Vicious Cycles

I recently remembered seeing this featured between films on HBO in its early days (late Seventies to early Eighties), when all they had to fill the space between feature films was either previews of other films or "shorts" such as this one. After doing some searches on it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it has an IMDb entry. I didn't think IMDb included films this short.

The Vicious Cycles are a motorcycle gang. Or, at least, they sort of are: the gang members in this film don't actually ride motorcycles. Rather, they stand in a pose as if they were on motorcycles, then "ride down the road" using stop motion photography. Along the way, they meet a cute blonde trying to hitch a ride and also encounter a couple of other cycling clubs that get around the same way the Vicious Cycles do, including a group of meek scooter riders called the Mild Ones. Antics include the leader of the Vicious Cycles challenging the leader of the Mild Ones to a drag race -- the leader of the Mild Ones declines, so the Vicious Cycles "run them off the road" and cause a big crash.

The film features no dialogue. Instead, the story is communicated entirely thru facial expressions and gestures (for example, the Vicious Cycle gang leader challenges the leader of the Mild Ones to a race by poking the other guy in the nose, then pointing at himself, then pointing down the road toward the red light where the cute blonde stands ready to give the signal to start). This works better than actual lines would have and makes the whole thing quite a bit funnier than it would have been otherwise.

I'm pleased to be the first to be able to review and recommend "Vicious Cycles". It's easy to find online. Give it a look... you'll be glad you did.

Good stuff. Well done..posted this good and rare find 3 yrs back...shared out to many..enjoyed watching over again...stay happy its free!! Must have taken alot of effort to produce this ??

Five guys dressed like they've come from an S&M club leave a dive bar, terrorize a construction worker, and take off on their invisible motorcycles. Along the road, they challenge some well-dressed members of a scooter club to a drag race.

It's an engaging bit of silliness. At less than seven minutes in length, it doesn't have time to outlive its welcome. Some commenters have called this satirical, but if there's any point to it except silliness, it's not apparent to me.

There are also some kickboard people, a blonde with her telephone number written on her teeth, and motorcycle cops. They also ride invisible vehicles.