The Peace Killers

The film begins with an attractive young woman named "Kristen" (Jess Walton) walking into a small convenience store along the highway with her brother "Jeff" (Michael Ontkean). After buying some groceries Jeff notices a couple of bikers ride up and immediately realizes that they are from a motorcycle gang known as "Death Row" which Kristen ran away from months before. Realizing the danger she is in he advises to sneak out the side door so that he can pick her up in their van and drive off before they recognize her. Unfortunately, it doesn't work and the bikers then go to inform their leader "Rebel" (Clint Richie) that she is in the area. From that point on he makes it a priority to find her for the sole purpose of having her gang raped as a lesson to others who desert Death Row. Meanwhile, Kristen and Jeff return to their hippy commune and inform their charismatic leader "Alex" (Paul Prokop) of the danger only to be told that if the bikers show up he will resolve the situation by reasoning with them. Now rather than revealing any more I will just say that this was an okay biker film which makes up for its low-budget limitations by providing enough suspense to keep things interesting. Admittedly, some of the stereotypes were a bit exaggerated but all things considered I thought it was a solid picture for the most part and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

A commune of hippies run into trouble with a brutal gang of bikies, and their blissful pacifist future is in grave danger. As luck would have it, along comes another gang of bikies, who team up with the hippies, who discover a latent bloodlust, so we get to see a gory fight. The hippies even file their medallions so that they are sharp enough to slash throats. Heartwarming.

Kristy used to be the 'old lady' of the leader of a biker gang. However, after seeing another woman brutally raped, she'd had enough and ran off--even though they promised to track her down and kill her if she did. Some time has passed and by chance, a member of this old gang sees her in a general store--and not surprisingly, he goes to get the gang. As for Kristy, she's being hidden by a group of annoying hippies--annoying because they promise a lot but won't lift a finger to fight. What will become of her? I sometimes enjoy an old biker film--mostly because they are so cheesy. However, "The Peace Killers" was not a film I particularly liked since it went farther than most films in the genre. For most of the films, the gangs looked mean, talked mean and even did a few mean things. These folks, in contrast, really are evil--and the film is pretty vivid in its depiction of rape and nudity. I just felt uncomfortable with a film glamorizing or exploiting rape...and never actually finished watching this one. See it if you like--I just think it crosses the line from entertainment to sleaze. Not enjoyable--just nasty.

Biker gang terrorizes hippie commune. This is pure cult biker flick fun from the seventies.

Before they arrive, we witnessed a gas station owner tortured with a pencil, and the gang rape of Kristen (Jess Walton - Jill Foster Abbott from "The Young and the Restless") after she tried to leave the gang. She did get away, so they track her down to a nest of real hippies.

They finally catch her and have another gang rape planned. But she escapes and is brought back to the commune by a rival gang. Now we have a war brewing.

After the brawl is almost over the commune's guru (Paul Prokop) finally tires of turning the other cheek and smashes Rebel (Clint Ritchie) up against a tree.

It's not Easy Rider, but it's an excellent example of a late 60s/early 70s youth culture drive-in movie experience. Terrifying and disturbing with a message of peace that makes the violence even more distressing. The conflict between a life of mindless violence and a life of intellectual peace is not wasted in a thin story. There is a thoughtful intent in the script and the film's direction. The fight scenes were a bit soft, but pacifists don't have that much butt-kicking training. The uses of original songs to convey the inner life or lack of an inner life of certain characters seems corny by today's standards, but the songs themselves are nice. For what it is, it's well done.