User reviews

The problems do abound in The Cycle Savages, but it could have possibly been a better movie. I did get into the sheer artificiality, and unbelievability, of the movie at times just on the basis of kinda, sort of buying into it. But it's also got a central problem in that there is really nothing 'there' in the side of the 'good guys'. Not that this is a totally bad thing really, for it is the mean dirty rat-bastard bikers that really are the show for anyone seeing the film today. And it's almost luck that first time writer/director Bill Brame has Bruce Dern to fill the part of Keeg, one of the sleaziest of the kind of totally immoral, however with a kind of Little Alex ala Clockwork Orange style of immediate intelligence. Even in all of his occasional mania and outright outbursts getting into the over-dramatic, Dern has this character completely down. It's actually best in the scenes where he ends up being most provoking by having the most controlled, almost calm voice. A lot of his 'wit' in the film is scabrous, and not really funny, but on the side of giving a convincingly deranged sociopath with a penchant for intimidation and girls it makes the film usually watchable.

It's a shame then that Brame isn't able to match him up with more competent actors. Or even, despite having a couple of good 'exploitation' style scenes of violence and nudity and rape, having not enough for what the rest of the material is asking for. The group, Hell's Chosen Few (strange for a half biker/half prostitution ring club), spends a lot of the movie waiting, and carrying on with side-stuff, while the main story involving the artist who previously drew the bikers who now gets drawn into the deceiving clutches of the decoy is weak and unconvincing. The motives most of the time, even for a B-movie, seem to shift and not seem very solid aside from the man's 'I love you' phase even after fighting with a slashed abdomen wound. The ending (coming all too quick and with a lackluster climax) and the musical accompaniment (likely the most annoyingly generic riff repeated in any film from the period) are along with some of the acting the weaker points of the picture, sometimes embarrassingly so.

So it does say a lot, however, that I could possibly recommend it on a bad movie level, where some parts become so crazy it's hard not to enjoy it. And Bruce Dern helps bring a good, tiny change of pace to the proceedings of the very typical ten-cent biker production, which by the way doesn't have a big abundance of throughout the film. In a career full of playing antagonists, this one is unnerving and realistic enough to be of note.

Wow, is just one of the many words used to describe this movie. A terrific 60's independent sound track that make you want to take the nearest drug available. Also, the supporting cast is amazing. So amazing, that it makes the leads in this film terrible. Melody Patterson makes her first feature since leaving her days on F-Troop as the beautiful Wrangler Jane. Yes, she gets naked, but we don't see much. This may be one of the biggest reasons why people actually paid money to see this back in 1969. Then again, we see Bruce Dern's talents as a wonderful actor in this movie. One of the most original and outrageous characters in independent cinema, Dern's performance gives the audience another reason to keep watching.

**SPOILERS** Romico doing sketches of scenery around town gets the attention of a gang of bikers who feel that their privacy had been invaded. The bikers then take it upon themselves to break the artists hands for doing it. You wonder just what's the big deal since the bikers, lead by this spaced out lunatic Keeg, are really doing nothing illegal at the time and can easily be photographed by dozens of people, including the police themselves who must have a number of their mug shots.

The bikers getting Romico alone in his apartment house has Keeg slicing him in the stomach with a straight edge razor. Thats to teach Romico a lesson and keep him from drawing them but that just gets Romico, after he recovers, angrier. It turns out that Keeg and his gang are out on the streets picking up and recruiting young girls for this big-time Las Vages pimp that they work for.

The thought that Romico's drawings of Keeg and his boys, and girls, will alert the local vice squad to his actions are as ridicules as Keeg himself. Since the Vice Squad headed by Det. Scott Bardy have been on to him for some time and must have an album of photos of his and his gang. The only reason you can gather for his unbalanced and bazaar actions is that he's suffering from some kind of paranoia from all the drugs and booze he's been taking and drinking.

