, but not particularly memorable.
Enemy territory is a fantastic 80s urban Thriller i love this film, this has that exciting & creepy atmosphere & tone like Assault on precinct 13 (1976) & alot of that 80s punk gangs feel that you get in the Death wish films & many others.This little survival film is about a really bad neighbourhood somewhere in new York City that has a really run down tenement building that is the dark hunting ground of a gang of black thugs called the Vampires who have a crazy leader played by the Awesome TONY TODD!!!
Anyway IT'S getting late & nearly dark & an insurance salesman played really well by GARY FRANK has to go into the building to make a quick sale-a quick signing & back out but things go very wrong & very serious & he ends up trapped in the big scary building with the Vampires gang hunting him.
A great little B-movie fun & exciting Thriller with a vety gritty look & creepy high rise building & it works perfectly with tense scenes & some other cool characters who happen to be in the building or live there such as will (RAY PARKER JR ) who is a good guy & wants to help get Barry out of the building alive!!!
Also small roles for other characters like JAN MICHAEL VINCENT'S ex Vietnam nut who loves guns & STACEY DASH (Clueless) who also wants to help.
ENEMY TERRITORY is great exciting fun with an AWESOME cast & an AWESOME location to for an urban survival Thriller to be set in.
Enemy Territory was a pretty good movie & better than I expected it to be.I watched it from start to finish on the edge of my seat, wondering if & how Ray Parker Jr.
(Yes, that Ray Parker Jr.) & the insurance salesman would make it out of the projects alive.Speaking of Ray Parker Jr., I didn't realize he was in the movie until I saw it on IMDb.Kadeem Hardison was in it as well as A-Train.A young Tony Todd was most evil as the leader of The Vampires & Jan-Michael Vincent was great as the Vietnam vet who turned his apartment into a bunker & the only tenant The Vampires were scared of because he was the only 1 who would shoot back.
(Did Jan-Michael Vincent's character remind anybody else of Rowdy Roddy Piper or was it just me?) Even though it did keep me on the edge of my seat the entire time & was better than I expected, Enemy Territory isn't a movie I'd watch that often but I would watch it again.It had my attention while it was on but after it was over, I was like......
A late 80's action thriller that has a yuppie insurance salesman visiting a housing project apartment building in New York at night.
While in the building to collect a premium he has a mishap with a gang member from a group that all themselves The Vampires.
This sets off a war between the gang and the tenants in a place the police won't go.This flick was awesome.
The Vampire gang was led by a young, skinny Tony Todd which he did just after Platoon.
I met Tony Todd a couple years ago and meant to ask him if he had this on DVD because he did tell me he collects DVDs and I've never seen an official release of this one yet.As well as Tony Todd you have Ray Parker Jr. helping the insurance guy get out of the apartment alive and playing a Vietnam vet in a wheelchair was Jan-Michael Vincent kicking ass.
The film reminded me of Tenement: Game of Survival (1985) which the writer probably watched with elements of Assault On Precinct 13.
A merciless street gang called the Vampires and led by "Candyman" himself Tony Todd is terrorizing the tenants inhabiting the Lincoln Towers.An insurance salesman Gary Frank and a telephone repairman Ray Davis Jr. are trying to survive the night of terror and destroy evil gang."Enemy Territory" by Peter Manoogian of "Demonic Toys" and "Seedpeople" fame is a cheesy action thriller which suddenly disappeared into obscurity.It's pretty fun and entertaining flick with plenty of violence and some cult one-liners.It was filmed in lower Manhattan and briefly in Los Angeles.If you are into cheesy Empire/Full Moon horror movies check out this fairly rare and forgotten urban survival film.7 black gangs out of 10..
The other strange part of this movie is that it was made by a director, Peter Manoogian, not well known but he was second unit director on a lot of horror flicks (The Slayer and Galaxy Of Terror) so he surely know his stuff.
Ray Parker Jr. was known for Ghostbusters (1984), Gary Frank for a lot of roles in series of the 80's, Jan-Michael Vincent for his lead role in the Airwolf series (1984) and Tony Todd is notable here in one of his first roles just before breaking through as a horror icon best known for The Candyman (1992) franchise.
The flick itself never bored me, you just keep watching how they will survive the attack of the Vampire gang.
You really don't see a movie like this for the performances.
Yes this movie is somewhat racist, but it also says a lot about life along the way, how we treat people according to race and environment, how we view that 'Nam-rattled vet in a wheelchair down the hall who resembles a drugged out Jan-Michael Vincent.
