La carrera salvaje

"A locker room look at the toughest broads in the world!" That's the poster tag line for "The Unholy Rollers" and it pretty much sums up what the makers of this film were aiming for, a leering behind-the-scenes action/comedy about roller derby. Claudia Jennings ("Death Sport" "Gator Bait") gets fed up with her job at a cannery after brazen 1970s sexual harassment and decides to join the roller derby. This results in comedy, romance, and ladies in various states of undresss, as you might expect from a Roger Corman produced film of this era. Corman's New World Pictures were having great success with their cycle of women-in-prison films and their nurse and co-ed films, so why not branch out into sports comedy films? And believe it or not, this wasn't the first roller derby film of the time. "Derby" came out the year before and Raquel Well appeared in "Kansas City Bomber" the same year. Roller derby even found it's way into the plot of of Disney's "The Shaggy D.A." so derby was HOT during this time. As for this film, it's a typical Corman raunchy sex comedy and the quality is about what you'd expect, which is it's not terrible, but nothing all that great either. Still, I will say I was entertained and I did enjoy seeing an oddly young Victor Argo as the team trainer. FUN FACT! Martin Scorsese was a supervising editor on this film, the year before "Mean Streets" was released.

From the dank sub-sub-basement of athletic entertainment, somewhere beneath 1970's "Big Time Wrestling", came the sweaty phenomenon known as "Roller Derby". Combining elements from wrestling, roller skating, and Australian football, this "sport" barely made a blip on the radar screen of life.

However, it did have its own particular audience, including a 9 year old yours truly, tuning in every Saturday night to watch these raucous rollers' riotous escapades! Especially entertaining were the females of the game, as their violent behavior was quite shocking for the era.

In 1972, ever vigilant for the next $1.98 exploitation vehicle, Producer Roger Corman made THE UNHOLY ROLLERS for the hordes of drive-in devotees.

Starring the unbelievably-hot Claudia Jennings as Karen Walker, ROLLERS excels at recreating the cheeeze-tinged, white trash goodness of actual derby competition.

When Karen quits her job at a cat food factory and tries out for The Avengers RD team, she's accepted immediately. Horrible rock and roll music, nudity, and mayhem ensue.

It's important to keep in mind that this movie is not a Greek tragedy. So, don't go into it looking for anything other than painful dialogue, heinous acting, and general idiocy.

Claudia Jennings fans fear not, for she's in almost every scene!

While nowhere near as exciting as ROLLERBALL, nor as dramatic as THE KANSAS CITY BOMBER, this movie does capture the low-rent spectacle in all of its half-wit glory.

Be sure to remain seated for the smash-bang-boom of the "wild in the streets" finale...

A Roger Corman production from the 70's so you know it's funny, sleazy, plot less and gratuitous but never boring, there's always something happening on screen. Claudia Jennings dominates as Karen Walker, a cat food factory worker who gets cheesed off and becomes a roller derby queen. She gives a tough-as-nails performance, spitting her lines in a manner not unlike the actresses in John Waters' early films. Other stand-outs include Louis Quinn as a cynical promoter and Alan Vint doing a hilarious take on the "roommate's boyfriend" character. It's an obvious attempt to cash in on Kansas City Bomber (apparently started while KCB was still in production) replacing Raquel Welch's vulnerability with Claudia Jennings' unapologetic approach and ladling on plenty of sleaze. So what's not to like?

This was an attempt by American-International Pictures to cash in on the publicity for the highly publicized KANSAS CITY BOMBER, also released in 1972. Actually, it's more like Roger Corman's attempt to do so, because while A.I.P. footed the bill, it was a Corman show all the way (even though he had already started his own movie company/distribution outfit, New World Pictures, two years earlier.) In fact, it has the same look and sparse production values as New World movies of the earlier '70s, making you wonder if A.I.P. gave Corman little to spend, or if Corman pocketed a lot of the budget.

Whatever the case, the end result is pretty boring to sit though, despite the showcased sport (roller derby) and the presence of B movie queen Claudia Jennings. The first few minutes aren't bad, promising an energetic and wacky look at the behind-the-scenes of roller derby, but then the movie suddenly takes a turn to the deadly serious. Sure, there are catfights, nudity, and clobberings on the roller ring, but there's no feeling of fun to it all. Actually, much of the movie focuses on boring bickering and chattering between the characters. To make matters worse, the print of the movie currently playing on cable eliminates the original music score and substitutes bland muzak that results in the viewing experience becoming more of a slog to get through.

Unholy Rollers is AIP cinema verite, a true American film classic that peels the facade away from the cult of sports celebrity. Claudia Jennings is outstanding as the roller queen whose place on the pedestal is about to be taken by the next one in line. She plays the role with utter conviction, and the film's low budget limitations lend added authenticity to its depiction of this seedy American pastime.