The Wild Angels/Hell's Belles

Starring:Jeremy Slate, Adam Roarke, Jocelyn Lane, Angelique Pettyjohn, Michael Walker, Astrid Warner, William Lucking, Eddie Hice, Dick Bullock, Jerry Randell, Jerry Brutsche, Kristin Van Buren, Elaine Gefner, Fred Krone, Ronnie Dayton, Henry Kendrick, Frank Kennedy, James Owens, Larry Lane, Jackie Hummer
Director: Maury Dexter, Roger Corman
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Description

THE WILD ANGELS: Original Theatrical Trailer HELL'S BELLES:

Customer Reviews:

wild angels...ok, hells belles...not good.......2007-03-19

Wild Angels is a good biker movie. I like the story and Bruce Dern makes the movie decent by doing what he does best, playing a ruthless loser. Peter Fonda is as cool as always. The movie portrays Outlaw Bikers as I always pictured them. Its a little cheesy, but most 60s movies were. Hells Belles? I wouldn't waste your money.

The good news is..........................2006-06-09

The film-quality of both movies is excellent. The not-so-good news is that they are on the boring side. The second movie is mis-named. The title "Hells Belles" led me to believe the movie would be about two or more women and motorcycles. There are women in the movie, but only one has a part, and it is a secondary one. The movie is about one man fighting another man and his gang over a stolen motorcycle. The movie made me think Sylvester Stallone got the idea for Rambo after watching it.

Too Young...Too Tough...Too Itching for Action.......2005-04-09

Review for Hell's Belle's ("The Wild Angels" must wait for another time):

The premise of 1970's Hell's Belles revolves around a simple plot device. Dan (played with virtue by `60s star Jeremy Slate) wins a super-slick new motorcycle in a riding competition, which is quickly stolen, and he goes all-out to get his prize back. The cycle (pronounced "sickle" for historical drama purposes here) has been stolen by a sleazy rival, who in turn is beaten and has Dan's bike stolen from him by the shifty Tampa (an outstanding Adam Roarke) and his motley motor-happy outlaw wild bunch. When Dan tracks down the gang, he valiantly attempts to "steal" his bike back, but instead gets clothes-lined with a log and winds up the bruised owner of a set of lesser wheels left behind by Tampa. He is also "given" the apparently disloyal Cathy (a feisty Jocelyn Lane) as a consolation prize. It would seem that's the barter and/or award system among these hog hooligans (note a similar theme in the low-rent 1969 flick Rebel Rousers, with Jack Nicholson and Bruce Dern, where an overly-enthusiastic biker gang blazes into a small town and decides to raise holy hell and hold a drag race - the grand prize being the kidnapped pregnant girlfriend of one of the local citizens). Right from the git, cute 'n' sassy Cathy reveals the glitch in her attitude and gives the beleaguered Dan the business at every opportunity. They of course eventually begin to fall for each other, but Dan's not looking for love. He just wants his prize bike back and a little two-fisted revenge along the way. So Dan and Cathy set out after Tampa and his crew, bickering most of the way.

Stemming from the public's morbid fascination with the rebellious, enigmatic, and occasionally dangerous Hell's Angels, in the late 1960s and early '70s Hollywood detected the potential market and hopped on the hog. Roger Corman, always the visionary, spearheaded the movement in 1966 with the hit The Wild Angels, featuring the young talents of Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, and Michael J. Pollard. Following the success of The Wild Angels there arrived an influx of motorcycle movies, and not all of these films were good. However, a few of these pictures, such as The Savage Seven (starring Adam Roarke, again, and Max Julien), Devil's Angels (with legendary film auteur John Cassavetes in the lead role), and Hell's Angels on Wheels (starring biker movie regular Jack Nicholson before Easy Rider put him on Hollywood's radar) are especially noteworthy for their quality and prove quite entertaining.

Hell's Belles, despite the gag title, does not revolve around multiple "belles." There is only one belle with a significant role, Cathy, and she's a supporting character to dashing Dan and buccaneer Tampa. Maury Dexter's direction is confident - he understands the material he is working with and evokes solid performances from his actors. Alas, this was the last feature film he directed. Les Baxter (Beach Blanket Bingo, Wild in the Streets, Switchblade Sisters) lends a groovy musical score to accentuate the proceedings, hyped up for the numerous brawls and skirmishes. Most of the action in Hell's Belles occurs outside, and cinematographer Kenneth Peach (It! The Terror from Beyond Space, The Young Animals, Pufnstuf) provides some impressive and adept photography, particularly with his use of the film's panoramic vistas.

Scuffles, fisticuffs, robbery, shoplifting, arson, motorcycle chicanery and overall antisocial attitudes, complemented by proficient filmmaking, make Hell's Belles a hell of an entertaining flick. The misleading moniker notwithstanding, the movie is well-crafted and enjoyable, and also something of a period piece now in cinematic history.

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