Angels Hard as They Come (1971)

Director:

Joe Viola

Writers:

Jonathan Demme (screenplay)
Joe Viola (screenplay)

Release Date:

September 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

An eye for an eye... a piece for a piece.

Plot:

Sex, violence and bikers on an action filled ride, in this film produced and co-written by Jonathan Demme.

Plot Keywords:

Violence | Drug | Sex | Biker | Ghost Town

Cast

Scott Glenn	...	Long John
Charles Dierkop	...	General
James Inglehart	...	Monk
Gilda Texter	...	Astrid
Gary Littlejohn	...	Axe
Gary Busey	...	Henry
Don Carerra	...	Juicer
Brendan Kelly	...	Brain
Janet Wood	...	Vicki
Dirty Denny	...	Rings (as Dennis Art and Dennis 'Dirty Denny' Art)
Neva Davis	...	Clean Shiela
Cherie Latimer	...	Lucifer's Girl Cheri
Marc Seaton	...	Louie
Steve Slauson	...	Magic
John Raymond Taylor	...	Crab (as John Taylor)

Also Known As:

Angel Warriors (Europe: English title) (UK)
Angels
Angels as Hard as They Come (UK)
Angels, Hell on Harleys

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:18 (video) (1982) | Sweden:(Banned) | USA:R | UK:18 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Paramount Ranch - 2813 Cornell Road, Agoura, California, USA

Company:

New World Pictures

Trivia:

Gary Busey's first film.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Teen-Age Strangler (#6.14)" (1993)

Fans of 1960s/70s exploitation movies will flip over this one!

Fans of 1960/70s exploitation movies will flip over this one! Jonathan Demme originally pitched the project to Roger Corman as "a biker Rashomon". Now that's not exactly how it ended up, but it's still terrific viewing for cult fans nonetheless. Demme co-wrote and co-produced and his pal Joe Viola directed. Viola and Demme were then involved with the women-in-prison movies 'The Hot Box' and 'Black Mama, White Mama' before they parted ways. Viola concentrated on writing for TV while Demme eventually became a major Hollywood director. Scott Glenn, who in the 90s co-starred in Demme's enormously successful 'The Silence Of The Lambs', plays Long John, a biker who gets invited to a ghost town where some Hell's Angels are partying with some local hippies. Unfortunately a girl is murdered and Long John and his pals are accused by the bikers leader The General (Charles Dierkop, of 'Police Woman' fame, and the Killer Santa in 'Silent Night, Deadly Night'). They face a kangaroo court and then... well, imagine your worst. Glenn and Dierkop are both great to watch but the real icing on the cake is the supporting cast which includes Gary Busey as an unlikely hippie, biker regular Gary Littlejohn, 'Vanishing Point's nude motorcycle girl Gilda Texter, James Inglehart (Randy Black in Russ Meyer's trash classic 'Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls'), Janet Wood (who as Sweet Li'L Alice featured in the unforgettable naked knife fight with Raven De La Croix in Meyer's 'Up!'), and even - get this! - the fat guy from Sam Fuller's 'Shock Corridor' (Larry Tucker) as a cat called Lucifer! Such a cast makes 'Angels Hard As They Come' essential viewing for all fans of psychotronic cinema! Don't overlook this forgotten biker gem.