Cycle Psycho

I have for years now, been looking for that one film. That special film. The one that killed the "Biker Film" genre. Ladies and Gentleman and bikers everywhere. I have found it! It goes by the happy little title of "Savage Abduction" But let me tell you, my leather and denim clad buddies, there is nothing savage in or about this film. The only savages where the writer, director and producers who decided to release this and charge patrons for it's viewing.

Very little to do with bikers, biker gangs and the "Ride Free, Ride hard" attitude. There are no 1% riders here. What we are left with is mostly a bad psychological mess with a wealthy homicidal maniac, with an Oedipus complex who likes to torture and kill young, pretty women. They should have just turned this into a slasher film, and taken the whole notion of bikers out of it. It would have worked better that way.

Whe are given 3 tough hombres who are supposed to be a "Biker Gang". These guys would not be allowed in tricycle, little less less REAL motorcycle gang. They huff and puff and try to act as if they were the real deal. They're dirty, bearded and have poor manners. That is supposed to convey a biker to the general public. But the closes they have ever been to a real biker gang is when they all sat together and saw a documentary on the Hell's Angels on TV. they could'not punch their way out of a wet paper bag.

The abducted girls are your typical dumb, cute and sexy 17 year old critters that always seem to either be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or just make stupid choices in life. Like try to hitchhike and accept a ride from two derelict's who pull up on choppers. Where do they think they will be taken to? Starbucks for a latte? A church ice cream social? No you stupid bimbo's. To their lair for a bit of fun at your expense. But even this is sad. There is no fun at the pen.

There is nothing here. No Biker bar Fights, No sexual assault of the two nubile birds, No Nudity, No drunken orgies, No terrorizing of the towns folk, No cool bad Rock music in the background. Nothing from the stereotypical biker films of the past that we have all come to not only enjoy, but expect. Nothing at all.

We are all left with fairly good acting wasted on very poor lighting, bad writing, and none of the joys of rebelling against the man. What a waste of celluloid. I can see why after 1972 only a handful of biker films where made. All dying after 1975.

Only nudity and drunkenness would and could have saved this film. Even a second audio commentary by Joe Bob Briggs would have saved this DVD. But we get nothing at all. Why they are missing is anyones guess. They would have savagely helped this turkey.

A mama-obsessed psycho (Joseph Turkel) kills the wife of a respected lawyer, and then blackmails the lawyer into kidnapping two teenage girls for more unsound fun. Most of the story, though, is devoted to the poverty-row motorcycles gang, led by Stephen Oliver, who captures the teenagers. Oliver, his girlfriend, and two feeble sidekicks bicker and fight constantly. Turkel gets his hands on the girls, but a sympathetic biker overpowers him and puts him out of his sick misery.

Lawrence's slow-moving B-movie promises teenager torture, but never delivers. The highlight is Turkel, who seduces a mannikin and plays the middle-aged lunatic in bug-eyed lunatic fashion, although his wardrobe -- consisting of early-70s styled flowered shirts -- is pretty obnoxious, too. Stafford Repp (the Irish cop from TV's "Batman") has a cameo role.

Attorney Richard Ridelander (Tom Drake) gets rich sicko Harry (Joe Turkel) to murder his unfaithful wife. Excited by the thrill of the kill, Harry blackmails Richard into procuring new victims for his perverted pleasure. Dick turns to a gang of renegade motor-cyclists for help, who agree to abduct two girls in exchange for $10,000, a sum that Harry is only too happy to pay.

As wonderfully sleazy as it sounds, Savage Abduction is far less exploitative than many a '70s drive-in movie, the film offering up only a modicum of those core ingredients, sex and violence. The not-so-savage abduction of 17-year-old hitch-hikers Jenny and Faye (Tanis Gallik and Kitty Vallacher) involves the girls being locked in a closet, forced to smoke pot, and made to strip to their underwear, before being bound and gagged and handed over to Harry.

Harry clearly has bad things in store for the poor girls, judging by the bag of sharp implements he has brought with him, but he is unable to carry out his evil deeds thanks to the timely intervention of biker Romeo (Sean Kenney), who has been struggling with his conscience. All of this 'mild peril' is bound to disappoint fans of gritty low budget trash, who quite rightly expect more from a psycho killer/biker movie with such a lurid title.

Not really so much a harrowing experience and glimpse into the dark depravity of humanity as the movie promotes itself but certainly a laughable cheapie drive in schlocker from 1972. A gang of bikers kidnapp two girls and hold them hostage in exchange for $10,000 from a sex crazed psycho who wants to kill the girls for his own private pleasures. The extremities are very limited , the worst thing the biker gang does to the girls is force them to disrobe only to their underwear and force them to smoke pot. Not really a shocking movie , and actually a pretty funny historical relic of the days of cheap drive-in fare , but worth a look at for some early sleaze

8/10

Savage Abduction is another cheesy 70's classic in the vein of 'Last House on the Left'. It's now bee bought up by Troma and is distributed as one of their movies. Really though, it's not all that bad. My wife and I had a few laughs at it's expense, and were very entertained.

One of Troma's cream of the crop as far as I'm concerned. There's actually a movie here (albeit not the greatest)!

6 out of 10 (fun)