The Cycle Savages

Wow, is just one of the many words used to describe this movie. A terrific 60's independent sound track that make you want to take the nearest drug available. Also, the supporting cast is amazing. So amazing, that it makes the leads in this film terrible. Melody Patterson makes her first feature since leaving her days on F-Troop as the beautiful Wrangler Jane. Yes, she gets naked, but we don't see much. This may be one of the biggest reasons why people actually paid money to see this back in 1969. Then again, we see Bruce Dern's talents as a wonderful actor in this movie. One of the most original and outrageous characters in independent cinema, Dern's performance gives the audience another reason to keep watching.

The problems do abound in The Cycle Savages, but it could have possibly been a better movie. I did get into the sheer artificiality, and unbelievability, of the movie at times just on the basis of kinda, sort of buying into it. But it's also got a central problem in that there is really nothing 'there' in the side of the 'good guys'. Not that this is a totally bad thing really, for it is the mean dirty rat-bastard bikers that really are the show for anyone seeing the film today. And it's almost luck that first time writer/director Bill Brame has Bruce Dern to fill the part of Keeg, one of the sleaziest of the kind of totally immoral, however with a kind of Little Alex ala Clockwork Orange style of immediate intelligence. Even in all of his occasional mania and outright outbursts getting into the over-dramatic, Dern has this character completely down. It's actually best in the scenes where he ends up being most provoking by having the most controlled, almost calm voice. A lot of his 'wit' in the film is scabrous, and not really funny, but on the side of giving a convincingly deranged sociopath with a penchant for intimidation and girls it makes the film usually watchable.

It's a shame then that Brame isn't able to match him up with more competent actors. Or even, despite having a couple of good 'exploitation' style scenes of violence and nudity and rape, having not enough for what the rest of the material is asking for. The group, Hell's Chosen Few (strange for a half biker/half prostitution ring club), spends a lot of the movie waiting, and carrying on with side-stuff, while the main story involving the artist who previously drew the bikers who now gets drawn into the deceiving clutches of the decoy is weak and unconvincing. The motives most of the time, even for a B-movie, seem to shift and not seem very solid aside from the man's 'I love you' phase even after fighting with a slashed abdomen wound. The ending (coming all too quick and with a lackluster climax) and the musical accompaniment (likely the most annoyingly generic riff repeated in any film from the period) are along with some of the acting the weaker points of the picture, sometimes embarrassingly so.

So it does say a lot, however, that I could possibly recommend it on a bad movie level, where some parts become so crazy it's hard not to enjoy it. And Bruce Dern helps bring a good, tiny change of pace to the proceedings of the very typical ten-cent biker production, which by the way doesn't have a big abundance of throughout the film. In a career full of playing antagonists, this one is unnerving and realistic enough to be of note.

This Casey Kasem production has to be the funniest biker flick in biker flick history! The film stars a host of "cult" favorites. Bruce Dern plays a wild-eyed, demented, out-of-control, biker named Keeg(guess he has a "weakness" for beer!). Dern's performance is so over-the-top, it's great. Every time he goes off the deep end, you can't help but break out laughing! He is a"White-Heat Cagney" in leather on a chopped-up hog! The romantic interest is the beautiful Melody Patterson-Wrangler Jane on t.v.'s F-Troop. Ms. Patterson is the most talented actress in the film, but who cares? She's as lovely as can be, and she's nude too! The hero is played by South Florida "Cult" legend Chris Robinson. Robinson is the Bogart of "Z" films, this film makes you wonder how mainstream Hollywood didn't discover this "Diamond" in a mountain of garbage. The academy award for most colorful acting goes to character-actor Scott Brady as a less than tough-talking vice squad detective. The movie poster for this "stinker" bills the gang as "The Wildest Bunch of the 70's", unfortunately they are the funniest!

Bruce Dern's performance in this drive in piece of drek proves that cream does rise to the top. He reminds me of how a young Jack Nicholson stole the film Hell's Angels on Wheels from its star Adam Roarke (does anybody remember him?).

The film is a grade Z flic with possibly the worst movie score in the history of cinema. It is so bad that Scott Brady, a relatively well known star at that time, appeared unbilled. Was he altruistic & shy (not) or did he hope no one would remember he took a pay check for his two minutes on screen as a Vice Officer. This film redefines melodrama.

The only reason to watch this is for Dern's performance, which shows how he rose to become one of Hollywood's most respected actors. This man can act! It's too bad no one else in the film could.

"Keeg" (Bruce Dern) is the psychotic leader of a motorcycle gang which pretty much does whatever it wants due to the fact that the people in a certain community are terrified to testify against them. This is especially true for a beautiful woman named "Lea" (Melody Patterson) who would love to tell the police everything she knows. Unfortunately, her sister happens to be in a prostitution ring run by Keeg's older brother and is deathly afraid for what might happen to her. So like everybody else she remains silent. Then one day Keeg catches a glimpse of a young man by the name of "Romko" (Chris Robinson) who spends his time sketching everything he sees-and that includes some of the activities of the motorcycle gang. This infuriates Keeg who roughs up Romko and destroys all of the sketches involving him and his gang. However, Keeg soon becomes obsessed with the idea that Romko might begin drawing more sketches and because of that begins to make plans to prevent that from happening. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this turned out to be a rather dramatic biker movie due in large part to the performance of Bruce Dern. Likewise the scene involving the brutal gang-rape of the attractive blonde by the name of "Janie" (Karen Cirol) was also quite shocking and intense as well. Be that as it may, I thought that this was one of the more explicit and realistic biker movies out there and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.