HELLS ANGELS ON WHEELS (1967) - Review

Hells Angels on Wheels

Crime/Drama/Thriller
1 hour and 35 minutes
Approved

Written by: R. Wright Campbell
Directed by: Richard Rush
Produced by: Joe Solomon

Cast:
Adam Roarke
Jack Nicholson
Sabrina Scharf
Jack Starrett

The violence, the hate, the way-out parties ... exactly as it happens!

 

The 1950s saw the emergence of the exploitation genre known as the biker film. During this decade, these films concerned the rugged outlaw - referred to as a greaser - who appeared as a tough and dangerous figure, but one that was fascinating to audiences nonetheless. As the 1950s became the 1960s, audiences' interest in rebels only increased with the growing unrest within American society. Greasers gave way to outlaw biker gangs, and a newer, tougher, type of biker film was born. The country was fascinated with real life outlaws like the Hells Angels, and filmmakers intelligently cashed in on that fascination.

Hells Angels on Wheels came during the era when biker films were at their zenith. Roger Corman's movie The Wild Angels used real life Hells Angels as cast members, and showcased the rowdy, rambunctious nature that these outlaws lived on a day-to-day basis. Peter Fonda at the end of Corman's movie sums up precisely what it was that fueled these movies as well as the real life Hells Angels in his monologue declaring that they "want to be free."

Freedom to do whatever they want and being able to get away with it is why American audiences loved The Wild Angels. Hells Angels on Wheels followed just one year after wanting to cash in on this exploration of outlaw freedom, making it essentially a mocksploitation biker flick. Regardless of it living in the shadow of Corman's superior film, Hells Angels on Wheels is a fun movie with plenty of merits.

While there is hardly a tangible story - which is the case for most of the best biker movies - the film does contain an interesting plot. An outsider, a young middle-class, American - played by Jack Nicholson - is clearly fed up with the restraints of his day-to-day life, working as an attendant at a gas station. When a gang of Hells Angels crosses his path, he gives up the rat race of normal life and joins in on the chaos. It's a fascinating way to take us as an audience into this chaotic, and somewhat fascist, lifestyle that the Hells Angels lived - as opposed to the approach in Corman's movie where the audience is essentially just thrown into it all blindly.

As the main character embraces the freedom, so does the audience. When he defends his brothers in the film's countless brawls, the audience cheers him on, not giving a damn that the men the Angels are actually beating up are working-class Americans. The audience becomes an Angel with the film's hero. And as the story progresses, and Nicholson's character finds there to be a particular lack of freedom with all of the Angels fascist rulings, the audience grows tired of the nightmare, hoping that the hero will just walk away and ultimately do the right thing.

The film's most commendable aspect is its cinematography. László Kovács, most famous for shooting Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces (both of which also starred Nicholson), showcases brilliance in regards to the film's camerawork. It is clear that Kovács worked hard to make the audience feel completely submerged within each moment of the film. During the party sequences, the camera moves around, effectively hand-held, zooming in on women's bodies, tilting, twisting, and dancing as if it were one of the Angels at the party. During the brawls, the camera is equally effective in its movements, perfectly spliced together by editor William Martin. Hells Angels on Wheels may be scolded for its lack of story, but it must be held in high regards for its technical brilliance.

Jack Nicholson is impressive as the film's hero, and even in this early film of his it is apparent that something special lurks within him. He is ever the professional, and one gets the impression that he gave this role one hundred percent - never once thinking this kind of exploitative storyline was beneath him or his talents (whether he'd think the same today ... who knows?) Sabrina Scharf is an interesting choice as the love interest. There are moments where she seems outstanding in the role, and moments where she seems miscast. Her intelligent dialogue with Nicholson's character being the stronger of her moments, while the bimbo, motorcycle-babe moments being the weaker. The film's strongest performance is delivered by Adam Roarke, who as the head of the Angels is truly believable. Roarke is commanding, he looks the part with his beard and dirty features - cruising on his bike with his 1960s sunglasses and torn denim vest. He is a quintessential tough guy, and his believability certainly trumps Nicholson's, and it is an absolute pleasure to watch him play a role that may have been better received if it had been in a much more serious movie. It's a shame his career never amounted to the potential it should have.

Despite decent performances and truly innovative technical qualities, Hells Angels on Wheels suffers in that it never breaks out of the cinematic shadow of its predecessor: The Wild Angels. By this point, The Wild Angels had effectively showcased the truly chaotic and fascinating lifestyle of the Hells Angels and outlaw motorcycle gangs to American audiences. Hells Angels on Wheels almost feels like a redo that is totally and utterly ineffective. It's fun, it's wild, and it has its merits, possibly enough to make it an entertaining cult movie. But despite this, none of what it showcases can be regarded as important to the canon of cinematic history.

