Why so much hype?

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Admirable film.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Mike (Tom Stern), a biker, returns to California after serving in Vietnam. He uses his war-hero experience to organize a new, united super outlaw gang. When one member is shot by police because he killed a girl at a pot orgy, an all-out cop versus biker war results.I have no idea why there existed a period in time where all you had to do was throw bikers, hippies and cops in a film and it just wrote itself. This idea spawned some good films (notably "Easy Rider") and plenty of bad ones. And it seems like many of the bad ones were brought to life by American International Pictures.This is no exception, and unfortunately they did not even manage to cast a single big star. Without the name talent or crew, this is a largely forgettable film from a largely forgettable genre. The most notable name is Von Dutch who designed the titles -- decades before the brand became famous.

Vietnam war veteran Mike (a solid and engaging performance by Tom Stern) returns home and becomes president of the local top biker gang. However, problems with the police ultimately leads to all-out war between the bikers and the cops. Director Bruce Kessler maintains a snappy pace throughout, stages the requisite rough'n'tumble fights with aplomb, and provides a few startling moments of raw violence. The Harley hounds are a quirky and colorful bunch: Ted Markland as the easygoing Smiley, Paul Bertoya as the jolly, yet crazy and dangerous Nutty Norman, Jimmy Murphy as amiable runt Tiny Tim, and Stephen Oliver as the scruffy Speed. Jack Starrett does his customary professional job as pragmatic police captain Bingham, who tries to keep the peace to increasingly minute avail. Fetching brunette Arlene Martel also registers well as sassy and enticing free spirit Ginger. Jerome Wish's compact script offers a nice central theme on how straight society goes out of its way to persecute anybody who's different. Herman Knox's vibrant cinematography gives the picture a pleasing bright look. The get-down groovy soundtrack by Stu Phillips and the cool soundtrack both hit the way funky spot. A fun drive-in romp.

A motorcycle gang flick that has very little to offer. A heroic Vietnam vet Mike(Tom Stern)returns home bitter, cynical and ready to ride. Mike thinks his bad ass military training will help him as he takes back most of his former gang of bikers. He is in no mood to get along with the local sheriff Bingham(Jack Starrett); Mike is obsessed with "sticking it to the man". When one of the gang members is blatantly gunned down by the fuzz; Mike has his gang ready to raise hell after the funeral; big dreams of organizing numerous California gangs to a total of 500 bikers does not seem to bother Bingham. How this movie got its R rating is somewhat odd; violence is all but nil, maybe 20 gang members, no foul language, some pretty girls...but no nudity. This is not even close to a run-of-the-mill motorcycle gang movie. Other members of the cast: Arlene Martel, Ted Markham, Steve Oliver, Suzy Walters, Sandra Bettin, Paul Bertoya, Jay S. York and Dirty Denny.

I worked with Tom in Angels From Hell. We worked together after the movie to produce our own biker movie. I had a lot of time and money in lining up the bikers for him. I got the bikers to really fix up their scooters 'cuz they were going to be paid well in the upcoming movie. After everybody had finished their bikes, I had them come together for Tom's inspection. For arranging all of the bikers, Tom had promised me a big part in the movie. On my last visit to Tom's office in Hollywood, he told me that he would contact me when he was ready to film. I waited until I found out the the HA were filming on location (Hells Angels 69). We rode out to location and talked with Terry The Tramp and Tiny. Tom had managed to get the real HA to do the picture and left me and my boys out. plus the HA weren't happy working with him at all.Tom is a good actor but he is a user/manipulator. Whether this has kept him from going to the top, I don't know. Dirty Denny