Romico injury meanwhile is being taken care of by this quack doctor and Lea who later turns out to be a spy for Keeg. The doctor gets Romico out of his apartment and into Lea's place where Romioc is given a bowl of hot soup and some close and warm attention from Lea has Keeg's bikers break into Romico's pad and steal his drawings. With Romico finding out that his place had been ransacked by the bikers and that his prize sword, who's significances is never explained to the audience, stolen he immediately goes to their hideout and beats up two of the bikers thus getting his sword back from them and leaving the place in shambles. This makes Keeg even more determined to do in Romico and then plans to kidnap him and break his hands so he'll never draw again.

We also have this little episode in the movie where Keeg and his bikers rob this guy of his motorcycle in broad daylight at a local park beating him unconscious. All this seemed to be put in just to show how wild and crazy he and his boys. The scene had really nothing to do with either Romico Lea or later Janie, who was inducted into Keegs club and then gang raped and shot up with drugs and acid.

It was Janie who wanted to join Keeg's gang, and then turned into a hooker and junkie by doing it, that eventually brought him down by almost dropping dead in the park. Janie tells the vice squad at the hospital what Keeg and his gang did, this gives the police the proof that they need to bust him and him gang.

Keeg meanwhile had Romico kidnapped and brought to his hideout where his hands were about to be crushed in a vice. It's then that Lea changes her mind about betraying Romico and comes to his rescue freeing him by pulling a gun out on Keeg & Co. and having Romico released.

The cops now on their way to the bikers hideout, after being told by Janie where it was, has Keegs about to take off but his biker moll Sandy is now afraid that he's leaving her. Keeg told Sandy Earlie that she doesn't have what it takes to be a member of his "exclusive" organization.

Sandy grabbing Lea's gun and shooting wildly alerts the cops and has Keeg running for his life as all the other bikers scatter like a bunch of cockroaches when you turn the lights on. Onside Sandy who couldn't hit Keeg at point blank range in the clubhouse shoots wildly at the motorcycle fleeing Keeg from some 100 feet away, the gun actually jerks upwards before it goes off,and amazingly Sandy hits Keeg square on target killing him instantly. The movie ends with Sandy crying and holding the dying Keeg in her arms as the scene turns, or morphs, into one of Romico's drawings.

More like a home movie then anything else with Bruce Dern as Keeg doing a good job looking like he's strung out on drugs. Chris Robinson as the sensitive and courageous artist Rominco looks as if he's sorry that he's in the movie and trying to keep a straight face in all the scenes he's in. Even when his hands are being screwed into a vice Robinson is so unconcerned to what's happening to him that he looks like his mind, or concentration, is anywhere but in the scene that he's in!

'The Cycle Savages' is 60s biker exploitation trash par excellence! Future 'Bold And The Beautiful' soap star Chris Robinson plays Romko, a nice guy artist. Cult legend Bruce Dern ('The Wild Angels', 'Silent Running', 'The Trip', 'Psych-Out') plays Keeg, a sadistic noogoodnik biker type. Keeg takes offense at Romko sketching him and his fellow bikers and roughs the guy up. Becoming obsessed he declares he will destroy Romko's hands if he ever catches him drawing again. Romko recuperates from his injuries with the help of nice girl Lea (Melody Patterson, who sent many a pre-pubescent boy's heart a flutter when she played Wrangler Jane in 'F-Troop'). Meanwhile Keeg and the boys carry on with what comes naturally - enticing local high school girls to their pad, dosing them with acid, gang raping them, and passing them on to his pimp brother (played by DJ Casey Kasem, who also co-produced!). Romko begins to fall in love with Lea not realizing that she is being intimidated by Keeg into spying on him. Remember just one more sketch and it's bye-bye to his hands! 'The Cycle Savages' is a cut above similarly trashy biker exploitation movies from this period (e.g. 'Hells Angels On Wheels', 'The Rebel Rousers') because of the memorable performance by Bruce Dern, one of the nastiest of his whole career! If like me you can't get enough of vintage Dern action then 'The Cycle Savages' is a must see! On top of that, Melody Patterson is easy on the eye (and has some very subtle nude scenes which sadly reveal virtually nothing), and there is a goofy fuzz guitar driven score that sounds like some old square geezer pretending (unsuccessfully!) to be Davie Allen. Great stuff!

