Hell's Angels '69 (1969)

 

Director:  Lee Madden

Writers:  Don Tait, Tom Stern, Jeremy Slate

Composer:  Tony Bruno

Starring:  Tom Stern, Jeremy Slate, Conny Van Dyke, G.D. Spradlin, Bobby Hall, Steve Sandor, Sonny Barger, Terry the Tramp, Clifford Workman, Tiny Walters, Charles Tinsley, and the Oakland Hell's Angels

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  This was the RUMBLE that ROCKED Las Vegas!

Plot:  Chuck and his brother Wes are wealthy siblings who plan to rob Caesar's Palace more for fun than profit.  Oh, yeah, they're going to use the unsuspecting Hell's Angels to pull it off!

My rating:   7.5/10

Will I watch it again?   Yes.

 

Well goddamn this was different!  Biker flicks are nearly always predictable and they follow a similar pattern.  This one's very different.  The fact that a couple of wealthy brothers use the Hell's Angels (without the knowledge of the gang) to help them knock off Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas is a very unusual idea.  It's not hard to see how this got made by any studio.  Sure, it's AIP, a studio known for it's low budget drive-in movie fare, but it's still a studio with budget and a crew and not some max out your credit cards to get it made kind of a deal.  Hell, they even got a soundtrack album released on Capitol Records!  Nice going, fellas!!!

The premise is great although I knew nothing of the plot going in so the heist caught my completely by surprise.  The acting serves the film well enough and the lead actors (the brothers) do a very nice job.  Take a look at their credits, they are impressive.  Usually in a biker flick there'd be a ton of padding with the gang riding around everywhere and while that's here, it's just enough and it doesn't feel like it's there to eat up some time.  There's a variety of camera angles and other things you just don't expect to find with this genre.  And this is from a first-time director!!!  I'm going to have to see what else Lee Madden has done.  This picture is 96 minutes and I was left wanting more.   And HOLY FUCKING SHIT!  That ending!!! 

 

 

The Wild Rebels (1967)

Director:  William Grefe

Writer:  William Grefe

Composer:  Al Jacobs

Starring:  Steve Alaimo, Willie Pastrano, John Vella, Bobbie Byers, Jeff Gillen, Walter R. Philbin, Robert Freund, Seymour A. Eisenfeld

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  THEY LIVE FOR KICKS...LOVE FOR KICKS...KILL FOR KICKS!

Plot:  A stock car driver goes undercover as the wheel man for a motorcycle gang.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

Dig those sounds, man!

I've watched a lot of movies recently that suffer a similar problem.  They've got a bang-up fun and interesting first third, things settle down for the next third and a half and then what's left with the finale delivers enough as if to make up for the lackluster middle section.  That way you leave  thinking about the big finish, maybe forgetting the preceding dull shit.  Is it because screenwriters are full of energy when they begin a script, get tired, bored, or run out of ideas for a few dozen pages and then try like hell to wrap it up enough to wake up the audience?  This movie follows the same pattern.

The pop music in this and the main theme are really fun.  That first half hour is a blast.  Then after the gang rob a gun shop things slow down and stay that way until the last twenty minutes when they rob a bank, things go awry and lots of cops and robbers die of lead poisoning.  That last bit was great but it's hard to commit to watching this again because of that dull mid-section.  The acting's not so good but Steve Alaimo as Rod, the stock car driver and hero of the story, does very well.  This guy was selling it like a pro in the first act.  After that there wasn't all that much of interest for him to do.  This was the first of only four movies he acted in.   The best of the action is saved for the end.  The rest of it is your average, low budget fistfight shenanigans.  Nothing special there.  This is definitely worth a look.  It's a fun ride except for that middle part.  You'll love the beginning and end.  Well, I did.

A Great Ride (1979)

Director:  Don Hulette

Writers:  Walter Dallenbach, Thomas Pope

Composer:  Don Hulette

Starring:  Perry Lang, Michael MacRae, Michael Sullivan, Margo Ann Berdeshevsky, Hal Bokar, Jan Burrell, Bryan Englund, Ben Fuhrman, Ernie Garrett

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  They road across the back country looking for a dream ... that became a nightmare!

