Savage Abduction (1973) User Reviews

A not-so-savage abduction.

[BA_Harrison · 4/10 · 5 July 2017]

Attorney Richard Ridelander (Tom Drake) gets rich sicko Harry (Joe Turkel) to murder his unfaithful wife. Excited by the thrill of the kill, Harry blackmails Richard into procuring new victims for his perverted pleasure. Dick turns to a gang of renegade motor-cyclists for help, who agree to abduct two girls in exchange for $10,000, a sum that Harry is only too happy to pay.

As wonderfully sleazy as it sounds, Savage Abduction is far less exploitative than many a '70s drive-in movie, the film offering up only a modicum of those core ingredients, sex and violence. The not-so-savage abduction of 17-year-old hitch-hikers Jenny and Faye (Tanis Gallik and Kitty Vallacher) involves the girls being locked in a closet, forced to smoke pot, and made to strip to their underwear, before being bound and gagged and handed over to Harry.

Harry clearly has bad things in store for the poor girls, judging by the bag of sharp implements he has brought with him, but he is unable to carry out his evil deeds thanks to the timely intervention of biker Romeo (Sean Kenney), who has been struggling with his conscience. All of this 'mild peril' is bound to disappoint fans of gritty low budget trash, who quite rightly expect more from a psycho killer/biker movie with such a lurid title.

Extremely Dire

[Scott_Mercer · 2/10 · 27 September 2010]

This is not the worst movie ever made, but it is pretty close. This hovers near territory inhabited by Monster-A-Go-Go, The Guy From Harlem, The Creeping Terror, and Manos: The Hands of Fate.

The acting is awful, and the writing is even worse. Like Al Adamson's Hell's Bloody Devils, this is a movie masquerading as a biker movie, which is not really a biker movie.

Bikers are involved, but only secondarily. The main focus is a psycho pervert who likes to dance with female mannequins and plunge butcher knives into their chests. Now, he wants to do this on a real live girl, so he hires a "biker gang" (three unshaven bad actors) to kidnap some teenage talent and hold them hostage until Mr. Pervert can show up and have his way with them.

There's very little motorcycle riding, the pace is very slow, and any attempts to build tension are laughable. About the only entertaining things to look at are the truly ridiculous 1972 fashions and furniture. Especially the horrible wallpaper in every room! I can only recommend you watch this film if you like to wallow in low budget 1972 sleaze. I guess there may be a few of you out there, so, by all means, enjoy.

A Savage Attack On Your Time... Do NOT Watch This Film...

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 2/10 · 29 December 2020]

Before I get into the review, here are my ratings for the movie.

The story gets a 0.25 out of 2: The Direction a 0.50: The Pacing receives a 0.25: While the Acting gets 1.00: And my Enjoyment level earns a 0.25 out of 2: Bringing the total to 2.25 out of 10.

Oh, deary me. What a snoozefest this turned out to be. The only saving grace to this movie is the acting, and that's average. Regretfully, the story and the direction are woefully lacking. It may stem from the writer and director being the same person; John Lawrence.

As I'm finding out by doing these reviews, there are a lot of stories that sound great when you read the synopsis. However, due to one reason or another - most commonly it the writers lack of imagination or weakness in story structure - the story never meets the viewers' expectations. Savage Abduction is one of these stories.

Lawyer Dick Ridelander wants to be rid of his wife and so makes a deal with a rich businessman. The man is to kill the wife, giving Ridelander an alibi. The killing of the woman is the man's stress point. He starts to remember his troubled past and realises he likes tormenting, torturing, and killing women. He then proceeds to use the crime to blackmail Ridelander into procuring him a couple of girls for his new perverted pleasure. Ridelander, in turn, enlists the help of a biker gang to kidnap the girls and to hold them until the man is ready to play.

