Les anges nus

Okay, yeah, I'm kind of a sucker for the biker film genre and this certainly ranks nowhere the tops in the category (that would have to go to "Hell's Belles" or "Chrome and Hot Leather"). But there are plenty of others that are MUCH worse ("Satan's Sadists" leaps to mind, which really only has its title going for it). This one gets at least an extra half point for Jennifer Gan's lace-up leather pants alone, plus another half point for the fact that the guy who plays the protagonist, Mother, recently played George Bush (!) in the TV movie "The Day They Shot the President". The soundtrack is pretty cool too - nothing on, say, "Zabriskie Point", but for a Roger Corman production, not bad at all. A lot of the cinematography is pretty inventive too, for example the Vegas footage, with its still montages and big close-ups of all the (now mostly gone) bright neon signage. This is a pretty rare film on video, but if you can track it down and you're a fan of the genre (like me), it's definitely worth a rental.

After being severely beaten and subsequently hospitalized by a rival biker gang, "Mother" (Michael Greene) returns to his gang known as the Angels and quickly re-assumes his leadership position again. As a result his former girlfriend, "Marlene" (Jennifer Gan) also returns to him after riding with the former leader who goes by the name of "Fingers" (Richard Rust). Immediately upon reassuming command his first priority is to get even with the rival biker gang and so the Angels take to the road and head to Las Vegas where this gang was last seen. However, when they get there they find that the rival gang has gone into the desert and so they decide to spend the night in Las Vegas prior to riding out the next morning. Unfortunately, once they begin their trek into the desert they discover that it isn't as easy as they initially thought and begin to have some trouble along the way. This eventually leads to a severe disagreement which is exasperated by Mother's dictatorial manner. Although still determined to get revenge upon the rival biker gang, the Angels evict Mother and proceed without him. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that it had some good things going for it and some bad things as well. For starters, I thought it incorporated certain realistic details that motorcyclists typically encounter but which aren't normally shown on television (i.e. flat tires and gasoline issues). I also enjoyed the electric guitar music played as the motorcyclists traveled from one place to another. On the other hand, there were some scenes which defied reality along with other scenes which seemed a bit too artistic. In any case, I didn't think that this was a bad biker movie overall and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

This film is terrible. If you were to take out the scenes of the gang riding their motorcycles, this film would only be about 20 minutes long. The acting is not believable and you couldn't give a rat's ass whether the characters live or die. The best actor in the film is a gas station attendant who rubs a gun in a very suggestive manner while whining about raping dogs. If you ever get the chance to watch this film, don't do it. It's just a waste of time.

'Tis Garbage.

Reading what others have written about this, I reckoned I'd made a mistake acquiring it. Also, it starts really badly with a poorly lit and pathetic punch up, but it picks up. And does it! Same year as Easy Rider and with Roger Corman's known involvement, clearly made to cash in on that film's success. There is no great dialogue and the fight scenes are never particularly good but there is stink to this that seems just right. I've seen too many biker films where the boys in leather come over all cuddly and end up saving the day for some hard done by kid. Not here! I've also seen drawn out and crap initiation ceremonies but here, its over almost before it began but is so horrible. The girls too seem far more loose than I've seen before and its not as if they get treated well. Very strong sex and violence but very in keeping with the theme. This has the feel of a movie that a bunch of kids simply grabbed hold of and did it as best they could without too any studio involvement or the like. Flawed, rough and tough but it reminded me at times of the so called 'lesser' spaghetti westerns that get it just right. More animal than arty though it has to be said that there is some interesting use of the camera and those Las Vegas 60s lights and streets look good as does the later desert scenes. After a dull start this doesn't stop. It may not be going anywhere, but it doesn't stop. Did I mention those leather pants with the open stitching!

The only reason that I can think of to see this 10th rate motorcyle rip-off of The Wild Angels, is to see the beautiful Jennifer Gan.

The soundtrack is muffled, the acting is wooded, and the editing is a mess. Mike Green stars as "Mother". He falls off his motorcycle more times than a mailman slips on an icey sidewalk. His "romantic" scenes with Gan is as romantic as watching a barking dog chasing a cat. This bore-snore lacks excitement, good scenery, or even a laugh or two. It has however reached "cult-legend" status; I guess because it's the major stinker of the decade. The movie poster of this film is one of the best there is in biker film art. Even with blonde bomb-shell Gan (who rates a 10), I can only rate this film two thumbs down!