The desperate search by a father for his daughter, lost to the squalor and degradation of pornographic movies, is tackled with typical rigour by Paul Schrader, the gifted writer of Taxi Driver and The Mosquito Coast and the maverick director of Blue Collar and Mishima.

Here directing his own script, Schrader paints an unmercifully vivid picture of Los Angeles sleaze (it's like a West Coast reflection of the hellish New York in Taxi Driver) as George C Scott becomes increasingly frantic in his attempts to contact his missing daughter.

Scott's bellicose gruffness, disguising his deep religious beliefs, powerfully dominates this haunting film but valuable contributions come from Season Hubley as a peep-show model and Peter Boyle as an indifferent detective, both of whom help Scott in his distressing quest.