Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Movie review - "Ride the Hot Wind" (1971) **

Odd sort of movie, not very well known, which actually has a really good central idea...  Tommy Kirk is an army officer in Vietnam who is charged and convicted for assisting in a massacre. When he gets out he has trouble finding a job, mostly because people recognise him but also because of the chip on his shoulder. He falls in with bikies and they become outlaws.

That's actually a great set up for an exploitation film. The filmmakers don't quite pull it off - the don't do full justice to the idea and it's hurt by the low budget - but there's enough to keep you watching.

In particular there's Kirk's performance. He had a drug habit at the time and you can tell - he looks sweating, unwell, sick, struggling to get through scenes. But that actually adds to the fascination of the piece - he's playing a broken unwell men. Kirk's haunted eyes are heartbreaking. Especially when you know he once played so many All American boys - just like William Calley at My Lai.

Kirk is less convincing when he beats up some bikers. The guys who play the bikers aren't bad - the women are less good but their parts are less strong, especially the girl who does Kirk just because. Kirk gets to have a sex scene with a naked girl in this - a long way from Annette Funicello!

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