Plot:  Cocky, overconfident motocross champion Jim Dancer and his more mature and levelheaded bike racing buddy Steve Mitchell decide to trek from Mexico to Canada via an unmarked off-road route. During their eventful pilgrimage the carefree fun-loving (and seeking) protagonists encounter a mixed bag of folks who include a perky middle-aged lady who wrecks cars for a living, two sexy swinging babes, a friendly farmer, and a hotshot aspiring motocross rider teen who challenges Dancer to a race. It gets crazy from there.

My rating:  8/10

Will I watch it again?  Absolutely!

This flick was outstanding!  What a nice surprise!  The two leads, Lang & Sullivan, have such a natural chemistry together.  They're so likable.  The movie starts with the pair's motocross bikes' tires up against the chain link fence on the US/Mexcio border...and they're off!  They get into all kinds of little adventures, some fun, some kind of dangerous.  There is some very good acting going on here, too.  Hal Bokar plays a rancher the boys stumble upon.  He knocks it out the park with a natural performance that you'd swear he was a seasoned character actor with hundreds of credits under his belt.  Nope, he wasn't and doesn't.  He showed the chops in the movie to make me think he could've been a solid B-list actor at the very least.

I don't want to spoil this movie because I watched it knowing absolutely nothing about it but early on, some teenager challenges Jim to a race and it doesn't end like wants it to.  The kid's father is a stern asshole with an M-16 and a souped-up pickup truck and he's out for blood.  The ONLY problem I have with the movie is that his truck is tricked out with a computer that not only tells him how much fuel he has with the miles left (which I'm down with) and things like oil pressure and the like, but it also tells him how far he is from the boys and dumb shit like that.  How the hell could it or anything else know where they are to calculate that shit?  It couldn't and it's dumb.  Other than that, what happens to the father was shocking and very satisfying.  I so much want to talk about it but I can't.  It's this sub-plot the provides the film with tension that you don't expect and it oddly works nicely among the other little things that Steve & Jim get into and they don't even know who this guy is.  This cat & mouse game adds a lot to their adventure. 

I would say pictures like this don't generally have the luxury of quality acting because I've never seen a picture like this.  It's a biker flick in the sense that the two leads ride bikes but it's not like any biker flick out there.  It's more of a road film with Jim & Steven having a cross country adventure.  It's more than that, though.  Director Hulette strings all of these vignettes together in such a smooth way that it all feels so natural.  I've seen so many low budget movies that struggle to keep your interest and to form a reasonable narrative and this one does it better than a lot of larger budget pictures with hardened professionals working on it.  This isn't some hidden masterpiece that sits up there with the greats but it's a most enjoyable and satisfying picture.  It's got racing, sex, scenery, bonding, death, humanity and revenge.  They chose an appropriate title for sure.   Oh, and there's nudity for those of you who like that sort of thing.  Ick.

Wild Wheels (1969)

Director: Ken Osborne

Writers: Ken Osborne, Ralph Luce

Composer: Harley Hatcher

Starring: Don Epperson, Robert Dix, Casey Kasem, Dovie Beams, Terry Stafford, Johenne Lemont, Bruce Kimball

More info: IMDb

Tagline: They Wreck Each Other's Wheels and Steal Each Other's Girls!!

Plot: A group of surfers use dune buggies to protect their beach from a gang of invading bikers.

My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

It's bad and far from so-bad-it's-good.  There's barely any action and the most you get is a brawl on the beach at the end shot at night and it's difficult to see anything.  It's just a jumbled mess.  It didn't help that the print I saw was lousy VHS quality.  Everything about this picture is at best mediocre which is probably giving it too much credit.  Some of the main characters are in a band that plays at the local bar or something and they get way too many songs to perform.  I guess they did that so they could release a soundtrack (which they did).  If you're looking for a decent biker flick, this isn't it.  I keep hoping to find a good biker flick but they are a rare breed.  

Outlaw Riders (1971)

Director: Tony Huston

Writer: John Zila

Composer: John Bath

Starring: Bryan West, Darlene Duralia, William Bonner, Bambi Allen, Jennifer Bishop, Lindsay Crosby, Rafael Campos, Ray Cantrell, Ed Sarquest, Tim Brown, Robert Tessier

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Tough as Leather...Harder Than Steel!

Plot: An outlaw motorcycle gang is headed by two couples (Allan, Bishop, Bonner and West). The gang is badly hurt by a botched robbery and the four stars, the only survivors, eventually head to Mexico, where they have to combat a gang run by a sadistic Mexican

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

This is not your typical biker flick.  The picture starts off with the gang pulling a heist at a farm feed plant or something somewhere in Arizona.  They hide out in the wilderness for a while to stay out of sight of the fuzz (who are using helicopters), then they head down Mexico way.  There they get mixed up in a battle with some Mexican biker gang who takes the Gringo's women to prostitute them out.  Now the two Outlaw Riders are alone in the wilderness of Mexico looking for their broads with no weapons or transportation.  I wish I had a better copy than the shitty VHS print that's dark overall.  That was a real drag because I would've enjoyed this flick a lot more if I could've at least seen it better.  The night scenes are so bad you have to use your imagination with the audio.  What's even worse is that because of that I might've missed some nudity.  The last few minutes are balls to the wall insanely great.  It's probably the best ending to a biker flick I've ever seen.  And then the movie has full on end credits that play for a couple of minutes.  Few movies did that before this one but it's still a rare thing by '71 and for a low budget biker flick. 

C.C. & Company (1970)

Director: Seymour Robbie

Writer: Roger Smith

Composer: Lenny Stack

Starring: Joe Namath, Ann-Margret, William Smith, Jennifer Billingsely, Mike Battle, Greg Mullavey, Teda Bracci, Don Chastain, Sid Haig, Bruce Glover, Wayne Cochran

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Loving, brawling and bustin' it up

Plot: Motorcycle mechanic C.C. Ryder joins "The Heads," an outlaw biker gang. Fellow gang members menace fashion journalist Ann when her limo breaks down in the desert, but C.C. comes to her rescue. The bikers disrupt a motorcross event tied in with a fashion shoot, but C.C. enters the competition under Ann's admiring eye. His win puts him at odds with Moon, leader of "The Heads." When C.C. leaves with his cut of the purse, the bikers kidnap Ann, and C.C. races Moon to win her freedom.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

This middle of the road biker flick might surprise you.  The cast is great.  Joe Namaths Oscar-studded career began in 1970 with this film along with NORWOOD.  He's good.  I mean I'm not going to pretend he's great but he's a natural at this.  He was a famous football player prior to this and it's possible he had a side hobby acting in local Shakespeare troupes but he does a fine job in this picture.  Ann-Margaret is as scrummy as always and she brings an unexpected movie star boost with her ample acting chops (and speaking of ample, you see 'em).  Then there's the always fantastic William Smith who not only brings the guns but he's the whole fucking gun show!

Man, that guy had an amazing physique back then!  Naturally, he's the heavy and as always, he's great at it.  As a side note, I know this is a movie because there's no way Joe Namath would ever win in a fight with William Smith.  Smith was Conan the Barbarian's father for fuck's sake!  The plot is by the numbers but the likability of Namath combined with the bright and sensual personality of Ann-Margret and the badassicity of Smith makes for a reasonably entertaining movie.  Oh, and fans of Sid Haig and Bruce Glover will be sad to know that they're barely in the movie despite being in Smith's motorcycle gang.  It'd make for a fun Saturday night at the drive-in.  I've never heard of director Robbie before and I don't feel ashamed about it.  This is only his first feature and he made two of them.  He did have an amazing forty year career as a TV director with over 80 different shows and hundreds of episodes.  The picture was written by Roger Smith who wasn't known as a writer but as an actor, most notably starring in 77 SUNSET STRIP (1958-1963) and later as the title character in MISTER ROBERTS (1965-1966). 

Mad Foxes (1981)

Original title: Los Violadores

Director: Paul Grau

Writers: Hans R. Walthard, Paul Grau, Melvin Quifiones, Jaime Sesus Balcazar

Composer: E-Flat

Starring: Jose Gras, Laura Premica, Andrea Albani, Peter John Saunders, Brian Billings, Hank Sutter, Garry Membrini, Ana Roca, Diana Miller, Irene Semmling, Mary-Ann Vaughn, Guillermo Balcazar, Eric Falk, Helmi Sigg, Paul Grau, Antonio Molino Rojo, Hans R. Walthard

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Furious Hell's killers carve out a bloody revenge in a vicious vendetta.

