Angels Hard as They Come

A pretty good standard biker flick made by the fact it was written and produced by the guy who would go on to direct such hit Hollywood films and The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia. It was also one of the first films released on Roger Corman's own New World Pictures for which it turned a pretty impressive profit for. Scott Glenn isn't the most charismatic lead, but, he moves the films very western style plot onward with the help of the guy that plays "The General" who throws in some fun evil overacting. Theres some boobs towards the end and Gary Busey cameos as a young hippie leader, so what's not to like.

During the end of the 1960s/beginning of the 1970s there was the vogue of the biker movie genre. These movies where made with cheap budgets, actors who were making it big and directors who have only these as their only credits. I am not a fan of the genre as you probably can guess from the summary, but I gave it a try once it was on TV.

The Angels motorcycle gang has a feud with the Dragons and things get worse after they invite the Angels in the desert town of Lost Cause. The Angels' leader Long John (Scott Glenn) is challenged by the Dragons' leader General (Charles Dierkop) to a race and loses. Soon after that John meets a young hippie woman and it's infatuated with her. The leader of her gang Henry (Gary Busey) is not happy about the Dragons. After some races and some imprisonments, the Angels will have their victory.

The acting by Glenn and Busey was decent, and it was surprising since they were unknowns, but the pacing was dull and after a while the plot got stale. Apart from the acting, the music was the only good and memorable asset. A must see only for biker movie fans.

Fans of 1960/70s exploitation movies will flip over this one! Jonathan Demme originally pitched the project to Roger Corman as "a biker Rashomon". Now that's not exactly how it ended up, but it's still terrific viewing for cult fans nonetheless. Demme co-wrote and co-produced and his pal Joe Viola directed. Viola and Demme were then involved with the women-in-prison movies 'The Hot Box' and 'Black Mama, White Mama' before they parted ways. Viola concentrated on writing for TV while Demme eventually became a major Hollywood director. Scott Glenn, who in the 90s co-starred in Demme's enormously successful 'The Silence Of The Lambs', plays Long John, a biker who gets invited to a ghost town where some Hell's Angels are partying with some local hippies. Unfortunately a girl is murdered and Long John and his pals are accused by the bikers leader The General (Charles Dierkop, of 'Police Woman' fame, and the Killer Santa in 'Silent Night, Deadly Night'). They face a kangaroo court and then... well, imagine your worst. Glenn and Dierkop are both great to watch but the real icing on the cake is the supporting cast which includes Gary Busey as an unlikely hippie, biker regular Gary Littlejohn, 'Vanishing Point's nude motorcycle girl Gilda Texter, James Inglehart (Randy Black in Russ Meyer's trash classic 'Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls'), Janet Wood (who as Sweet Li'L Alice featured in the unforgettable naked knife fight with Raven De La Croix in Meyer's 'Up!'), and even - get this! - the fat guy from Sam Fuller's 'Shock Corridor' (Larry Tucker) as a cat called Lucifer! Such a cast makes 'Angels Hard As They Come' essential viewing for all fans of psychotronic cinema! Don't overlook this forgotten biker gem.

I, John Hand, was the editor of CUSTOM CHOPPER Magazine in 1971 and I had a car and bike painter friend named Bill Carter who was appearing in the movie with his Harley. So I went out to the desert and watched them shoot some scenes. I put a report of this movie in my magazine but I have to admit that I never saw the movie later. Mr Demme the director sent me a letter with some clarifications about the movie and I put the letter in my magazine. Jonathan Demme, the director also told me to keep my eye on Scott Glenn, because he was going to go places. Well, as it turned out, they both went on to make and star in the big blockbuster and award winner SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Who would have thought?

There is not really any story here although the bikes are rather lovely and the girls. It is a shame that there is so little of bikes on the road together and it is more in the ghost town where the hippies are there for the time and then the desert. Certainly the bikers are convincingly sleazy and dirty but they don't really have much to do. The only action is with the girls except for a couple of races that don't go anywhere. So the girls are fine and get to dance and take of their tops, then one gets raped and killed and another tied up threatened with fire but it is really not enough because the guys are either acting or over acting. I'm sure that Jonathan Demme as his first as producer role and writing is okay but I don't thing he was really into Hells Angels although he would go on to have a wonderful time directing.