Vigilante tells the grim and hard-boiled revenge story of Eddie Marino (Robert Froster) and Nick (Fred Williamson), a series of events brings these two together in a crime-riddled street of New York to eradicate the vermin from the city. William Lustig must be appreciated for meticulously planning the scenes to best utilize his limited funds supported by amazing cinematography James Lemmo. When watching the film there is no denying its minuscule budget. You see it in numerous places. But the sheer quality of the suspense trumps nearly every budget limitation. Lustig demonstrates some of same bubbling tension that would later make "Maniac Cop" so effective.
The actors deliver quite fine performances, with Robert Froster obviously very prominent in his role as Eddie... Fred Williamson is also good and convincing as Nick, where he in a quite convincing way plays a guy who is hellbent to avenge the street gang.I thought only if this had Charles Bronson, it would probably be the best Death Wish sequel.
Overall, Vigilante precisely, combines the nastiness of Blaxploitation movies as well as the urban aesthetics to create a nocturnal and claustrophobic action supported with pulsating soundtrack. The dialogue is trashy, but this fits the slight b-movie feel the film has and feels like practically perfect midnight movie with chips and beer.
