Uncaged

"Uncaged", a.k.a. "Angel in Red", tells the story of a young hooker named Mickie (Leslie Bega of 'Head of the Class' and 'The Sopranos'). She lives with a mentally disabled brother, Robby (Jason Oliver, "Stand by Me"), and answers to a pimp, Sharkey (Jeffrey Dean "Negan" Morgan, in his film debut). Her relationship with Sharkey sours when he becomes more and more unhinged, and beats one of her fellow hookers to death. Sharkey escapes punishment from an underworld figure, Slash (Henry Brown, "Stepfather II"), and believing that he was set up by Mickie, spends an eventful night tracking her down for the sake of revenge.

If this sounds familiar, it's because it's essentially a remake of the earlier Roger Corman production "Streetwalkin'". Nothing new is brought to the table with this version, which doesn't offer anything memorable. It has a sufficient amount of sex, partial nudity, and violence if that's all that the potential viewer desires, but the story is now trite. The sordid goings-on, written by Catherine Cyran, are given reasonable pace by director Lisa Hunt, who took her name off the picture in favor of a male pseudonym. The movies' look is just right, there are some very sexy ladies present, and there's an omnipresent pop and rock soundtrack.

The performances are adequate to the occasion. Bega has appeal as the heroine. Morgan is amusing enough as the villain. Brown is actually pretty good, while Pamella D'Pella and Sheila Scott-Wilkenson do alright as Mickies' more experienced co-workers.

"Uncaged" is watchable, but undistinguished. Viewers are better off revisiting "Streetwalkin'" or, for that matter, the vastly superior "Vice Squad".

Five out of 10.