On the one hand, after watching Angels Hard as They Come, I could understand why it's not higher rated or even been seen anymore than the common garden-variety B-movie biker flick, as it is true shamelessly Corman-style. On the other hand, I ended really liking how it was executed. The collaborators, Joe Viola and Jonathan Demme, wring out plenty of dirty fun out of such violent and twisted material without 'softening' it up like some biker movies of the period.

It's got almost no characters from the 'outside' world, just bikers, and maybe a few hippies (and yes, one of them an out-of-place and amusingly one-note Gary Busey). So part of the entertainment comes from bikers just being as rough and crazy as possible. But with this the writers come up with some unexpectedly funny moments, some more harsh than others, and sometimes even commenting on some of the absurdities of the Dragons. This is done dialog-wise many times- as Viola's style isn't nearly as strong or affecting as Demme provides- and sometimes through ideas shown and it all being realistic even as its crudely artificial.

One such scene, as a quick example, is when the leader of the pack General (Charles Dierkop as a well-played maniac) is seen from the waist up having short moment of pleasure, then as the camera pans down his motorcycle is getting a cleaning (pun intended, but then the title itself is almost there just for a goof). Or in having one of the side characters, the one black character of a story, adrift in the desert, almost putting to a stop the Corman rule of there being almost constant danger &/or fights &/or sex/nudity/et all.

Other ideas abound in the crazy extremities that the Dragons go through against the three Angels (one being Scott Glenn in maybe the best 'acting' of the film),including a final idea that never does come to fruition. All through, the filmmakers basically acknowledge what kind of film they're making, and don't skimp out on the early biker movies might not have dealt with, at least as much. Rape, racism, torture, pure decadence and decay in the devastation. But the factor of it all having practically a Western-movie element to it, a B-Western at that, is not thrown away for a story without focus.

It's arcane and simplistic in music, usually exploitative in themes and character, and it's got the cinematic flavor of a beer soaked ashtray. But to hell if it isn't one of my favorites of its kind, if only on the most guilty-pleasure level.

Saw this on netflix when I looked up The Harder They Come. Really fun movie until the virginesque girl gets gang raped and killed but for some reason no one is really freaked out and the movie sorta continues on without missing her. There are some fun gems in this movie like the really smooth drug dealer guy in the beginning who seems half asleep and the funny dialogue between the bikers in the beginning. Also mixed in is a little racial conflict. Like when the dune buggying wasp couple finds the escaped good guy who happens to be black. The guy wasp admonishes the tired/thirsty man for being on welfare but then asks his girlfriend to have sex with guy, when he refuses they try to run him over with the dune buggy! The bad guys come straight outta sixties westerns except for the gang raping parts-which can be really upsetting but the fact that the movie was made by Jonathan Demme(Silence of the Lambs) sorta makes sense, as the late sixties and seventies B movies were training grounds for future directors("Duel"-Spielberg). This movie is basically a sexplotation and violenceplotation flick but it has its unique moments, netflix it now. And while your at it, get "Inglorious Bastards." When people say the 1970's was a focal point for which creativitey exploded away from itself into separate factions-I believe it when I see this movie.

As a biker movie, this is great. As an action film, it is pretty good. As a drama, it's awful.

But if you want sleazy 60's style biker action, this film delivers in spades. I've seen most of the biker films from 1965-1973 (the original era),and I'd put this one near the top. These bikers are convincingly dirty, scummy and backstabbing (in more ways than one). They are some of the most bearded, shower-needing, dirt-eating, denim vest wearing reprobates that I have seen on film. I had the DVD of this film for a long time before I watched it, and I'm sorry I waited so long.

You get sleazy, evil bikers lured to a ghost town and challenged and put upon by some other, even more sleazy, supremely evil bikers. There's also some hippies there, but they are basically pawns in the power game between the two biker factions. Soon enough, things move from drinking, sex and drag racing, to fist fighting, injuries and murder, as things get more and more intense and people's "honor" comes into play more and more.

The bikers here don't meet up with with straight society; such people are barely seen in this film (a few police cars pass by a few times). There's just an arena, and two groups of gladiators doing combat with each other. Pure conflict between two wild animals, with no outside influences coming in to complicate things.

I'd put this film right up there with The Wild Angels and Hells' Angels 69 for biker movie thrills. Also check out a crazy over-the-top biker thing, The Tormentors, if you can find it.

I'd like to add that this film is Public Domain due to some idiot at Roger Corman's company failing to place a copyright notice on it. Therefore, you might be able to find a DVD of this film for as little as $1, or part of a multi-pack for cheap. If you do find this film for a dollar, then you have no excuse to avoid picking it up. It's a don't miss recommendation at that price, unless you don't like biker movies at all.