Plot: A man seeks revenge after a biker gang murders his family.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  YES!!!

EASY SPOILERS!!!!  YARRRRRR!!!!

This movie is off the fucking chain!  I first watched it alone and loved the shit out of it so much that I called a group movie night a couple of days later and we all had a friggin' blast!  This Spanish action revenge picture (and fortunately dubbed in English) is bizarre and violent as fuck.  It starts with Hal on the make with a young hottie on her 18th birthday.  On his way to his bar to get her liquored up so's he can bang her, at a stop light he's met with some nasty bikers.

They get into a chase, one of the bikers is killed by his own stupidity.  They split after giving him shit and Hal hits the bar scene.  Now the dialogue is ridiculous as is the dubbing.  It's so bad it's good territory.  It's the kind of thing where people say things that have nothing to do with the other as if to kill time like, "Springtime in France is lovely.  I like pants.  Are you trying not to be seen?".  At first it's just bad but it grows on you and suddenly you're in what the fuck territory and you're laughing your ass off. 

This is a regular dance club like disco and shit and then suddenly some swing tune comes on and it's literally one and a half minutes of this!

The fuck is that shit? If I had to edit anything out of this, this one scene would probably be it.  Now that Hal has his gal proper lubricated enough to leave they come across the bikers outside the club.

The girl is raped and they're both beaten pretty bad.  She's in the hospital.  He's bandaged up and makes a call to these guys...

Check out sexy in the window!  Hal gets his buddies to help kick some biker asses!

The next day Hal is home banging another chick and the bikers find out where the karate dudes hang out.  Then it's one of the most violent massacres you've ever seen.

It's bloody as hell and proves to be a real shocker.  Now this is where the spoilers end.  We're 24 minutes in with 52 more to go.  There are some scenes that drag the picture down just a little but that didn't bother me a bit because after these little breathers the film goes batshit violent.  It's campy, unintentionally funny, unpredictably violent and bloody.  There's also a good deal of nudity and that goes for the dudes, too.

And the ending will blow your mind.  I really want to talk about every single scene and back it up with pictures but that would take time away from watching another movie and it wouldn't be fair to spoil any more because you really need to see this for yourself.  It's a fantastic trashy movie that would best be served on the biggest screen you can muster up and have your friends over and the liquor flowing.  It's a real hoot.  Finding gems like this makes suffering through days and days of shit worth it.

HAPPY FUCKING THANKSGIVING!

The Dirt Gang (1972)

Director: Jerry Jameson

Writers: Michael DeForrest, Michael C. Healy

Starring: Paul Carr, Michael Pataki, Lee de Broux, Jon Shank, Nancy Harris, T.J. Escott, Jessica Stuart, Tom Anders, Joe Mosca, Michael Forest, Jo Anne Meredith

More info: IMDb

Tagline: God Help The Fuzz that flashes a badge on the Dirt Gang!

Plot: A film crew shooting in the desert is terrorized by a vicious outlaw motorcycle gang (on dirt bikes, no less).

My rating:

Will I watch it again?  No.

If you like your biker flicks on the cartoonish side then this might be for you.  The movie's not cartoonish but the biker gang leader sure looks the part.  Right from the start these guys show us how mean they are by murdering a cop.  Then they come across this isolated Western film shoot and they take it over and terrorize the few people involved with making the picture.  The performances are what you'd expect in a low budget exploitation picture like this but there was one person who immediately stood out as soon as he opened his mouth and that was Michael Forest, one of the guys making the movie.  And it's no wonder; this guy's been acting for a long time.  He's almost 90 and he's got nearly 300 IMDb credits including playing Apollo in the STAR TREK episode, WHO MOURNS FOR ADONAIS? (1967) and he'd been at this since '55.  The best part of the movie isn't any actor but the big biker orgy scene in the last act.  There's a ton of great nudity.  What hurts the picture most is how much the movie drags shortly after the bikers end up that the movie shoot until the orgy.  It's an OK movie and it's not so bad that it deserves the current IMDb user rating of 1.7.  It's a middle of the road biker flick from that era.  I've seen a bunch of them from that period and few of them are worth watching more than once, very few.

