The Tormentors

I was brought into the mess after the film had run out of money. I bought film, borrowed a camera, and hired a crew with no money. There was not enough of this film to make a story, so a fast re-write was done, using the film in the can.Most of the crew kept their real names off this thing. Filmed on week ends and all was done on a non cash basis. I think for a grand total of 1200 bucks we did pretty good getting 1/2 of a movie shot, and a print made. Then it was promptly forgotten from 1971 until Jim White managed to revive it and got some fools to distribute it. I must add, my investment was never recovered ( surprise ) and I wish well whoever did make a dime on this beast.

The things we do when we are young...

and the things that happen in making a movie will always amaze me.

Another weird film from the hand of David L Hewitt, this cool little exploitation flick may mark the height of the 'Nazi Biker gang' genre circa 1971. Discriminating genre collectors will recognize Hewitt as the unseen hand behind many interesting Z grade flicks from the 60's and 70's. This film lives up (or down) to the genre, with a variety of hackneyed concepts and scenes which are frankly laughable by modern standards. However, back in the 70's I guess this was considered state of the art exploitation fare. Hewitt revisits the Nazi theme in his final film to date, The Lucifer Complex, made in 1978.

I'd like to thank the mysterious folks at Platinum Disc Corporation of sunny La Grosse, Wisconsin for the DVD release of The Tormentors, saving this psychotronic treasure from oblivion. Maybe one day we will see a Collectors Edition of Hewitt's masterpiece 'Wizard of Mars'. Until then, I guess fans will have to be satisfied with no-frills DVD releases like this one.

...if you can look past its weaknesses, the story's actually kind of interesting and there are quite a few highlights to make it worthwhile.

"The Tormentors" (1971) is more of a biker film in spirit than in reality since there are only a few motorcycle scenes, but it contains all the trappings of that infamous genre that started with the excellent "The Wild Angels" in 1966 (see my review for details) and fizzled out by 1974. This film is like an early 70's comic book come to life and reminded me of Gary Friedrich & Ross Andru's short-lived "Hell-Rider" from 1971, which was inspired by the popular biker films and was the precursor to Friedrich's better-known comic "Ghost Rider."

The story revolves around a well-dressed neo-Nazi group in Monterey, California, who rob banks on motorcycles. In the opening hold-up they do something that provokes the vengeance of a formidable cop (Anthony Eisley), who goes undercover to join the Nazis. Testing his authenticity, they order him to assassinate a charismatic Jesus freak called The Messiah who is preventing youths from turning to fascism.

It's a wild plot and sounds better than it actually is, mainly because of the film's low-budget failings. In fact, they ran out of money at some point and hired Kimberly Hyatt to finish the project. She bought some film, hired a crew with no money, did a quick rewrite and finished it on the weekends. The "failings" include the bad dubbing, which can be observed early on, especially the dubbing of The Messiah, a blond white dude, with the voice of a rousing black preacher. It's so bad it's funny. There are other funny moments, like Bruce Kimball as the overweight Nazi leader and his campy German accent that mysteriously disappears at certain points. There's also some bad editing and continuity.

Despite these glaring flaws, the film's strangely hypnotic. Comic booky or not, the story kept my interest and the film IS entertaining, and isn't this the main goal of filmmakers, to entertain? The rockin' score by Rudy & the Love Slaves is a huge plus as it has that genuine late 60s/early 70s hippie vibe and showcases a compelling percussion performance.

The women are another highlight, including voluptuous Inger Wegge as the evil Nazi blonde (spelled "Inga" in the credits), Chris Noel as Eve and a few more, like the redhead Marianne and the cop's blond fiancé. There are a couple of scenes of gratuitous top nudity, but it's pretty tame if you're older than early-teens. I think the long make-out sequence at the Nazi party was an excuse to showcase the groovy score more than anything else.

The Monterey locations are another highlight and, say what you want about Anthony Eisley, but he makes a fine protagonist here.

Although the film is copywritten 1971, another reviewer shared evidence that it may have been made in 1969 around the time of director David L. Hewitt's "The Mighty Gorga", but I can't verify if this is true or not. It definitely LOOKS like it was shot no later than 1970. In any event, "The Tormentors" was not actually released in 1971; it sat on the shelf until the early 80s when it was released on video.

FINAL WORD: One reviewer said this film has NO redeeming qualities, but this simply isn't true; it has a number of redeeming aspects. If you have a taste for micro-budget hippie/biker flicks from the late 60s/early 70s "The Tormentors" is a must. Yes, some elements are so bad they're funny, but all-in-all the movie's somehow entertaining, and that's the name of the game.

The film is short and sweet at 1 hour, 18 minutes.

GRADE: C (it's a "D" due to some lousy filmmaking here and there, like the dubbing, but a solid "B-" in overall entertainment, so "C" is the medium)

Flower-power artifact that stayed on the shelf for 15 years, where some will say it still should be. A cycle-riding vigilante infiltrates a local biker gang of Neo-Nazis called the Fourth Reich. They order him to assassinate the Messiah, a vacant hippie prophet who mysteriously appears at love-ins, so the kids will get turned on to fascism. The Messiah escapes, and the town erupts in an all-out war between the cops, the freaks, and the Boot Boys. Features now-tame rape and torture scenes, bogus psychedelia from 'Rudy and the Love Slaves', and a fat Nazi whose German accent fades in and out and looks like Bob Cresse from Love Camp 7.

I've seen most of the films in the classic "biker film" genre, lasting from about 1966 to 1974. And this, my friends, is probably the most over-the-top crazy one ever put forward.

Badfilm legend David L. Hewitt, director of such trash as THE WIZARD OF MARS, THE GIRLS FROM THUNDER STRIP, and THE MIGHTY GORGA pulls out all the stops on this one, combining Neo-Nazi bikers, hippies, Jesus, and B-movie fave Anthony (nee Fred) Eisley. Hilarious! Goofy! Ridiculous!

Eisley's girlfriend is killed by a cycle-riding gang of neo-Nazis during a bank robbery. He vows to bring them down by infiltrating the gang as one of their fellow Nazis, biding his time until he can take them out.

My favorite bit is when Eisley goes undercover to apply to join the Nazi bikers, he goes to their headquarters, which seems to be a low budget Nazified Playboy Mansion! Bikini Madchens with phony German accents sashay around the pool as Nazis with phony German accents plot and scheme how they can gain control of the local Hippie culture (and improve their phony German accents).

Why the Hippies would allow themselves to come under the thrall of a bunch of violent thuggish Neo-Nazis , when they follow a guy dressed like Jesus, remains a mystery. I guess the Nazis believed that the Hippies were all unthinking sheep that were easily manipulated. I probably shouldn't give it too much thought. Analysis is bad idea for a movie like this.

Another great moment is when Eisley drops by the local psychedelic Head Shop to get "the skinny" from the owner, his very own Huggy Bear. LOONEY! I'm giving this movie a 5 for its preposterous entertainment value. As inept as it is, it's worth watching for the laugh value.

This was available on DVD for a period of time, but I think it's currently out of print. See if you can get your hands on a DVD copy of this demented celluloid wafer, BadFilm fans. Apparently, this film was made around 1968 or 1969, and sat on the shelf until 1981, when it was released on VHS home video! Wonder what people made of it back then. It's a shame this baby never saw time on drive-in screens; that would have been very appropriate.

UPDATE 2/24/2007: Spotted The Tormentors this week as a $1 DVD release in a cardboard sleeve at Fry's Electronics. Grab it before it vanishes again!