Cool van-driving stud Steve (handsome John Laughlin in his film debut) gets the hots for Anita (gorgeously buxom and shapely knockout Shelly Horner), who's the new girl in town. However, this doesn't go over well with his bitchy and jealous girlfriend Donna (venomously played to the snarky hilt by the cute Verkina Flower, the daughter of the one and only George "Buck" Flower), who sets Steve up by telling the police that he's a cocaine dealer. Donna covers her tracks by claiming that Anita ratted Steve out to the cops. This incurs the wrath of Steve's fellow van-driving buddies. Writer/director Bethal Buckalew covers all the pleasingly low-rent teensploitation bases: Unruly and undisciplined adolescents smoking pot, swilling beer, and making out, a satisfying smattering of tasty bare distaff skin, hot babes in bikinis, a ferocious catfight between Anita and Donna, laughably terrible acting by a lame no-name cast (only Laughlin went on to have a pretty decent career in the wake of starring in this movie), raunchy humor, several surprisingly mean-spirited moments (there are a couple of truly nasty attempted rapes), a token Asian gal who busts some karate moves, lots of shockingly un-PC sexism and male chauvinism, tin-eared dialogue laced with hopelessly dated 70's slang ("I don't wanna rap -- I wanna talk!"), and a neat variant on the usual chicken race called a "Drag-Out" which consists of two automobiles tied together by ropes playing a deadly game of tug of war over a steep precipice. Moreover, this flick serves as a nifty time capsule of the 70's Californian van and skateboarding scenes. Both Bill Schereck's funky-throbbing score and a handful of groovy songs by The Word hit the right-on happening spot. The competent cinematography by Willie E. Hines provides an attractive sunny look. An absolute cruddy riot.
Review of Mag Wheels