The Cycle Savages (1969)

Director: Bill Brame

Writer: Bill Brame

Composer: Jerry Styner

Starring: Bruce Dern, Melody Patterson, Chris Robinson, Maray Ayres, Karen Ciral, Mick Mehas, Jack Konzai, Walter Robles, Casey Kasem

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The WILDEST Bunch of the '70s!!!

Plot: The leader of a biker gang takes exception to an artist sketching them, so he makes plans to crush the artist's hands.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

The problem with most of these biker flicks is that they tend to have padding to fill out the run time, there's not enough action or they're just too damn slow.  This one runs about 80 minutes but it still drags.  Even with Bruce Dern in menacing psycho mode (you can never get too much of that) a lot of scenes need to be tighter.  Some of the fist fights could use some tightening up, too.  A guy stands waiting for the punch and that takes you out of the picture because you know damn well that wouldn't happen in real life.  This isn't some fantasy picture.  I do loves me some Bruce Dern, especially when he's in bad guy mode.  He's tall, lean and he looks and sounds unhinged and unpredictable.  And how about that plot?  It's fucking hilarious.  I bet writer/director Brame thought it would be silly as shit and challenging if he could make a movie where a tough biker gang sets their sights on an artist who sketched their faces.  Oooooooh, big bad men going after soft artsy fartsy man.  The plot tickles the piss out of me.

While I'm thinking about it, would it have been that much harder to film on location instead of in a studio?  I get the logistics and ease of staying in a studio but the biker's garage would've been so much nicer if it were in an actual bike garage.  If you're going to get brutal and manly, don't make the manliest location in the film look like a school play set.  Just sayin'.  Bill, if you're reading this, drop me a line.  I'd love to talk to you about making this film.  It looks like it was a gas to be a part of.  The MGM DVD sports a great looking anamorphic widescreen print with the theatrical trailer also anamorphic wide.

Northville Cemetery Massacre (1976)

Directors: William Dear, Thomas Van Dyke

Writers: William Dear, Thomas Van Dyke, Jim Pappas

Composer: Michael Nesmith

Starring: David Hyry, J. Craig Collicut, Carson Jackson, Jan Sisk, Herb Sharples, Len Speck, Beatrice Endahl, Harry Endahl, Brook Evens, Jill Biggers

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The day that law and order went beserk...

Plot: Mayhem starts when a gang of bikers is accused of a sadistic rape in a small town.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Probably not.

When you go into movies like this you don't expect much, at least I don't.  So when one turns out to actually be pretty good, it takes me by surprise and I like pleasant surprises.  The acting is all over the place but that's to be expected since a lot of these folks aren't actors and most belong to an actual motorcycle gang/club and that only adds to the authenticity of the picture.  Hell, some of those cats do a better job acting that some working actors I've seen.  The laid back attitude the film takes with letting us get to know these kids helps establish them as largely sympathetic.  They might be breaking the law sometime but it's almost always for something relatively innocent.  Once the picture turns to the dark side and people start dying (and a lot of people die...it's one of those rare times where an exploitation movie's title rings true) it gets even better and the film gets very focused.  The only thing I didn't like at all was the over-the-top, flamboyancy of the gun dealer.  This flick didn't need that kind of cartoon humor and it would've been best served with something a lot more subtle.  It sucked the momentum dry.  Once we're done with that guy then it's all in for the final showdown.  It's a bloody film which is unusual for a biker picture.  You expect a little gunshot blood but not as much as this picture delivers.  In that regard, it's great. There's a little skin but only in one scene.  Biker films are an odd bunch in that it's the independent low/no budget ones that tend to be better than their Hollywood counterparts.  It makes sense why that is given the nature of the subject matter.

The Black 6 (1973)

AKA: The Black Six

Director: Matt Cimber

Writers: Matt Cimber, Mikel Angel

Composer: David Moscoe

Starring: Robert Howard, Cindy Daly, Mikel Angel, John Isenbarger, Gene Washington, Carl Eller, Lem Barney, Mercury Morris, Willie Lanier, Joe Greene, Garnett Higgens, Bill King, Marilyn McArthurs

More info: IMDb

Tagline: See the 6 biggest, baddest and best waste 150 motorcycle dudes!