5/10

JENIFER (2005) - Review

Jenifer

Horror
58 minutes
Rated: TV-MA

Written by: Steven Weber
Directed by: Dario Argento
Produced by: Lisa Richardson & Tom Rowe

Cast:
Steven Weber
Carrie Anne Fleming

The Masters of Horror TV series ran on Showtime for two seasons in 2005 and 2006. The idea was simple, present a platform where famous horror directors - "the Masters of Horror" - could each direct a 60-minute mini-movie to be presented as an episode within the show. Each episode would be directed by a different horror master and would not relate or tie into other episodes. With it playing on Showtime, the filmmakers essentially had carte blanche as far as explicit content within their mini-movies (although both Argento's episode and Japanese horror filmmaker Takashi Miike's episode received cuts due to content).

When Masters of Horror was beginning to conceptualize and move forward into its first season, the career of legendary Italian horror filmmaker Dario Argento was at a bit of a crossroads. His 2001 giallo film Sleepless had been a major hit for him in his home nation, and even received kinder reviews than any he had been given in the 1990s. However, following Sleepless, Argento made the rather uninspired giallo The Card Player and the made-for-TV movie Do You Like Hitchcock? of the same sub-genre. Both were poorly received, and since their release have been attributed to being forgettable parts of Argento's waning career. Argento needed a hit and because of this he had gone to work on his long anticipated The Third Mother - the sequel to his most famous works Suspiria and Inferno, and the last chapter in his magnum opus Three Mothers Trilogy.

Luckily, Argento was asked to participate in Masters of Horror, and he put the brakes on The Third Mother so he could fly to Vancouver and film his segment for the first season: Jenifer.

Because it was filmed in Vancouver, as opposed to Argento's usual urban settings of Turin and Rome, Jenifer doesn't have the usual look associated with the maestro's work. The setting in the end, however, attributes nothing to the overall tone of the film - which is purely Argento - and it could have easily been set in a number of urban locations.

For the first time in his career, Jenifer was a movie completely scripted without Argento's help. The film struggles with the pacing, rushing to its conclusion so rapidly it barely gives the viewer a moment to catch his or her breath. This really can't be faulted too heavily on actor/writer Steven Weber, since he was limited to the 60-minute time restraint. However, scenes could have been trimmed, re-written, or simply hacked to give Jenifer a smoother, easier flow. Whether this fast-paced nightmare is a plus or minus to the overall work is ultimately up to the viewer.

The story is indeed nightmarish, playing out like a dark fairytale, not unlike some of Argento's best works (Suspiria, Inferno, and Two Evil Eyes come to mind). None of it seems real, and yet at the same time its dreamlike tones make you accept that what you're watching is reality ... at least for the 58-minute running time. Its circular conclusion is both satisfying and heartbreaking, and ultimately serves to further the idea that Jenifer is a bad dream one cannot wake up from. Jenifer ultimately seems less jumbled than previous and later films in Argento's career, with a coherent plot-line followed all the way through. It deals strongly with the Biblically-routed idea that sex is the ultimate sin, the corrupter of man, and it is through women - a fully realized succubus in this case - that a hero is tragically corrupted. It's a fascinating tale that keeps the viewer's attention at all times.

Furthering the film's fairytale quality is the score by veteran-Argento composer Claudio Simonetti. Simonetti uses a whimsical, almost childish, musical score peppered in throughout - making it seem like a Disney film gone horribly wrong. During this time of his career, Argento seemed to be accepting his once self-criticized title of being "the Italian Hitchcock" more and more, and Simonetti's score at times takes on tones reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann's score for Psycho. There is one moment within the film where the score takes on the synth-heavy tones of a 1980s backwoods slasher flick, and it is so jarring it takes the viewer out of the film entirely. An odd miss for Simonetti, but given his disappointing score for Argento's The Card Player, perhaps he too was trying to recover his overall sense of quality at this point in his career.

Argento in his later years played less and less with lighting the way he did in his early works, and that is the case with Jenifer. The film is rather cold, flooded with the natural light of British Columbia, with no sense of a broad color-scheme. There are interesting moments, however, a scene where Steven Weber's character inquires as to the whereabouts of the titular succubus is lit terrifically and showcases Argento hasn't lost his eye for technical magic.

The gore effects are impressive - done by Greg Nicotero - now a legend within the industry. Argento cranks up the dial on the blood and gore, bringing his work back to the shocking value it had in his early days. He's once again unafraid to blur the lines between sex and violence, hoping to challenge his audience and make them uncomfortable seeing the connection played out on screen.

While it is far from his best work, and an argument can be made that it is the least "Argento-esque" entry of his works, Jenifer plays a significant role within the filmography of Dario Argento. It showed audiences he was not afraid to return to the shocking imagery that set his early films apart from others, that he still had his genius, talented technically-oriented eye, and that Argento was ultimately worthy of being called a true Master of Horror.

6/10