Sunday, February 28, 2010

Movie review – “Motorcycle Gang” (1958) **

The success of Dragstrip Girl saw AIP reunite much of the same team (Lou Rusoff, Edward Cahn, Steve Terrell, John Ashley). Again, Ashley is the bad boy and Terrell is the good one and they are squabbling over a girl – Anne Neyland, a teen temptress who plas both men off against each other. Parents are again a strong presence here, despite Arkoff’s later claim that he tried to keep them out of his films – the cops try to organise a sanctioned race between kids, and when Ashley complains, a cop says that Ashley just wants the old days back because he could boss everyone around (and when Ashley tres to get his old mate to rise up in protest and they don’t).

Ashley walks around in a leather jacket with a gang of bad people – just like Eric von Zipper. There are lots of scenes of teens dancing in a café, plus a comic Chinese cook who speaks slang, and some decent motorcycle scenes - although it's a shame there couldn't have been more of these.

There’s a lot of camp value – like Neyland in tight shorts straddling a motorcycle talking about wanting to go fast (John Waters surely had this movie in mind when he wrote Cry Baby). For the most part the low budget isn't particularly noticeable, except at the end when Ashley and his mates go on a rampage and it isn't much of a rampage (the film is highly influenced by The Wild One). Terrell isn't much in his role - when he drives off a bridge you can't help laugh, he has such a wet expression on his face - but then it isn't much of a role, essentially being an Uncle Tom teenager, who sucks up to the cops. Ashley is better value in a better part - a snarly rebel.

No comments: