Angels from Hell

Tom Stern ("Hell's Angels '69") stars as Mike, a Vietnam veteran who returns home determined to form his own biker gang and stick it to the man. He assumes control of his former cronies, who were better behaved before he came along. He wants to make his gang all-powerful, and their antics lead to fairly predictable results.

Overall, as directed by Bruce Kessler ("The Gay Deceivers"), "Angels from Hell", which gets a special 'story consultant' credit for famed Angel Sonny Barger, is typical for the genre, with decent action and a cast full of tough guys and sassy, sexy ladies. The music score is most groovy, with a priceless theme song to boot. Perhaps most interesting is that the movie isn't quite as anti-establishment as other entries in this genre, at least in its even handed portrayal of lawman Bingham (played by the late, great actor / director Jack Starrett).

The swaggering Stern does alright in the central role. Among the supporting players are Ted Markland ("Fighting Mad") as Smiley, the enticing Arlene Martel ("Zoltan: Hound of Dracula") as the independent-minded Ginger, Paul Bertoya ("Hot Rods to Hell") as the unstable Norman, Jimmy Murphy ("Mister Roberts") as Tiny Tim, and, in his film debut, wrestler Pepper Martin, famous for his role in "Superman II".

The ending fails to be all that satisfactory, but it does have a feeling of somber inevitability as Mike tries to make the case that the law should protect those of his kind as well as the average citizen. The end credits give the performers an appreciated "curtain call", and the movie does entertain if never really catch fire.

Seven out of 10.

AIP does what it does best, exploitation of stereotypes. Good fun though with the real bikers being used. The real actors aren't as good as them. Incredibly terrible soundtrack.

...for cheesy biker movies like this. It's got it all: motorcycle clubs, a hippie commune, a disaffected Viet Nam vet, free love,(and brutal rape), a dive bar that takes Mastercharge (long before it became MasterCARD), go go dancers, skirts so short (and a wardrobe budget so tight) one girl takes a micro-mini dress she wore in a previous scene, tucks it in bell-bottom pants, and voila! It's a blouse; a generic rock score, hard for the bikers, soft for the hippies, chockfull of cliche' "Freedom" anthems, all with lyrics that are trite variations on the counter-culture slogan "Fight the Power!", and a script almost totally devoid of any standard English words, strictly hip "rap" LONG before it went gangsta. So chockful of 60's slang it should be in a linguist's historical archives.

Lead "actor" looks remarkably like porn "actor" Long John Holmes, and is given frequent opportunities to show off his hot bod to the ladies, to the point where the sheriff, his nemesis tells him to "button up:" i was thinking I'm sure he was speaking for the entire audience as well, Only real acting is done by Jack Starrett (Sheriff) and Arlene Martel, "Ginger", (the all-purpose "Hot Chick" name) the woman who owns the biker bar where she takes Mastercharge, best known as one of Captain Kirk's dalliances in the original "Star Trek" TV series. Nobody else of note, except that the Madcaps, the actual biker gang the movie's fictional one is based on, are mentioned in the closing credits, and its members fill up empty space onscreen as needed throughout.

Of course, on their miniscule budget, they can't afford to ride cross-country in search of America, so they hightail it from Bakersfield couple hundred miles to BEVERLY HILLS to become MOVIE STARS--I kid you not.

Absolutely belongs in a time capsule, for appreciators of ancient artifacts.

In 2015, it's a bit hard to imagine that evil biker flicks were so popular in the late 1960s. Although the films seem incredibly naive and silly today, at the time they were box office gold for American International--a studio specializing in cheap and trashy drive-in fare. But the films were wildly successful despite their many shortcomings.

Unlike many of the biker films which starred the likes of Joe Naimath or Peter Fonda, this one stars a relative unknown. Tom Stern stars as Mike--a newcomer to town who soon becomes the leader of the Madcaps biker gang after he breaks the leg of their old leader. Now with a taste of power, Mike becomes a bit of a megalomaniac--feeling invincible and drunk with power. So, when his gang goes too far, he does little to reign them in and it's soon war with the local police. And, when 'Nutty' murders a girl, instead of turning this psychopath in, Mike covers up the killing and continues to think he can do pretty much what he wants. What's next for Mike and the out of control and rather stupid gang?

So is this film any good? Well, yes and no. Compared to many other biker films it's a bit better---with a bit more realism and a great ending. But it's also very low-brow and not exactly a must-see film! Not terrible overall despite the title.

After serving a tour in Vietnam, "Mike" (Tom Stern) returns to his hometown to discover that his old motorcycle gang has essentially been run out of town by the local law enforcement and that a new person named "George" (Jay York) has since taken over as the leader. Not happy that Mike is now muscling in on his gang, George initiates a fight with him which turns out quite bad--for George. As a result Mike becomes the leader and soon gets the attractive girl (Arlene Martel as "Ginger") as well. But rather than be satisfied with what he has, Mike has a grand plan for uniting motorcycle gangs across the country with none other than himself as the overall leader. Needless to say, this idea is fraught with difficulty. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that I thought this was one of the better "motorcycle movies" made thus far. I say this because the plot was realistic and the acting was pretty good as well. In any case, I rate this movie as slightly above average and recommend it to all enthusiasts of this particular sub-genre.