This Casey Kasem production has to be the funniest biker flick in biker flick history! The film stars a host of "cult" favorites. Bruce Dern plays a wild-eyed, demented, out-of-control, biker named Keeg(guess he has a "weakness" for beer!). Dern's performance is so over-the-top, it's great. Every time he goes off the deep end, you can't help but break out laughing! He is a"White-Heat Cagney" in leather on a chopped-up hog! The romantic interest is the beautiful Melody Patterson-Wrangler Jane on t.v.'s F-Troop. Ms. Patterson is the most talented actress in the film, but who cares? She's as lovely as can be, and she's nude too! The hero is played by South Florida "Cult" legend Chris Robinson. Robinson is the Bogart of "Z" films, this film makes you wonder how mainstream Hollywood didn't discover this "Diamond" in a mountain of garbage. The academy award for most colorful acting goes to character-actor Scott Brady as a less than tough-talking vice squad detective. The movie poster for this "stinker" bills the gang as "The Wildest Bunch of the 70's", unfortunately they are the funniest!

Bruce Dern's performance in this drive in piece of drek proves that cream does rise to the top. He reminds me of how a young Jack Nicholson stole the film Hell's Angels on Wheels from its star Adam Roarke (does anybody remember him?).

The film is a grade Z flic with possibly the worst movie score in the history of cinema. It is so bad that Scott Brady, a relatively well known star at that time, appeared unbilled. Was he altruistic & shy (not) or did he hope no one would remember he took a pay check for his two minutes on screen as a Vice Officer. This film redefines melodrama.

The only reason to watch this is for Dern's performance, which shows how he rose to become one of Hollywood's most respected actors. This man can act! It's too bad no one else in the film could.

Oh, boy! This was quite an awful motorcycle gang flick I just watched on YouTube. It was also the second that featured a performance by the recently deceased Casey Kasem-of which The Glory Stompers was the first-and he was also a co-executive producer here with Mike Curb. They previously were associate producers on TGS. Casey played the pimp brother of Bruce Dern's Keeg-a cycle gang leader capable of great anger. It was a hoot seeing Kasem on the phone while entertaining some bikini-clad ladies at the pool! Unfortunately, that was his only appearance. The rest of the movie has sketch artist Chris Robinson being harassed by Dern and his gang until Robinson gets wounded and taken care of by Melody "Wrangler Jane" Patterson-who is one of Dern's female workers. The main thrust of the plot concerns Dern's attempts to make sure Robinson never draws pictures of them again-so he won't show them to the cops-by making sure his hands are crippled. But, really, there's just senseless brutality most of the time, or at the very least, some babbling dialogue about doing such. Oh, yes, there's also a couple of interesting female players playing types like Maray Ayres playing the tough woman who loves Dern despite his treatment of her and Karen Ciral as a big, brassy blonde who gets gang raped by the gang. (Dig the drilling noise that plays during that scene!) Ms. Patterson herself does have a nice nude scene whether posing for Chris or sleeping with him. Other than those scenes, I felt The Cycle Savages was a waste of time for me. Good thing Dern would go on to better things...

Cycle Savages has one of the most ridiculous premises of any of the late 60s biker cycle. To wit: these biker bozos actually believe that they can be taken to court because a local artist has drawn some pictures of them in action. Not photos, not film, pencil line drawings. Bruce Dern froths at the mouth in an appropriate manner as the leader of the Numbskulls, or whatever the gang is called.

