Satan's Sadists

There are several things this picture cannot overcome with its very low budget: the pacing is very slow at points, photography is almost amateurish in places (blown up from 16mm, I think), there's filler - too many shots of motorcycle riders moving on the freeway, and lousy dialog/acting. But, there's enough entertainment value for 3 stars from me. The credits song, 'I Was Born Mean...' is just super. Then you have star Tamblyn, the biker leader, overacting or subverting his persona, depending on how you look at it. He makes this weird speech a third of the way in (famous to people familiar with the flic) about how peaceful hippies are persecuted by cops; this is how he justifies his murderous actions (yes, I do this for the hippies, since they're too peaceful to do it). Scott Brady is a cop on vacation and the object of Tamblyn's antagonism. It doesn't explain why Tamblyn kills 3 young women later - what do they have to do with it? He giggles like a madman as even his own fellow biker (Cardos) rebels against such pointless murder.

Is Tamblyn just playing a joke on the audience? Here I am, he seems to be implying, once a nice boy in Hollywood movies. Look at me doing all this crazy stuff! I am one crazy dude. The 2nd half of the pic is all in the bleak desert, with the various surviving characters running about. There are no other police or establishment figures intruding; it's mentioned in the beginning how desolate the area is, that you can go 200 miles(!) without seeing another person. Greydon Clark is amusing as another biker who lives to get stoned on acid or LSD; his goal is to go on a one-way trip. And this was Regina Carrol's first big role, as a biker momma. Some of her dialog, as mentioned, is atrociously dated and poorly delivered besides; pining for Tamblyn, she asks another biker, "doesn't he know I dig him?" So what were they all rebelling against, these lowlife bikers? It's anyone's guess. Like in other such pictures, they just looked bored with everything and spewed moronic rationales out of their dirty little mouths - but the filmmakers put them there. Next was "Dracula vs.Frankenstein" - a reworked biker tale.

I watched this dud just because Russ Tamblyn was in it :why on earth did he have to get involved in that business? Tamblyn plays the leader of a pack of Hell's Angel's who spread panic and bring death and destruction to the region.The prologue is particularly obnoxious : a scene of rape and the victim seems to appreciate bestiality.

But the movie is outright reactionary: that long-haired youth is fatally dangerous ,but fortunately the clean cut kid,a former marine,is here to save the damsel in distress in miniskirt.THe hero utters this hilarious line :"in Vietnam,at least,I was paid when I killed someone".

Russ Tamblyn sank really low :he's best remembered for " the last hunt" "west side story" and the extraordinary horror classic "the haunting" (1963)

Satan's Sadist (1969)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This biker flick pretty much put Independent International on the map and today it still holds up quite well. The story is pretty simple as a biker gang led by Anchor (Russ Tamblyn) take people hostage inside a restaurant. He kills three but two (Gary Kent, Jackie Taylor) get away and head out in the desert to hide. Naturally the biker gang must go after them and soon both sides realize that Anchor really is beyond crazy. Once you become familiar with the work of Adamson you'll begin to realize that he rarely turned out an "good" movie but this one here is perhaps the best I've seen at least from a technical point of view. The performances, direction and cinematography are actually pretty good here, which might make some people think this isn't an Adamson picture but he had quite a bit to work with here and the end result works. Tamblyn is extremely fun as the psycho biker as his laid-back approach makes for a good, cold villain. Kent makes for a good hero and Taylor is at least easy on the eyes. The supporting players feature some familiar faces including John "Bud" Carlos as an Indian biker, Adamson regular Regina Carrol play a sympathetic biker chic and Kent Taylor appears briefly as the restaurant owner. We even get Richard Dix playing a one-eyed biker. The film pretty much goes all out in terms of exploitation as we get some fairly violent death scenes, several mild rape scenes and of course you can't be a biker flick without a good number of fist fights. One of the highlights of the film happens when the bikers first appear inside the restaurant and the folks inside try to fight back at them. This leads to a pretty well-directed sequence once Anchor has three people on the outside and he plans on raping the cop's wife. The film starts to wear thin towards the end but this is something that happened with a lot of exploitation movies. Those wanting nudity will find plenty of it here as the women were clearly hired more for the size of their breasts than anything else. The most outlandish thing about SATAN'S SADIST is the fact that it has a soundtrack featuring six films by a group called The Nightriders. This group isn't going to make you forget The Rolling Stones but the songs actually fit the film rather nicely.

Coming from a huge fan of the trashy, 1970s, low-budget, motorcycle gang, genre, my comment may be slightly biased. Being a fan of the wonderful Al Adamson might be too much as well. However, as far as sleazy 70s biker flics go, "Satan's Sadists" is indeed one of the better ones. Russ Tamblyn outdoes himself as the whacked out, sadistic leader of the group. His performance is truly fun to watch and he plays the villainous role to the max. The soundtrack is also tons of fun with some memorable "acid" tunes that should have you saying "Wow man!" every 20 minutes or so.

It's a pretty violent entry to the biker genre, but few of them are really "sugary-sweet". "Sadists" however, is maybe a bit above the rest with some real nastiness committed by the title group. For something a little less shocking, "Easy Rider" would be a better choice or even "Hell's Angels On Wheels".

Fans of schlock director Al Adamson have to see/own this one. It's a biker "classic" and deserves high ranking in biker film "Top Tens" right alongside "Northville Cemetery Massacre", "The Glory Stompers" and "The Savage Seven". Enjoy!

Al Adamson's film is so low-budget and the actors( with a few minor exceptions) are so obscure, that this grade Z biker-flick is brutally realistic. Made during a time of political as well as social conflict, Adamson strives to show the "hopelessness" of an entire generation "lost" as a result of the war in Viet-Nam. Russ Tamblyn's horrifying role as the demented leader of the gang is gut wrenching. It's one of his most brutal and meatiest roles. Gary Kent shines as the hero of the story. And as usual, veteran character actor Scott Brandy gives a sturdy performance. To the naked eye this may simply seem as a "schlock"- drive-in biker- quickie film. But, a deeper study finds a symbolic film with nerve-shattering reality. It's Al Adamson at his finest.