The Vampires are certainly an underrated gang, you don't want to mess with.
Frank, great to see in the lead is an insurance salesman, who has to make one last call, regrettably in the projects.
This is enough to bring down the hell that ensues, where shortly after, on Frank's exit, the black kid is shot, and the rest of the gang that control these tenements want blood.
It's a frightening situation and atmosphere, which has you asking many times before, "How could you live here?" Frank nicknamed The Ghost by the gang, becomes trapped in the building.
Bring on Ray Parker Jnr- The Blood Traitor as named by our Vamps, in not a half bad performance, who teams up with Frank, not the best fighting duo, one must admit.
Jan Michael Vincent really stuck out here as a crippled resentful vet (aren't they all), another suffering tenant, ready and armed, with mettle, who hasn't given up the fight.
Enemy Territory really works where in the space of it's 85 minutes, we undermine the terrifying ambiance the movie projects.
Track it down if you haven't seen it, if also watching for Ray Parker Jnr's only performance..
Wimpy, down on his luck insurance salesman Barry Rapchick (well played by Gary Frank of TV's "Family" fame) is sent by his unsympathetic jerk boss into a rundown and dangerous inner city section of the Big Apple to get elderly retired schoolteacher Elva Briggs (a fabulously feisty Frances Foster) to sign a $100,000 dollar policy so Barry can collect a hefty commission.
Barry runs afoul of the violent street gang the Vampires who are led by the ruthless and vicious the Count (deliciously essayed with eye-rolling, rip-snorting, scenery-gnashing hammy élan by a pre-"Candyman" Tony Todd).
Pretty soon Barry's being chased around the dilapidated Lincoln Towers apartment complex by the Vampires, who want him dead after Barry accidentally kills one of their number.
The only folks who come to Barry's aid are heroic telephone repairman Will Jackson (a pretty decent and likable turn by singer Ray Parker, Jr., who crooned the hit theme song for "Ghostbusters") and Briggs' comely granddaughter Toni (a splendidly sassy'n'sexy Stacey Dash).Capably directed with considerable aplomb by Peter Manoogian, with strong performances from a bang-up cast, polished cinematography by Ernest R.
My sole quibble: Jan-Michael Vincent's neat turn as Parker, a bitter, crippled Vietnam veteran who's so paranoid that he lives in a heavily armored bunker and has a motorized wheelchair which comes complete with a cool knife-throwing device is unfortunately cut short way too soon when a pistol-packing thug fatally blasts him right in the chest.
I want this movie on DVD!!!!
I thought to myself this movie couldn't possibly have scored good on IMDb i didn't think anyone else liked it!
It was one of those movies I "grew up" watching...and haven't forgotten it to this day...can practically play it scene for scene in my head :) I used to do a double bill when I was like, 13-14yo, I'd watch the Warriors (1979) and then follow up with Enemy Territory...they were the perfect B-movie popcorn combo - both set in gritty NY...the old, hardcore NY - 70's and 80's...what a time to live there!
And both take place in the space of one night - to me, this creates so much tension in a film...i love the sunrise scenes when the nightmares are over...perfect.
I recommend the Warriors if you like this movie, and vice-versa..
Barry (Frank), a New York City-based insurance salesman, has been down on his luck lately.
But it's not long until Barry discovers that the buildings are controlled by a street gang known as The Vampires, led by an intimidating psycho known as The Count (Todd).
His gang members are extremely loyal to him, and when he sends out the order to kill "The White Ghost", as well as a kind Vietnam vet helping him survive, Will Jackson (Parker Jr.), who the gang calls "The Blood Traitor", all hell breaks loose.
With the assistance of Toni Briggs (Dash) and another Vietnam vet, Parker (JMV), the frazzled Barry is going to learn, over the course of one hellish night, that there are some things in life more valuable than money.
Sadly, it was one of Ray Parker Jr.'s only major film acting roles.
But the movie as a whole isn't a knockoff of Die Hard (1988), like so many others were at this time.
And coincidentally, Tony Todd would return to the projects with Candyman (1992).
Speaking of Barry, Frank did an excellent job in the role, but we also feel Judge Reinhold could have played that part.
But then again, Hostage Train proves that the man can do literally anything.Featuring some great, un-PC dialogue and box art that features the WTC towers prominently, Enemy Territory is from another time in history.
A time when movies were actually good.