The Peace Killers

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.

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.

Every now and then one must set aside the horror and Kung Fu in order to watch a little sleazy Bikersploitation and, to my surprise, Comcast's Action On Demand channel 'Impact' not only offered this film but featured it in HD! It still looked crap. That's not the point though, right? What we want from a film called The Peace Killers is a violent, sleazy biker flick and that's just what we get here. Mixing equal parts Hicksploitation and Blaxploitation, "Thunder in Paradise" and "Baywatch" creator Douglas Schwartz created a nasty little steamer of a film worth checking out, if you're a fan of exploitation.

The Peace Killers isn't a great film by any means; the acting was acceptable for low budget acting, the fight sequences were poorly choreographed and the deaths were completely unconvincing. In other words, it's the type of exploitation we've all come to know and love with just the right amount of nudity, rape and hot hippie ass to keep viewer's from setting down the remote and walking away or turning the channel. While all of this may sound negative, it isn't. I found myself slightly entertained despite this film's shortcomings. I can't recommend this film to those unfamiliar with Bikersploitation, or exploitation in general, but those "in the know" will probably want to check it out. Cowboy's crazy eye commands you!

Siblings Kristy and Jeffrey are buying supplies at a remote desert gas station when some members of a biker gang come cruising in. The bikers recognize Kristy, who used to be the main squeeze of the gang's leader before she ran away.

What is the deal with hippies versus bikers? I presume this trend was inspired by "Easy Rider", but it seems like there is a large (but still obscure) subgenre of films about hippies who get attacked by bikers. Some from Roger Corman, and some from even lower budget producers.

In this film, the hippies are so obsessed with love, with their leader being a perverted sort of Christ figure. I could not decide if I was supposed to sympathize with them or not. While the siblings are obviously the protagonists, the "new age" factor was just a bit too much for me.

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.