Now, you can see the numerous possibilities in this outline. But Lawrence evidently couldn't. Instead, what he gives the audience is a step-by-step telling of the outline. He doesn't add any characterisations. Everybody is interchangeable. The psychopath isn't psycho. The biker gang aren't so rough and tumble as they keep telling the viewers they are. There are two wonderfully awful scenes where this is shown. The leader of the gang is telling his woman they'll make so much on this job that they'll be able to move and form a bigger and stronger biker gang. Which wouldn't be too hard since there are only two other bikers in this gang! I'm not sure you can even call it a gang. They're more like biker pals... who don't have many friends. The other scene is when the biker boss spouts off that it's not his fault the cops have made him public enemy number one. Yeah, public enemy number one? This guy lives in a ramshackle house in the middle of nowhere. The man never commits any crimes. He gets his two pals to kidnap the girls. And, their abduction isn't even savage. The girls are all too willing to hop on the bikers back seats.

The story is so basic it becomes boring very quickly after the girls are kidnapped, and it wasn't too great before.

What doesn't help is Lawrence being as skilled a director as he is a writer. Set the scene, shoot the scene, print the scene - repeat until end. He could have avoided some tediousness if he'd employed a smidgen of imagination.

The real shame is because of the story and direction the cast are wasted. They try to do their best, but by the end of this travesty, they appear as bored as the rest of us. Lawrence even had a decent cast for this picture. Tom Drake, who was a veteran of many TV and Film roles, plays Dick Ridelander. Joe Turkel, who is best known for his role as the bartender in The Shining, plays the businessman, Harry. As well as a couple of actors you may have seen in old telly programmes. Hell, even Stafford Repp makes an appearance.

Savage Abduction could have been such a different movie. However, as it stands, I couldn't recommend this to anyone.

Stay Away from this drivel. It's not worth wasting any time on.

That said, now hop on your hogs and blaze across to my The Game Is Afoot and Killer Thriller Chillers to see where this Z-Movie fell asleep in my ratings... and to find something way better to watch.

Take Care & Stay Well.

sex drugs and sleaze from the early 70's

[chaosnbeer · 25 April 2004]

Not really so much a harrowing experience and glimpse into the dark depravity of humanity as the movie promotes itself but certainly a laughable cheapie drive in schlocker from 1972. A gang of bikers kidnapp two girls and hold them hostage in exchange for $10,000 from a sex crazed psycho who wants to kill the girls for his own private pleasures. The extremities are very limited , the worst thing the biker gang does to the girls is force them to disrobe only to their underwear and force them to smoke pot. Not really a shocking movie , and actually a pretty funny historical relic of the days of cheap drive-in fare , but worth a look at for some early sleaze

8/10

Watching this movie will make you Psycho!

[Hollywoodcanteen1945 · 1/10 · 16 May 2005]

Please. You've got to be kidding. How in blue blazes did anyone put up money to produce this worthless piece of heaping, smelly, trash-bag, garbage.

I love the "B" films as much as the next person, but I'm sorry to say I couldn't find one nice thing to say about anyone or anything associated with this movie.

Between the Psycho killer and the Psycho motorcycle gang and the Psycho chicks, this whole thing is one big psycho stinker.

It's just plain boring. Not even entertaining at all. The acting was horrible. Where did they get these people, off the street corner. They aren't even up to par with a grade-school production. They stink. Can't believe that they are not ashamed to be in this "psycho" production.

I'm sorry. This film is not fun. It's not cheesy. It's not a "cult" classic. All it is I'm sorry to say, is a big waste of time. If you want to throw about 2 hours in the garbage, you're better off enjoying nature and sit under a tree and look up at the sky.

Oddly tame exploitation movie

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 14 August 2016]

SAVAGE ABDUCTION is a biker thriller heavily marketed as an adult exploitation movie in the grindhouse style. The title speaks for itself while the cover shows a stripped woman screaming in fear. It's a film that promises rape, humiliation, abduction, and violence in equal measure, a truly grubby experience in film-making.

The reality is quite different. Aside from the dark and depraved atmosphere, this film could well be rated PG because there's very little objectionable material in it. The threat of rape is there but it thankfully never transpires. The two girls suffer the humiliation of being abducted but very little happens to them other than being forced to strip to their underwear.

