Who you gonna call when the going gets tough

ENEMY TERRITORY (1987). Starring Gary Frank, Ray Parker, Jr., Tony Todd, Stacey Dash, Jan-Michael Vincent. When a white collar (and white guy) insurance salesman goes into a inner city housing project in order to make a desperately needed commission, he crosses paths with a dangerous gang and must team up with streetwise telephone repairmen if hopes to survive the night.
Falling between 70's blaxploitation and the emergence of the New Black Cinema Movement that started in the late 80's with Spike Lee's SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT, ENEMY TERRITORY is an over-looked and under-appreciated action programmer. Rooted less in the gritty urban realities of COLORS or BOYZ IN THE HOOD, the film owes much to THE WARRIORS stylistically with the Vampires, the completely and hopelessly goofy street gang, and Hollywood Golden Age Westerns like STAGECOACH or FORT APACHE structurally, with the suburban salesman hero as the naive greenhorn, the gang as the angry natives, and Ray (Why isn't he selling autographs next to Ernie Hudson yet?) Parker Jr. as Tonto. Efficiently paced and moving at a fast clip, the film features a slew of B-list stars on their way up and on their way down with Jan Michael Vincent as a loony Vietnam Vet, Gary Frank from the 70's tv drama FAMILY in the lead, starlet Stacey Dash as The Cute Girl, and a young Tony Todd showing off the scenery-chewing chops he would fully master in the FINAL DESTINATION movies. Not yet on DVD and rarely screened on cable, here's your chance to catch up with this minor-m