For anyone who doesn’t think Roger Corman could direct should check out this effort, which shows him at the confident height of his powers – interesting, experimental visuals, fast pace, differing techniques. It’s a shame the story he is filming is so uninvolving. Although this film was incredibly popular and sparked an entire sub-genre of films, the biker film, it is not a lot of fun to watch.The Hells Angels are so unsympathetic and unlikeable and stupid – a member of the gang (Bruce Dern) is shot fleeing the cops so they bust him out of hospital (!!), one of them trying to rape the nurse as he goes, then Dern dies so they have a funeral and rape Dern’s lady friend (Diane Ladd) then bury him. I guess Corman didn’t want to glamorize them but did they have to be so stupid and unglamorous. Even the leader of the gang (Peter Fonda, a charismatic actor in a way but not very believable as the head of the Hells Angels) is the one who comes up with the dumb plan to break Dern out of hospital.
Some real Hells Angels were employed giving the film a feeling of authenticity (they look as though they wouldn’t listen to Peter Fonda – the actor who plays his 2-in-C is especially imposing looking). The best scene is the funeral, with some great music, nice scenery, and suspense as the townsfolk gather to beat up the Hell’s Angels. The script is credited to Charles Griffith but doesn’t seem very Griffith-like; Peter Bogdanovich (who can be glimpsed as a townsperson and who worked on the film as second unit) said he rewrote 80% of it, which is why perhaps it is more visual than other Griffith scripts.
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