Les anges de l'enfer

... as objective as possible. My grandfather (mom's side), the late ROY THIEL, played the deputy in this film. And somewhere in the family archives is a lobby poster for Devil's Angels. Word has it our family packed up the station wagon and watched it at the local (Seattle, WA) drive-in a few years after it's release. Now, years later, the keywords Roger Corman, 1967 biker film, and John Cassavetes shed a new light on the movie I barely knew of while growing up. Unintentionally kitschy, one of those movies you watch for the ambiance of the era rather than scrutinizing the plot line, but all in all, a nice time capsule of B-movie biker films of mid-late '60s. Devil's Angel's comes highly recommended (of course).

PS. My grandfather's name is attributed to (though he acted in commercials and several other non-credited roles) is yet another "Devil" titled-movie of the era: "Devil's Eight."

Although following a line of biker movies, stretching back to "The Wild One," "Devil's Angels" feels remarkably contemporary in its tone: anarchists on wheels ride into a town, smashing windows, stealing whatever they want, burning a car, disrespecting legal authority, boasting of their contempt for the bourgeoisie, and vandalizing everything. Their leader, John Cassavetes, is surprisingly reasonable and the beauty of Mimsy Farmer is hereby preserved forever.

This is not a great movie, and it never was. But today, the period foolishness in telling the story of poor, misunderstood counterculture bikers is a hoot! The bikers flaunt their bad-boys image and behavior, but then bemoan the harsh treatment they get from the "citizens" they despise. They--and this film--want it both ways. If this was a new film, I would be more critical of it, but as it is, it's a wonderful time capsule of '60s film-making and ideology. The acting and dialog continually swing from wooden and contrived to endearing and dramatically believable. Cassavetes was truly a talented actor, and this otherwise low-grade movie proves it. I am much more fond his gang leader character than the script or production warrant.

An exiled band of Hell's Angels strike a bargain with the Sheriff of a local town, let them stay and the town is safe. But a local girl strays into their lair and sparks off a full scale Angel war.

Nothing like a good old Arkoff-Nicholson-Corman production featuring bikers who are sick of "the Man" and want to fight, camp under the stars, and get crazy. Not a bad thing, but not really much in the way of originality here, either. I mean, after all, this was cashing in on their previous film, "Wild Angels", which was cashing in on the Hell's Angels' notoriety (and apparently the AIP guys ran into legal trouble for trying to put the Angels name in the movies... but who knows?) Now, besides the three guys mentioned above, we must mention the director: Daniel Haller. Probably not as well known as those guys, but he was the set designer for the AIP Poe films, so he was one of the family.

I guess the film grossed $4 million, which is not bad for a low-budget flick with no big names -- with all due respect to John Cassavetes (who horror fans know from "Rosemary's Baby") and Mimsy Farmer (who worked with Italian horror masters Argento, Fulci and Deodato).

It's Roger Corman's follow-up to his successful The Wild Angels. Cody (John Cassavetes) leads what's left of his motorcycle gang called the Skulls. They are continuously on the run from The Man. Cody recounts the story of Butch Cassidy's hideout, the Hole-in-the-Wall, and vows to find their own secret place.

Cassavetes should get a bit more gruffy to be a biker. He's too clean. I know that he never has facial hair but this role needs some. Maybe he could have a few day's growth. I am surprised with the humor and it's somewhat too broad. I like the rough general tone of this gang but the almost-rape scene does get very creepy. I don't mind going negative on the bikers as long as the movie doesn't keep trying to push the discrimination narrative. Despite the problematic rooting interest, I would like going apocalyptic on the town. If only they actually did it. The budget would have a problem burning down a town.