Plot:  A gang of six black Vietnam veterans fight white racists in a Southern town to avenge their dead friend.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

On paper, this sounds like a great revenge, action-filled, Blaxploitation picture that would be awesome to see as a drive-in double feature.  While it does have those elements, there's a lot more attention paid to the social race aspect than anything else.  It's half exploitation and half social issues and, to a large degree, it works.  The Black 6 are made up of real life NFL players, many of whom made their acting debut here.  I like them and I dig that they're not seasoned actors because they bring something authentic to the role that you wouldn't get otherwise.  That also means it gets a little amateurish but it's in a good way.  If I had to single out my favorite performance it would be Hannah Dean who plays the lead's mother.  She's about as genuine as it gets and this is only her first of four films she made.  The low budget nature suits this film just fine.  I wasn't once bored, even if there's very little action (which most of it was saved for the big fight at the end).  The plot moves nicely even if it doesn't fit a conventional mold.  For instance, we're a long ways into the picture when Bubba (Washington) investigates his brother's unsolved murder which doesn't take as long as you'd think before the big fight at the end.  There's not much time spent with the bad guys.  But then we don't have to hang with them long.  We know from the opening of the picture that these guys are bad and they need to be dealt with.  This isn't Shakespeare.  I've seen this twice now and it's one of the better low budget Blaxploitation pictures to come out of the 70s.  It's a fun ride that has be benefit of inexperience from different aspects to the cast and crew.

Trip with the Teacher (1975)

Director: Earl Barton

Writer: Earl Barton

Composer: Igo Kantor

Starring: Zalman King, Brenda Fogarty, Cathy Worthington, Dina Ousley, Jill Voight, Susan Russell, Robert Gribbin, Edward Cross, Robert Porter, Jack Driscoll, David Villa

More info: IMDb

Tagline: How far should a teacher go to protect her students?

Plot: A teacher and her class of female students take a class trip to the desert. Their bus breaks down, and they find themselves terrorized by a gang of psycho bikers.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

This is great drive-in fare despite my low score.  It's the kind of thing that's elevated by watching it outside under the stars with a bunch of other folks, eating greasy food and making out.  See, it's the making out part that makes this better but it's entirely on you to make that happen.  Regarding the film, two of the bikers are bad news and some of the young girls add fuel to the fire by fucking with them and being total C U Next Tuesdays!  The acting is appropriately good to mediocre.  The dialogue, cinematography, story all work reasonably well but what does the film a disservice is the slow pacing. It's about a half hour in before the shit starts to hit the fan for the girls.  For a while after it takes a turn toward the drag only to pick up a bit in the drawn out final third. It's not just me.  Everyone in the room was feeling it.  If it weren't for the slow pacing this could be a much better sleazy time.  It's got all of the ingredients for a fun exploitation picture but it takes too long to deliver the goods.  

Ride Hard, Ride Wild (1971)

Director: Lee Frost

Writers: Lennart Nielsen, Dahl Kristensen

Composer: Daniel Sydow

Starring: Brigit Kroyer, John Keith, Nicke Bjurstrom, Ake Nordenskiold, Ray Sebastian, Sue Peters, Wes Bishop, Donna Young

More info: IMDb

Plot: A professional bike racer who is disfigured in a crash blames his rival for his accident. He takes his revenge by kidnapping him and uses his girlfriend for his carnal pleasures.

My rating: 3/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Holy cow.  Here's what you get for 68 minutes...

That's not far from the truth.  There's tons of nudity and it's cut with scenes from the motorcycle trials in preparation for the big competition.  The VHS quality print I watched was pretty dark at times so the nudity (most all of it shot at night) is dark and difficult to see.  What's more, it's boring.  I know, right?  Boring boobs?  Get out of here.  But they are after about two minutes.  The ending is abrupt and idiotic.  SPOILERS...the girlfriend kills one of the captors with a shotgun and she gets away with her boyfriend.  As they're driving down the road the surviving bikers pass them, giving them dirty looks.  When the girl asks if they should be worried the dude calms her by saying essentially the bikers learned their lesson and they won't be bothering them any longer.  W...T...F?  Don't waste your time. At least this was released by Something Weird Video and the rest of the two hours on the tape was filled with vintage 70s porn trailers, most of which were FAR more entertaining than this mess.  And I like Lee Frost's movies, too.  From what I can gather, this was a Danish film that he re-dubbed.  I can't find anything more about this picture.  I'm not going to waste any more time with it, either.

