Angels Hard as They Come (1971)

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

Director:

Joe Viola

Writers:

Jonathan Demme (screenplay), Joe Viola (screenplay)

Stars:

Scott Glenn, Charles Dierkop, James Iglehart

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Scott Glenn	...	Long John
Charles Dierkop	...	General
James Iglehart	...	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) (as Dennis 'Dirty Denny' Art)
Neva Davis	...	Clean Shiela
Cherie Latimer	...	Lucifer's Girl
Marc Seaton	...	Louie
Steve Slauson	...	Magic
John Raymond Taylor	...	Crab (as John Taylor)

Storyline

A drug deal is foiled, when the cops show up. They agree to meet in a few days out in the desert and complete the deal. The Angels head for the meeting place. On the way they meet up with the Dragons and are invited to come party with some hippies in an old ghost town. The General, leader of the Dragons is a psychotic dwarf and his henchman Axe isn't to stable either. The trouble start when one of the hippie girls is murdered and the Dragons decide that one of the Angels did it.

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Plot Keywords:

violence | sex | hippie | ghost town | dwarf | 

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Taglines:

it was her blood... now it's his war

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

July 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rolling Thunder

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

New World Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

Co-Writer and co-Producer Jonathan Demme directed Scott Glenn in Fighting Mad (1976) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).

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Connections

Referenced in Wanderlust (2006)

User Reviews

Terrible

I mistakenly watched this DVD thinking it would offer something slightly different from the usual Hell's Angels road movies. The fact that the title suffixes "As hard as they come" I was literally expecting a proper blood & guts flick-instead I got a 2nd rate movie length version of a staple A-Team story line! The basic premise is Long John (Scott Glenn) is seen arranging a shady drugs deal out in the desert with his buddies Juicer (Don Carrera) and Monk (James Inglehart). They get tailed by the police but eventually lose them and end up at a petrol station.

Here they meet fellow road warriors "The Dragons" and are invited to a hippy commune that the Dragons have gatecrashed-for a party.

Basically, we discover that the Dragons are a little heavy handed with the hippies, climaxing in the attempted gang rape of one of the hippy chicks that Long John has taken a liking to. Long John intervenes and in the melee the hippy chick gets stabbed.

After a Kangaroo court presided over by the Dragons leader "the General" (Charles Dierkop) the Angels are found guilty and sentenced to "fun & games" (dragged around on the back of the Hogs) and eventually death.

Monk escapes and alerts the rest of the gang and the Hippies finally get some backbone to help the Angels. The movie's finale is of the Angels whupping the Dragons and everyone going their separate ways.

The "violent" scenes are marred by terrible lighting and really bad 70's fisticuffs, the movie is clichéd and doesn't work on any level-it's not even amusing from a nostalgia point of view.

Rent/Buy this movie at your peril!