Hellriders

My review was written in May 1985 after watching the movie on Trans World Entertainment video cassette.

"Hell Riders" is a meek attempt to resuscitate the biker action genre of two decades back. Already released on video cassette, this 1983 production has little theatrical potential outside the drive-in circuit.

Adam West toplines as Dr. Dave Stanley, physician in the small town of Ransburg beset by the violent Hell Riders biker gang. Besides the local folks, also terrorized is Claire (Tina Louise), a former Las Vegas blackjack dealer on the road.

Archaic cheapie features okay stunt work but an uninteresting, trite story. Predictably, West saves the day. Film culminates nastily when the townsfolk band together to mercilessly shoot down the bikers like dogs. Pic is more professionally executed than producer Renee Harmon's prior work (such as "Executioner Part Ii" and "Frozen Screams") but acting by the supporting cast is amateurish (biker extras are credited here as "Rent-a-Gang"). Harmon also casts herself as a saistic, overage biker -campy at best.

What else can you say about this movie,except that it's plain awful.Tina Louise and Adam West are the reasons why to see this,but,that's it,but their talents are wasted in this junk.I think that they used a double in some of Adam's scenes,like when he's running because you can't see his face.If Adam was embarrassed in being in Zombie Nightmare,just think what he must've felt about appearing in this??? If it was before or after,I'm not sure,but,still,Zombie Nightmare is a classic(check out the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version first and last)compared to this.The gang is very annoying and over-acting by some of the actors.A rip-off of The Wild One starring Marlon Brando,of course.Tina looks stunning though.I hope her and Adam got a good paycheck!! Pass!

I have been moved to review this movie because I remember it when it came out on cable. This has got to be the worst movie in which an editor has put honest effort into the process of film editing. If you want to see totally random out of place shots of bikers edited with close-ups of Tina Louise and Adam West you have found your movie. The only reason I gave it 2 out of 10 stars and instead of 1 of the 10 stars like 95% of the other reviewers is because the film stock seems to be of superior quality.

UPDATE: I gave the movie a second chance. I realize that the reason why the movie is so bad is that it's a biker movie without T&A. Some scenes have the potential to hold your interest, but there is no continuity throughout the movie to keep you going. Something like T&A in most biker movies to hold you interest.

This movie feels like someone watched a biker movie in their dream and then got an A. I. to recreate the movie from what they remembered. "I remember Batman was in it but he was a doctor, Ginger from Gilligan's Island, a naked woman on a chain leash, bikers with skulls on their patches, and most of it was filmed on a set that looked like a frontier town from a western."

This movie essentially begins with a small group of bikers known as the Hell Riders being evicted from a larger motorcycle gang and being forced to fend for themselves. It's at this time that they come upon an attractive lady from Las Vegas named "Claire Delaney" (Tina Louise) who just happens to have car trouble on a deserted stretch of road. Although they beat her, she manages to escape to a nearby town where she manages to find a sympathetic doctor named "Dave" (Adam West). However, the sheriff in this town has no interest in upholding justice and refuses to become involved. This decision eventually results in tragic consequences when the motorcycle gang rides in. Now what initially drew my interest in this movie was the fact that it featured both Tina Louise and Adam West. Unfortunately, although they both performed adequately enough, the extremely poor script and the lumbering direction provided by James Bryan resulted in a pretty bad movie overall. Accordingly, I rate this movie as below average.