Black Angels

Black Angels (1970)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Jimmy is a young black male who hopes to one day be the leader of the all-black motorcycle gang. This leads him to attack a notorious white biker known as Chainer. Chainer, understanding what the kid is trying to do, gives him a good beating but nothing too serious. This here sets off a chain of events that lead to the black gang thinking that the white one is about the wage a war.

Laurence Merrick isn't a name that is known by many but he directed this film as well as a couple other notoriously bad movies. GUESS WHAT HAPPENED TO COUNT Dracula? and MANSON are two really campy movies and both of them are more entertaining than this film, which is obviously trying to cash in on the success of films like EASY RIDER and THE WILD RIDE. Obviously this low-budget exploitation picture can't match either one of those pictures and there's just not enough going on here to keep it more entertaining.

The biggest problem with BLACK ANGELS is that there's just not enough going on to keep it entertaining throughout its running time. I say that because the film could have made for some campy fun because of the racial angle that it takes but sadly very little is done with the plot. The highlight of the film happens very easy on when the "young" guy tries to show up the "old" guy and it leads to a fairly funny and entertaining fight.

For the most part the cast members are good enough for this type of film and that includes James Whitworth who would later gain fame playing Jupiter in Wes Craven's THE HILLS HAVE EYES. The film also offers up some minor nudity and violence but there's just not enough here to save the picture.

This movie begins with a young man by the name of "Jimmy" (James Young-El) who aspires to become the leader of a black motorcycle gang known as the Choppers. So to gain some notoriety he decides to set up a man named "Chainer" (Des Roberts) who is the leader of a rival motorcycle gang called Satan's Scorpions. Unfortunately, Jimmy dies in the attempt and it is up to Chainer to bring the news of his death to the Choppers. Needless to say, the members of the Choppers aren't very happy when Chainer comes unannounced and uninvited but their leader who goes by the name of "Knifer" (Robert Johnson) respects his action and allows him to return to his gang unharmed. Unfortunately, the tension between the two gangs continues to increase with one person in particular more than eager to provide the necessary spark to ignite an all-out war. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film had a decent enough plot but there were certain problems with the execution that were difficult to ignore. For starters, the director (Laurence Merrick) used too many flashback scenes which detracted from the movie rather than enhancing it. Likewise, too much time was spent on high speed chases and other assorted riding scenes at the expense of character development or a meaningful script. Additionally, the music played during these riding scenes was pretty bad as well. In any case, the fact of the matter is that there are plenty of other "biker films" out there which are much better and I have rated this picture accordingly. Below average.

Unbelievable! It's way too good to be true why my local Video Update store carried this VERY RARE biker flick on the shelves. Those who storm through mail-order B-movie companies will recognize this as THE BLACK ANGELS. If you get a chance to rent anything tonight, be sure to look for the out-of-print title BLACK BIKERS FROM HELL. It's the same movie only issued under a name change. That being said, I must tell you that it's the WORST biker flick I've watched in history, and one of my all-time worst movies in the history of motion pictures. The early 70s is THE fad-filled era for terribly horrendous drive-in films that lasted only a single run. Forget PLAN 9! This is just bad as it can really be!

Best described here as plainly plotless and pointless, it carries a title not fully pertaining to the fictional Black Angels. Please notice the laughably corny dialogue spoken, but listen for this crazy weird line: "This time, I'm gonna kill your Frenchy you filthy no good egg-sucking finger-licking snot-picking scuzzy-faced rut!" (say it REAL FAST!). Aside from the new trend of racial (but still campy) violence it presented, nobody wins all throughout the show. For those having faith in excessively bad cinematic taste, I greatly urge some of you to give THE BLACK ANGELS a shot! Then, you and your buddies will soon be convinced why PLAN 9 doesn't reign as "The Worst Movie Ever Made"!

Here is a biker flick that tries to deal with interacial tensions between black & white clubs. There are fights, drugs, riding, sex (to include a vary racy (no pun intended) rape with 2 black men & a white woman). Its fun to watch this in its silly production, 1 just has to remember this is a exploitation film, it is intended to make money off this type of flick, that is biker's & black's.

A hybrid between a blaxploitation movie and a biker film, with the emphasis heavily on the latter. Interestingly, the Black Angels here are not the brothers but the evil cops! The joy of this one is it's rough and ready nature, with off-the-street actors and ropey fight scenes.