Hells Angels on Wheels (1967)

After being fired from his job as a gas station attendant, a man who goes by the nickname of "Poet" (Jack Nicholson) comes into conflict with a member of the local chapter of the Hell's Angels because one of them broke the headlight off of his motorcycle. Rather than permitting the rest of the group from joining in and beating Poet senseless the leader, "Buddy" (Adam Roarke) offers to replace the headlight but explains that he has some unfinished business to attend to first. Poet then follows the group to a bar where the Hell's Angels then proceed to beat up members from a rival gang. In the process Poet decides to join the fray and afterward he is introduced to Buddy's girlfriend, "Shill" (Sabrina Scharf). Poet immediately falls head over heels for her and she reciprocates by allowing him to have an intimate moment with her. This tests the relationship between Buddy and the two of them which is not resolved until the end. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this is a rather basic biker film from the golden age of the genre. I say this because there have certainly been both better and worse movies of this type. Having said that, I thought that all three of the actors just mentioned performed quite well. Unfortunately, there were also several slow scenes here and there which lessened the film's overall impact. Accordingly, I rate this movie as about average and recommend it only to those who might be fans of this particular genre.

I collect "cheap" Biker movies, not inexpensive, but tacky. This one is cheap/tacky, but may have the worst ending of ANY movie ever made. I'm surprised no one mentions that. About the ending...how and why does Buddy's bike explode? Why does the front tire explode in flames? Well, I know. When Buddy bites down, they wanted the bike to blow up so he would die. They did not have the money to do it more than once, much less authentically. I got knocked down by a pick up truck while on my '72 XLH, but it didn't blow up. (I guess I wasn't supposed to die) The tire blows up because it is hard to get a bike to fall over (while being ghost ridden) right on the mark. They had one chance to make it land on the explosive charge and failed. That's why I love these "Biker Movies". The cheapness. Horrible acting. Worse plots. But LOVE the bikes! '60's style choppers are the greatest. Old school. As the Biker said in the (cheap) Biker scene in the movie DUTCH TREAT, "We geek chickens on Saturday night...Know what I mean?" That's what Bikers do. Rape, pillage and geek chickens. By the way, in Dutch Treat, I am the "Biker" seated to the "Chicken Geeker's" left. Got paid to drink beer. Took 12 hours to do that 2 minute scene. No drinking on the set, tho. I smuggled cans of Coors Light in my sock and poured them in my empty bottle, so I am the only one actually drinking beer in that "Biker" scene. When you see someone drinking booze in a movie, the bottles and cans are empty. Anyway, that was my 15 minutes of fame. Had a ball. Long live cheap Biker movies!

Despite the downbeat ending, this movie gives off a clear feeling that the cast really enjoyed making it. There is a sense of fun and playfulness about the bikers' way of life, in stark contrast with the grim, depressing storyline of Corman's The Wild Angels.The conventional views of straight society are expressed by different characters bewildered by the bikers' aimless lifestyle. The go go dancer argues with gang leader Buddy about jobs and marriage, which he casually shrugs off with the remark that he's tried that already. Jack Nicholson's leading character Poet is continually ridiculed by biker girl Shill as being a square with a middle class set of values, when he tries to have a serious relationship with her. The movie honestly portrays both the attractions and the negative aspects of the freewheeling biker way of life without judging. Ultimately, Poet becomes disillusioned with the Hell's Angels and clashes with Buddy, as it becomes clear that Buddy expects unquestioning obedience from his followers, and imposes his own rules on them, not unlike the Establishment he's supposedly rebelling against.This movie is a fascinating time capsule of a time and place most of us never knew in real life. Adam Roarke as Buddy and Jack Nicholson as Poet turn in two excellent performances in a meandering, casually thrown together movie that seems almost a documentary of the Hell's Angels lifestyle in the Sixties.Worth seeing, even if you don't care for biker movies in general. More than one viewer has commented on the movie's strange, indefinable quality, as if the whole thing were a dream. See it and decide for yourself.

This has to rate as the third best biker film of the 1960s behind Easy Rider and The Wild Angels. As bad as the script is, it's clear that Jack Nicholson as Poet, an angry gas-pump jockey who joins the Hell's Angels is a star in the making.The opening scene alone is worth seeing for any biker-film buff, as over 1,000 Hell's Angels on blazing choppers led by their leader Ralph "Sonny" Barger come rumbling down the California highway.With a supporting cast of Adam Rourke(of Hell's Belles fame) & Easy Riders' Sabrina Scharf, along with "B" movie legend Jack Starrett as a tough-talking state trooper,the movie captures the "wild" days of the 1960s Hells Angels Motorcycle gang. The movie even has a "surprise" ending. With bikers, bikes, booze, and brawls, who could ask for anything else in a better than average "B" film?