Anjos do Inferno

A quickly made follow-up to AIP'S ''The Wild Angels'', ''Devil's Angels''nevertheless provides solid entertainment, as well as some good acting from a game cast. John Cassavetes stars as the craggy head of a motorcycle gang who decides to lead his fun-loving bunch to a mythical place he calls ''Hole In The Wall''.This Nirvana is supposedly a hide-out he has heard of, where they won't be bothered by the outside world of ''Squares'' and can happily debauch to their heart's content. This group, however, is nowhere near as savage as ''The Wild Angels'', and their idea of fun is taking apart a little country store, stiffing the owner, and setting fire to the camper of a couple unlucky enough to accidentally knock over one of their ''Hogs''. But the story turns ugly when they stop in a small town and are accused of rape by the local yokels. Cassavetes brings a certain likability (and even a sense of honor) to his part, Leo Gordon is his usual proficient self as the local Sheriff, and, as a nice, but reckless girl who chooses to party with the gang, Mimsy Farmer (in the second of three films she made for AIP) is lovely and persuasive. The gang members are mostly convincing as well, though Beverly Adams, sporting a Vidal Sassoon haircut (courtesy of her future husband)and an enormous pair of false eyelashes, simply looks ridiculous as Cassavetes main squeeze. The widescreen photography is great, as is Mike Curb's music score, with many numbers performed by ''Angels'' alumni,Davie Allan And The Arrows. ''Devil's Angels'' has just been officially released on DVD by ''MGM'S Limited Edition'' label, and it's uncut, in widescreen, and looks fine. Previously available only as a full-screen VHS tape, double billed with a forgettable TV-movie, ''Return Of The Rebels'', this DVD is a welcome addition to any ''Biker Film''collection.

First there are no Hell's Angels as in mentioned in the main summery, the MC is the Skulls for you trivia lovers. As is so often the case in many of these summaries their weakness makes me wonder if they actually watched the movie. The movie does have a common plot for the genre, the beat music and slang of the Sixties fills the movie. The leader, John Cassavetes, is one of the not really bad guys, just a guy trying to find his way. So his performance is above what one often sees in these types of movies. Over another normal 60s biker "gang" stereotypes in plot but without the why so common death ending so in so many of films. At least more of a more positive ending

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.

When things begin to get a little too hot in the city where they live the motorcycle gang known as the Skulls decide to head out on the highway and look for a new place to call their own. This brings them to the small town of Brookville which just happens to be enjoying a carnival on that day. Because they are so rowdy the local lawman, "Sheriff Henderson" (Leo Gordon) tells them to leave town. However, when the leader of the Skulls, "Cody" (John Cassavetes) informs him that they have nowhere to go for the night the sheriff makes a deal where they can sleep out on the nearby beach but have to be gone the next day and that they cannot come back into town. Cody agrees and the motorcycle gang camps out on the beach. Unfortunately, a local girl named "Marianne" (Mimsy Farmer) cannot leave well enough alone and goes out to party with them. However, when things get a little too adventurous for her, she runs back into town in a disheveled state which causes several leading citizens in the town to take matters into their own hands. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that although it starts off rather slow it eventually gains momentum and ends up satisfactorily for the most part. In short, it's not a great motorcycle movie but it wasn't that bad either.

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).