Rebel Rousers (1970)

"Paul Collier" (Cameron Mitchell) is an architect who drives into a small town in search of his girlfriend, "Karen" (Diane Ladd) who is noticeably pregnant. He wants to marry her but she essentially wants to raise her child all by herself. As it so happens, a gang of motorcyclists known as "the Rebels" rides into this same town and begins causing trouble. Fortunately for Paul, the leader of the gang, "J. J. Weston" (Bruce Dern) is an old high school acquaintance of his and because of that they are on good terms with one another. Unfortunately, J. J. doesn't quite have as much control over some of the more violent members of the gang and when they take an interest in Karen things begin to turn extremely ugly. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that this film wasn't nearly as fun or exciting as it should have been due in large part to the chaotic script and lackluster direction. Additionally, I personally didn't care for the use of a pregnant woman as a sex object. But maybe that's just me. In any case, I would think that having a cast which included Jack Nicholson, Harry Dean Stanton and the aforementioned Bruce Dern and Cameron Mitchell would have been more than enough to ensure a somewhat interesting biker film. Apparently, the director (Martin B. Cohen) wasn't up to the task and because of this I have to rate this film as below average.

Rebel Rousers, The (1970) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Silly but mildly entertaining biker flick about a man (Cameron Mitchell) who travels to a small town to try and get back his pregnant wife (Diane Ladd) but while the two are talking he's beaten and she's kidnapped by a biker gang led by Bruce Dern. The battered husband manages to make it back to town where he tries to find someone to help him. The highlight of this film is the wonderful cast as we get not only Mitchell, Dern and Ladd but supporting performances by Jack Nicholson and Harry Dean Stanton. As far as biker films goes this one here is a long way away from titles like EASY RIDER and THE WILD ANGELS but there's enough mild charm here to make this worth viewing. The film runs a fairly short 78-minutes and I do wonder if there's some stuff on the cutting room floor as there are a few side plots that never really add up to much and we even get some questionable moments from start to finish. We're told that Mitchell and Dern played football together but this never really adds up to anything. We get the escape scene with Mitchell taking off yet it's never quite clear why his wife doesn't try to escape with him. Probably because if she had then the movie would have ended right there. The kidnapping leads to a pretty good ending when some Mexican guys with rakes show up to get back Mitchell's wife as well as one of their daughters who was delivering tacos to the bikers!!! Mitchell is a real head-scratcher here as he pretty much sleepwalks through the role and his scenes crying are pretty funny as there's obviously no real emotion behind them. Ladd is charming as the wife and it's always fun seeing Stanton no matter how small the role is. Dern clearly steals the show as the "mature" biker who is always saying the right thing even though it's hard to trust what he's saying. Finally, there's Nicholson wearing some zebra colored pants that are a real hoot. Fans of the genre will want to check this one out but others should see the classics first.

A quick once over and The Rebel Rousers seems nothing more than a good guy versus evil biker gang midnight movie. But,look closer and you see a story about the conflict of conforming to the norms of society or rebelling against them. The star of the film is a heavy-set Cameron Mitchell who plays a middle-class businessman in a stormy romance with Diane Ladd. Mitchell meets a former high-school buddy played by an intense Bruce Dern(kind of weird pairing here as Mitchell is 18 years older than Dern in real life)the leader of a gang of misfit bikers. Both men seem both happy and sad to see each other. It's as if each man is jealous of the other's lifestyle. Yet, neither one is happy. A rugged looking Jack Nicholson is Bunny, a psycho member of the Rebels. It's clear even here, that Nicholson is a star in the making. There is not one moment when you feel he is "acting" his part. The main focus of the film is Nicholson's attempt to rape Ladd, with both Mitchell and Dern preventing it. Ladd's character represents the family values of the 1950's and Nicholson's Bunny is symbolic of the devil-may-care 1960's lifestyle that may destroy it. If you like movies with a "meaning' The Rebel Rousers is for you.

This film was in the cult section at the local video store, and I've come to find that "cult" films are often one of two things. They are either masterpieces which are over-the-top/bizarre/cryptic/left-of-center and can be watched again and again, or they are very lame films with little-to-no redeeming qualities which have gained a cult following because people get a kick out of unintentionally bad films. This film falls into the latter category. I can't imagine anyone would think this was actually a decent film. Everything about it is lame. The best (best meaning worst in this case) part of the film was when one of the men escaped from the biker gang, got a car, and drove into town to the police station. When he comes into the police station, he's out-of-breath and fatigued. Wasn't he just driving? He's worn out from driving? This film is awful.1/10