Deadly Addiction (1989) Poster

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1/10
Must see - worst movie I have ever seen
hammer-bill29 July 2013
It's hard for me to confirm this movie with the sparse IMDb data and no photos from the film, but that's understandable. The timeline is right and I knew this film by the name Rock House. My roommate in college rented this and I got half the dorm to watch it and everyone agreed it was the worst film they had ever seen. There is something about the effort they put into the writing and entirely screwing up the social genres, the technical flaws in the story, and the shear lack of emotional performance but it all comes together in this emotion finger nails across a chalk board performance that leaves you wondering what were they thinking?
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7/10
Jack Vacek is our new hero. He is very, very cool.
tarbosh2200030 August 2019
Warning: Spoilers
John Turner (Vacek) is a COTE (Cop On The Edge, for those that may not know) in L.A. After some drug gangs murdered his wife at some point in the past, he made it his personal mission to clean up the streets and get rid of all the drug pushers. It's not going to be easy, especially when Turner comes up against the evil and seemingly indestructible baddie Turko (Cummins). Meanwhile, he finds time for romance with Sara (Schubert) and to mentor a young boy, Hector (Munoz). Is there anything Jack Vacek - or John Turner - can't do? We urge you to find out today!

A blast of 80's awesomeness, Deadly Addiction (AKA Rock House) is a true gem waiting to be rediscovered. Comparisons to some of our favorites such as L.A. Wars (1994), "Geteven" (1993), and Death Flash (1986) - and, yes, even Samurai Cop (1991) and the almighty Stickfighter (1994) - are completely warranted. We're proud to add this fun and enjoyable film to that vaunted roster.

Jack Vacek is our new hero. He is very, very cool. He has a cool mustache, cool sunglasses, a cool jacket, rides a variety of cool automobiles, and has a wide variety of stylin' shirts. And while he plays by his own rules, his COTE-ness can only be described as happy-go-lucky. His amiable charm comes out whether he's battling a picture-perfect BYC (Washington), shooting and killing baddies, or adopting injured dogs and troubled children. He always knows just what to do and say. He may have just replaced Steve Rally in all of our hearts. And that's not an easy thing to do.



On top of being likable, and even having something of a childlike quality, John Turner (or is it Jack Vacek? It's hard to tell when one ends and the other starts) seems to have modeled his life after Sonny Crockett. He has the same job, a similar attitude, and a similar wardrobe. He even lives on a houseboat like Crockett. But instead of a Ferrari, Turner drives a Shelby Cobra with the license plate BEER RUN. Sure, it may be an odd choice for a policeman, but it's so slick it's hard to deny the charm. Welcome to Miami Vacek. But in L.A.

There's a classic 80's dance club (could it be the same one from Party Line?), and the whole film has a fantastic soundtrack, alternating between the classic sax, the wailing-guitar 'Chase Music', and to a heavy metal tune during a raid on a gang called The Rockers. Much like in the cartoons when it gets so hot the mercury bursts through the top of the thermometer, the awesomeness quotient is getting out of control!

The baddies hang out at a restaurant called Degusta, named for the head crime boss. Would you eat at a place with a name so close to 'disgusting'? Was this on purpose? Who knows? Who cares? Especially since Turner's hangout is a bar/restaurant called The Poopdeck. Apparently it is/was a real place in Hermosa Beach, California. And Vacek trumped Tom Hanks by a year with the 'Turner and Pooch' subplot. Naturally, the whole thing comes to a head at an abandoned factory of some sort. It's hard to tell what they would have made, so we called it the Shootout Factory. We've all seen them before. Get ready to hear that phrase again in future reviews.

Deadly Addiction hammers home all the right notes we love to hear again and again. It's a movie that says "subtlety is for suckers; it's party time". We can get on board with that. It is just so much fun and it's so entertaining, anyone who fails to get any enjoyment out of it should probably be thrown into a volcano.

Schedule your "Vacek-tomy" as soon as possible.
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8/10
Pretty good action movie
udonome867 August 2016
John Turner used to be one of the greatest cops in LA then drug dealers murder his wife, ever since then he plays by his own rules, out to nail every drug dealer in town warrant or no warrant. Jack Vacek who worked on Gone In 60 Seconds, The Junkman, and his own movie Double Nickels obviously put a lot of effort into this movie, it doesn't feel like a independent film, just a classic '80s action flick with great action sequences, well put together car chases, and a good soundtrack its hard to beat that. Its just too bad its such a hard movie to find and confusingly seems to have two titles Deadly Addiction as shown here while on the video and the start of the movie its called Rock House
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8/10
A decent-enough action movie with pretty good stuntwork
abbazabakyleman-988344 September 2018
Jack Vacek, who had previously made the low-budget car chase classic Double Nickels, scores again in this Dirty Harry clone about renegade L.A. cop John Turner (Vacek) who purposely defies his superiors by trying to expose a city-wide drug ring that takes him from California to Mexico and back. Along the way, he becomes a father figure to a troubled orphan kid and also falls in love with Sarah, a magazine photographer.

This film actually features pretty good stunts. There are a number of wild car chases and crashes, including a harrowing shootout in the film's climax. Look for cameos by future actress Constance Marie as an extra in a nightclub scene and H.B. Halicki as a motorist in the film's beginning.
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