There's a lot of padding with the biker gang who play a big part in the proceedings but fail to actually do much in the way of furthering the plot. The acting is histrionic and over the top, as you'd expect for the genre. SAVAGE ABDUCTION has the right look and feel but the only novel element is the inclusion of a believable psychopath character who spends his time stabbing life size dolls and the like. There's a lot of pot-smoking and emoting too.

I finally Found It!

[narciso_lopez_jr · 1/10 · 28 August 2006]

I have for years now, been looking for that one film. That special film. The one that killed the "Biker Film" genre. Ladies and Gentleman and bikers everywhere. I have found it! It goes by the happy little title of "Savage Abduction" But let me tell you, my leather and denim clad buddies, there is nothing savage in or about this film. The only savages where the writer, director and producers who decided to release this and charge patrons for it's viewing.

Very little to do with bikers, biker gangs and the "Ride Free, Ride hard" attitude. There are no 1% riders here. What we are left with is mostly a bad psychological mess with a wealthy homicidal maniac, with an Oedipus complex who likes to torture and kill young, pretty women. They should have just turned this into a slasher film, and taken the whole notion of bikers out of it. It would have worked better that way.

Whe are given 3 tough hombres who are supposed to be a "Biker Gang". These guys would not be allowed in tricycle, little less less REAL motorcycle gang. They huff and puff and try to act as if they were the real deal. They're dirty, bearded and have poor manners. That is supposed to convey a biker to the general public. But the closes they have ever been to a real biker gang is when they all sat together and saw a documentary on the Hell's Angels on TV. they could'not punch their way out of a wet paper bag.

The abducted girls are your typical dumb, cute and sexy 17 year old critters that always seem to either be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or just make stupid choices in life. Like try to hitchhike and accept a ride from two derelict's who pull up on choppers. Where do they think they will be taken to? Starbucks for a latte? A church ice cream social? No you stupid bimbo's. To their lair for a bit of fun at your expense. But even this is sad. There is no fun at the pen.

There is nothing here. No Biker bar Fights, No sexual assault of the two nubile birds, No Nudity, No drunken orgies, No terrorizing of the towns folk, No cool bad Rock music in the background. Nothing from the stereotypical biker films of the past that we have all come to not only enjoy, but expect. Nothing at all.

We are all left with fairly good acting wasted on very poor lighting, bad writing, and none of the joys of rebelling against the man. What a waste of celluloid. I can see why after 1972 only a handful of biker films where made. All dying after 1975.

Only nudity and drunkenness would and could have saved this film. Even a second audio commentary by Joe Bob Briggs would have saved this DVD. But we get nothing at all. Why they are missing is anyones guess. They would have savagely helped this turkey.

Poor Quality Biker Flick With a Few Redeeming Qualities

[BobbyG · 5/10 · 22 December 2015]

This is the kind of film you need several drinks beforehand to enjoy. I'm watching this on Amazon Prime as I write this; on my 4th whiskey on ice. There's some interesting period music in the first 10 minutes and sporadically thereafter.

At the 19 minute point viewers are treated to some entertaining dialogue between the biker gang regarding their financial straits and how $10K could set them up for life, "and for the first time in a year, we'll be able to jam down the roads on our machines without the man on our back." A biker underling chimes in, "Anyhow, who's going to miss two scroungy mamas with all of them that come to this town every month?"

The next good scene occurs at 34:30 when the underling biker "Irish" doesn't know which state Omaha is in and the gang leader chuckles, "Oh, don't pay no mind to him. He's a kindergartner dropout."

Later the biker leader "Chelsea" has a violent encounter with his bra-less "nipples askew" old lady where the acting is actually not bad. It's disturbing how he treats the youthful "old lady."

Subsequently, there's some weed smoking and instructions on how to best achieve a high, and other general disobedience and felonies (mainly kidnapping).

Some of this is classic 70's schlock, but unfortunately it's not enough to raise it above a 5 on a scale to 10. If William Smith was the gang leader it could probably muster a 7.

