Hells Angels on Wheels

This Richard Rush biker film is better than the Wild Angels, Angels Unchained, Devil's Angels, Cycle Savages, The Glory Stompers, or The Savage Seven. First of all it has the beautiful and talented Sabrina Scharf (from Easy Rider) who later became a Senator or some such thing. Adam Roarke was always a good addition to low-budget films and Nicholson shines as the Poet (a somewhat reluctant biker to begin with).

None of these films is high quality, but this one has some refreshing scenes that stand out. A 6 out of 10. Best performance = Jack Nicholson. If you can find it, it's worth your time. Richard Rush was always been a good director.

Good if not great as biker cinema goes, "Hells Angels on Wheels" had the legendary Angel Sonny Barger as its technical adviser, making it supposedly more true to life than other depictions of the notorious motorcycle gang, although the word "supposedly" will need to be stressed. The movie has a few elements that manage to make it a must see, but these don't have much to do with the story, which is thin and has an episodic nature. Jack Nicholson, the obvious breakout star, is prominently featured as a gas station attendant who captures the attention of a bunch of Angels and earns their respect. He's voted in as a member, but he finds that their wild way of life is a little too much for him. They like to promote themselves as fun loving rebels, but they possess decidedly more edge than that, and are not above murder. Nicholsons' character, who gets nick named "Poet", also does not like the way that they pass their women around, especially as he falls for Shill (Sabrina Scharf), who is ordinarily the main squeeze of this packs' leader, the charismatic Buddy (Adam Roarke). Despite Nicholsons' presence and performance, Roarke really is the one to watch here, doing an engaging job of creating a memorable character. A couple of familiar faces fill out the supporting and bit parts: John Garwood, Jack Starrett, Gary Littlejohn, and Bruno VeSota, with directors Bob Kelljan and John "Bud" Cardos also appearing. This is exciting at times, with the expected number of fight scenes, as well as some filler / montage sequences, and music that is very much of the time. The movie isn't helped, however, by an abrupt and unsatisfying ending. If one is interested, they can check out other biker pictures from producer Joe Solomon such as "Angels from Hell", "Run, Angel, Run!", "The Losers", and "Werewolves on Wheels". Director Richard Rush would also direct Nicholson in "Psych-Out", and of course would go on to great fame as director of the cult favourite "The Stunt Man" (in which he again worked with Roarke). One can also note the stylish and colourful cinematography by Laszlo Kovacs, who's billed as Leslie Kovacs. Overall, not bad, and a cult film worth a look. Seven out of 10.

Hell's Angels On Wheels is the movie Hell's Angels president Sonny Barger recommends as the most true to life movie about the Hell's Angels in his autobiography, which is why I decided to rent it and see the movie for myself.

Buddy (Adam Roarke) is the Sonny Barger character of this movie and the leader of that particular chapter of Hell's Angels. The movie starts when Buddy and his crew are passing through a gas station when Poet (Jack Nicholson) gets fired from his job as a gas station attendant.

Eventually, Buddy takes a liking to Poet, after an altercation between Poet and another Angel over his broken headlight, and later when Poet backs Buddy up in a barroom brawl. Pretty soon, they vote Poet in as a prospect and he sees the way of life of the Hell's Angels. Buddy passes him his own woman and takes another from a club member. This seems strange to Poet at first, but he finally gets what is going on and decides he does not like it.

Plotwise, there is not much to this movie. It turns out to be mostly about the girl who gets passed between Buddy and Poet, named Shill (Sabrina Scharf). It is mostly just partying, bike riding and fighting, which I guess is what they are pointing out. Nicholson and Roarke did a great job acting and made the story better than if it would have been had they not been in it. As it is, I only give it about 5.5/10.

This one is shelved in the 'cult' section of my favorite independent video rental shop, and for good reason. It's ludicrous!

Jack Nicholson is 'Poet,' a bad-ass gas-station attendant who gets fired after mouthing off at a customer and then rides off with the Hell's Angels, chasing after a piece of the macho life and a shot at making it with Shill (Sabrina Scharf), who rides bitch behind club chapter president Buddy (Adam Roarke), the king bad-ass of them all.

A confessed example of the B-movie 'exploitation' genre, 'Hell's Angels on Wheels' plays on every possible cliché: chair-smashing barroom brawls, bikers harassing carnival-goers and helpless drivers, cops harassing the bikers, heavy drinking and smoking of the evil weed by the violent Angels, etc. It's all too hilarious to be believed. The acting is adequate--Jack is great as Poet, making the most out of the stilted, silly dialogue, and Adam Roarke, a B-movie leading man if there ever was one, seems to be relishing every bit of his character's corny, macho posturing. Sabrina Schraff as Shill is a tough, sexy leading lady, though her hip outfits and perfectly coiffed bouffant don't much fit the look and style of an actual biker chick, even in 1967. As a matter of fact, the whole gang is a little too clean and well-groomed to resemble actual motorcycle outlaws, and the soundtrack consists of some of the most hilariously bad sixties-era 'muzak' you'll ever hear. Real Angels wouldn't be caught dead listening to such crappy pap.

The film is most interesting for its trivia value: Included are brief appearances by a host of actual Hell's Angels led by Sonny Barger, who to this day remains President of the infamous motorcycle gang. Apparently the Angels traded the use of their name and insignia for a cameo and a mention in the credits (though one wonders if they would have agreed to do so had they seen the film's final cut beforehand). Sabrina Schraff, the main love interest, was a former Playboy Bunny and later appeared in 'Easyrider', which, of course, also featured Jack Nicholson in his breakout role. Schraff, interestingly enough, went on to become a California state senator.

This is a silly little time capsule--a nice example of the sixties-era exploitation flick and a reasonable indicator of the widespread paranoia surrounding the motorcycle gang phenomena popularized in the early sixties. The Angels obviously enjoy being romanticized as fun-loving but fierce rebels against mainstream culture in the tradition of the frontier outlaws of the nineteenth century and the gangsters of the roaring twenties, but trust me, this movie is no history lesson.

Although this film doesn't do much, it accomplishes everything that it set out to do. It successfully exploits just about everything in order to fulfill its duties. Sex, drugs, and violence are king here. The plot is like the women in this film: loose. There a lot going on but nothing much gets done to further a story. However, a romance is at its center. There are some scenes of bikers running amok set against hippy music that work well. The acting was very good from the entire cast, not just Nicholson (who, as always, was superb). I'm not going to give anything away, but the ending could have been better. It was a little cheesy. This is a pretty good biker exploitation flick although I would recommend Russ Meyer's Motorpsycho if you're in the mood for motorcycle chaos.