Released in 1969, "The Cycle Savages" starts off like it might be a decent cheap biker flick in the manner of, say, "Angel Unchained" (1970). The opening credits sequence is effective and the pre-heavy metal rock theme is simple, but enjoyable, particularly the energetic percussion. On top of this, Bruce Dern is effective as Keeg, the ee-vil leader of Hell's Chosen Few, Chris Robinson is solid as the courageous protagonist and there are a few quality gals -- Dern's brunette babe, Sandy (Maray Ayres), and two blonds, Lea and Janie (Melody Patterson and Karen Ciral). It's also cool to check out the late 60's California locations.

Unfortunately these are the only good things I can say about this flick. The plot is really really DUMB; like it was conjured up by a 12 year-old. It involves Keeg getting upset over a sketch artist for making drawings of his gang in wild revelry. Apparently, Keeg believes the sketches can be used to convict him and his gang (Why sure!). The dialogue and acting are just as bad. At one point they put the artist's hands in a vice, threatening to crush them, but it's clear that he can remove his hands at any time.

BOTTOM LINE: I can't tell you how awful this "film" is. At least a cheapo biker flick like "The Tormentors" is entertaining and has a semi-interesting story, but "The Cycle Savages" can't even do that. It's only worthwhile for a few good-looking late 60's "chicks" and as a period-piece oddity.

The film runs 85 minutes.

GRADE: D-

PS: If you want to see a great late 60's/early 70's biker flick, catch the very first one, the infamous "The Wild Angels" from 1966 starring Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern, Nancey Sinatra and Diane Ladd. "The Wild Angels" is simultaneously shocking and profoundly brilliant (yes, even though it's essentially a Roger Corman 'B' film). See my review for full details.

Another low-budget "biker" film; not top-notch except for Bruce Dern who is incredible as always. As Keeg, the woman-hating leader of a pack, he constantly makes bad dialogue sound realistic with his character. There are some interesting scenes: the blonde chick (post-party) wandering the streets in search of help. Scott Brady (Lawrence Tierney's younger brother pops up as a vice cop) and is authentic.

This is pretty standard stuff (except for Dern). A 4 out of 10. Best performance = Bruce Dern. Melody Patterson is terrible as always as the main actress (even with nudity). Interesting plot, but terrible dialogue. Not on par with Hell's Angels on Wheels with Jack Nicholson and Sabrina Scharf.

"Keeg" (Bruce Dern) is the psychotic leader of a motorcycle gang which pretty much does whatever it wants due to the fact that the people in a certain community are terrified to testify against them. This is especially true for a beautiful woman named "Lea" (Melody Patterson) who would love to tell the police everything she knows. Unfortunately, her sister happens to be in a prostitution ring run by Keeg's older brother and is deathly afraid for what might happen to her. So like everybody else she remains silent. Then one day Keeg catches a glimpse of a young man by the name of "Romko" (Chris Robinson) who spends his time sketching everything he sees-and that includes some of the activities of the motorcycle gang. This infuriates Keeg who roughs up Romko and destroys all of the sketches involving him and his gang. However, Keeg soon becomes obsessed with the idea that Romko might begin drawing more sketches and because of that begins to make plans to prevent that from happening. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this turned out to be a rather dramatic biker movie due in large part to the performance of Bruce Dern. Likewise the scene involving the brutal gang-rape of the attractive blonde by the name of "Janie" (Karen Cirol) was also quite shocking and intense as well. Be that as it may, I thought that this was one of the more explicit and realistic biker movies out there and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

I don't bandy words like that around, but this film pretty much IS worthless, even for those who might be seeking cooler-than-thou amusement or exploitation kicks.... there's not enough that's amusing or erotic to excite a gerbil. Dern gives his stock performance. The only thing that gave me pause to laugh or even wake up was the sight of Casey Kasem, legendary "reach for the stars" top 40 radio host, pimped out in a bathrobe with chicks at a backyard pool.