Lunatic in Obnoxious Flowered Shirts Kidnaps Girls

[jfrentzen-942-204211 · 2/10 · 4 February 2024]

A mama-obsessed psycho (Joseph Turkel) kills the wife of a respected lawyer, and then blackmails the lawyer into kidnapping two teenage girls for more unsound fun. Most of the story, though, is devoted to the poverty-row motorcycles gang, led by Stephen Oliver, who captures the teenagers. Oliver, his girlfriend, and two feeble sidekicks bicker and fight constantly. Turkel gets his hands on the girls, but a sympathetic biker overpowers him and puts him out of his sick misery.

Lawrence's slow-moving B-movie promises teenager torture, but never delivers. The highlight is Turkel, who seduces a mannikin and plays the middle-aged lunatic in bug-eyed lunatic fashion, although his wardrobe -- consisting of early-70s styled flowered shirts -- is pretty obnoxious, too. Stafford Repp (the Irish cop from TV's "Batman") has a cameo role.

Crap

[sean-57842 · 4/10 · 17 January 2020]

Two young girls are snatched for a high-paying maniac who is in love with life-sized dolls. A shady biker gang, who is at first a bit sceptical of the idea, soon warms to the $10,000 asking price for the girls, and they quickly kidnap two young hotties from the city. However, despite the premise for all sorts of debauchery, nothing really happens. At all. There is a bit of back and forth between the bikers and the kidnapped girls, all the while interjected with shots of the lead biker beating his girlfriend, and the doll-loving maniac making insane demands to see the girls he's bought.

Some weed is smoked and the girls are stripped to their underwear.... and then nothing happens. The film keeps you guessing about what is gonna happen next, when will it kick off etc., but it never delivers. Ever. Even the ending, which sees most of the cast dead, just kinda happens under your nose. Couple that with drab scenes and awful lighting, and yeah, I'm surprised I made it through to the conclusion. However, the two girls - Amy Thomson and Tanis Gallik - carry the film and I'd love to see them in something else.

Watch this movie..Only if you like biker or horror movies from the 60's and 70's..Not Avatar!!

[danherrera3 · 6/10 · 24 February 2011]

I found this movie by simple coincidence;but then again I was watching a lot of horror,exploitation and biker films from the 60's and 70's.I found this "rare gem" on DVD at one of the last good video stores in Los Angeles.I only rented it because of Steven Oliver R.I.P and his performance in Werewolves On Wheels.Which I thought needed more blood,boobs and most of all...swearing!!MPAA sucks!!and that movie is a good example of how they can ruin something which could have been a pretty darn good horror/biker movie that could still hold up to todays "expolitive standards";but with much more of a cult following than it has today.I wish they could make an uncut version of Werewolves!!!As far as Savage Abduction.It's a "ballsey" attempt to please watchers as far as Director/Writer John Lawrence,who has a few good biker movies previous to this one, tries to do when he mixes the comedy,suspense,action,exploitation and biker formula all into one film.I think this movie holds up a little better than others..All because I am seeing bits and pieces of certain memorable parts of this movie and seeing them in later films.I could give one good example:Compare Joe Turkel's performance in Savage Abduction and look at Joe Spinnel's R.I.P performance in 1980's Maniac...

Will the sex-freak really off these chicks?

[mister_pig · 16 June 2003]

Savage Abduction is another cheesy 70's classic in the vein of 'Last House on the Left'. It's now bee bought up by Troma and is distributed as one of their movies. Really though, it's not all that bad. My wife and I had a few laughs at it's expense, and were very entertained.

One of Troma's cream of the crop as far as I'm concerned. There's actually a movie here (albeit not the greatest)!

6 out of 10 (fun)

Misleading title

[NotoriousNate · 5 July 2001]

I would have thought the title would be more towards the main character but I guess "Cycle Wuss" doesn't have much selling potential. There's more than one biker and none of them are exactly "psycho", they resemble hell's angels rejects. This makes me wonder why our hero decided to hire bikers to do his dirty work? Anyway, the abduction of the two hippie girls isn't all that "savage", its just the girls gagged and left on a couch where they cry and moan. I don't know were they came up with a title like "Numbered Days". As for the film itself in a whole, you can really decide for yourself but probably won't feel any better or worse for doing so.