The Girls from Thunder Strip (1970)

Director: David L. Hewitt

Writers: Pat Boyette, David L. Hewitt

Composer: Al Quick

Starring: Maray Ayres, William Bonner, Lindsay Crosby, Gary Graver, Casey Kasem, Gary Kent, Bruce Kimball, Jody McCrea, Mick Mehas, Jack Starrett, Lisa Tennelle, Megan Timothy, Randee Lynne Jensen

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Dynamite action... Souped up cars, illegal whiskey, wild women and souped up thrills!

Plot:  A vicious gang of murderous bikers goes up against a trio of beautiful bootlegging sisters.

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again? No, y'all.

This is a strange biker/hicksploitation picture.  You've got a vicious biker gang confronting some backwoods moonshiners and their country sheriff.   What starts out as a standard drive-in biker flick mixed with some mis-fire comedy ends up as a no-holds-barred crime actioner but not without its many flaws. 

Casey Kasem mostly does a good job as the  Federal agent sent down to put an end to the 'Syndicate' of moonshiners but he blows it when the performance gets into that silly, over-the-top territory these movies often had with authority figures.  Deputy Orville (Kimball), however, is ridiculously stupid right out of the gate.  Hell, even the sheriff (Starrett), who spends most of the picture as a badass (and Starrett with the best acting in the film) has a moment or two of pure country bumpkin bullshit.  Most of the biker dudes are the only ones that seem consistent in their roles without succumbing to moments of goofiness but even they aren't immune.  Oh, and with a title and subject like this you'd think you'd have at least an ounce or two of nudity.  Nope, nothing.  And here's an interesting piece of trivia, it was shot on the Spahn ranch at the time Charles Manson and his followers were there.

One thing I liked about this picture is that the bikers are hardcore killers and all around bad dudes even though there's only one kill at their hands.  The rest are from the sheriff exacting justice and revenge as he hunts them down.  And there's another problem, the action is weak and the last reel or two is one long chase which has little, if any, excitement.  The pseudo, run of the mill bluegrass soundtrack behind it all doesn't help it.  It has the opposite effect because it's so generic and it feels like they just grabbed some tracks and thoughtlessly placed them over the action because it needed it, only it needed music written specifically for it to elevate it.  Despite some good performances, it doesn't make it and the strange abrupt ending brings this somewhat short (79 minutes) film to a close.  It pains me to see films like this that have potential and drop the ball enough times that it all but ruins the film.  If they could see all of the positives that were already there and gave it that extra mile to make THAT picture, a gritty and serious action film, they could have had one of the best low budget drive-in movies of that time.  Instead it's just one missed opportunity after another. 

Stone (1974)

Director: Sandy Harbutt

Starring: Ken Shorter, Sandy Harbutt, Deryck Barnes, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Roger Ward, Vincent Gil, Dewey Hungerford

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Get with Stone.

Plot: Members of the Grave Diggers Motorcycle Club are being knocked off one by one, and someone needs to find out why!

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? No.

#39 on my on-going quest to watch every film from the amazing documentary, NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF OZPLOITATION! (2008)

The biker movie genre that lasted only a few short years beginning in the late 60s is a genre filled with mediocre films with very few exceptions that rise above.  STONE is certainly one of the better ones but not by an awful lot.  What sets it apart, though, is it's Australian and the plot.  It transcends the usual hell-raising and political statements and goes into crime drama territory.  STONE also has one of the all-time great motorcycle stunts with the guy riding his bike off a HUGE cliff and landing in the ocean below.  It's a great stunt and it's worth watching the picture just for it.  Fortunately we get some fun performances and fisticuffs to help us along the way.  I don't get its huge cult status but then I'm no biker which might have something to do with it.  There are lots of good extras with the two-disc DVD that will keep you busy long after the movie has ended.