Not much here worth looking at.

The leader of a biker gang (Bruce Dern) takes exception to an artist sketching them, so he makes plans to crush the artist's hands.

The film is cheap, with awful audio and terrible music. This was director Bill Brame's debut, though he had worked as an editor on "Star Trek" (and continued to be an editor for many years after). Although the movie has Roger Corman written all over it, this surprisingly is not one of his films.

We get some decent cast members here: Dern, Melody Patterson and even Casey Kasem (who doubles as executive producer). And there is some interesting conflict, but this is a largely disposable film.

Bruce Dern stars as Keeg, a real slimeball who runs a prostitution racket for his brother. Everything is going perfectly except when Romko, the new artist in town begins drawing pictures of Keeg and his gang, he wants to break his hands using a vice. That basically sums up the whole movie, I'd just see it to watch Bruce Dern.

I think this movie will continue to be viewed and indeed will influence behavior of future bikers. So many of us were drawn into this scene because of these movies. This movie in particular has great shots of ratty motorcycles and the people who ride them. What more could a greasy biker ask for? Lee Marvin as Chino in The Wild Ones is a case in point. He rode a Harley and led the Beetles. Not much press on this, but bikers ate it up! Marlon was on various British iron, younger cousins to the Indians and Harleys and lesser known American mounts running the back roads of America back then. Keeg is a BAD mammajamma, but he has Harley oil running through his veins. Great portrayal by Bruce Dern. So many of us got started on two wheels just to express our displeasure with the crowd. Motorcycling is a solo act, outside the mainstream. Yeah, my doctor and my lawyer ride Harleys now, and I don't think they'd like this movie. It wasn't meant for them. It was to scare the mother of their children; it was to let their young sons know there is an avenue for them to express their fear and angst. Gitchyermotr runnin! Head out on the highway lookin for adventure, and whatever comes my way!' The future pimps of this country will continue to pay homage to the craft through the blaxsploitation flicks of the 60s and 70s. Old lure, slang, culture, etc is on display through these works of art. Long live the B movie!

Worth watching if only for the rape scene, this movie redefines the notion of a "B Movie". The score, special effects, script (both story line and dialogue)and acting are mind numbing. Anyone seeking to gain some insight into the biker culture (i.e. Hell's Angels) of the 60s-70s should not just watch but study this film for all it's worth. There's plenty of action, erotica, romance, and suspense enough to keep even the most jaded noir film buff on the very edge of his/her seat. Not for the kiddies but any popcorn loving idiot over the age of 12 will treasure this entertainment experience of a lifetime for many years to come. I gave it a 10 but can understand why it's rated 5 overall: most people just didn't get it, let alone appreciate it.

I collect "cheap biker movies" and this qualifies. There is a lot to be said, but, most others out there covered it all. I thought I would throw in a few (of many) bloopers. When Romko's hands are in the vise, they are obviously loose (not being crunched). Check out how many times the cast accidentally bump the vise handle and spin it. If the vise was under tension, the handle would be tight. Another blooper was when a biker hops on his bike that is backed to the curb. Watch the exhaust pipes. Before he even "Kicks it over" there is a very obvious belching of smoke, indicating the bike was running at idle before he even got on it.(not to mention in need of valve guide work). Comical stuff. Thats why I love these cheap biker movies. Notice the sky high exhaust pipes on one bike? Cool. The leaders of most real outlaw biker clubs (not gangs) ride a Harley Sportster (for quicker handling and speed while being pursued by the law) not any English bike(s) like "Keeg" (what's a Keeg?) The purple Triumph of "Keeg" is cool, but not authentic. Outlaw clubs rode Harleys, not Limeys. It is just that cheap biker movies can't afford an all Harley cast, I guess. All in all, one great "Cheap Biker Movie". VERY racy for it's time. These movies were meant to terrify the viewers. Maybe at the time, but comical, now.