Leather and Iron (2002)

John Telliman, a rich lawyer who rides bikes on the weekends, falls into some trouble with a gang of outlaw bikers and gets a case in his possession that will only bring him misery. So...what's in the case, and why do they want it?

Director:

James Archer

Writer:

Brian G. McFarland

Stars:

Mike Valletta, Blythe Metz, Scott Dillon

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Mike Valletta	...	John Telliman
Blythe Metz	...	Misty
Scott Dillon	...	Bobby Douglas
Alexis Austin	...	Christine Telliman
Shane Stevens	...	Hogg
J. David Watson	...	Walker
Todd Chase	...	Chopper
Ernest Melon	...	Blade
Jack Dong	...	Feng
Maggie Orozco	...	Mei-Lin
Jon Hemmeter	...	The executive
Mitchel Dukatt	...	Milton Jaeger
Paul Benner	...	Det. Billups
Andre Caceres	...	Jesse
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brad Blane	...	Club Patron / Raver (as Brad Blansette)

Storyline

Like many American motorcycle enthusiasts, successful corporate attorney John Telliman has spent thousands of dollars customizing his bike so that he can enjoy his Sundays riding the open road with his friends. However, the widower and father of a college-aged daughter is restless, nagged by a feeling that his biker lifestyle is missing an element of adventure and danger. The feeling is heightened when he and his friend Bobby Douglas go riding and are engulfed in a group of menacing outlaw bikers on their custom choppers. Telliman convinces Douglas to help him experience the atmosphere of hanging out with "real" bikers, and their search soon leads them to a criminal bike club's stripper bar in Downtown Phoenix, where they get a sampling of the dark element of biking. But the dream becomes a nightmare when Douglas is found dead the next morning and Telliman is later assaulted by bikers who believe that he has taken an item from them known only as the Package. Disbelieving his protests ...

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Plot Keywords:

biker | outlaw | friend | criminal | motorcycle | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Screaming Metal

Filming Locations:

Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$650,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

J. Archer Productions, Leather and Iron LLC, Monarex

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director James Archer tacked a sign up at every location for the actors and crew saying "This is NOT a comedy!" Most of the cast goofed on this by doing silly takes for nearly every shot in the film.

User Reviews

How about you get in line for this package.

Lawyer John Telliman rides his bike along with a mate Bobby over the weekends. They stop off at a bikers' strip club and Bobby leaves with one of the strippers. The next morning, John learns that Bobby was killed and suddenly now there are bikers who believe he knows the whereabouts of a package that was stolen from them. But there are also other figures who want that package, and John's daughter could be targeted if he doesn't come up with the goods.

Nice poster art, but what's this one doing in a fright night pack?! 'Screaming Metal' is a competently made independent flick, which I found to be extremely bland and superficial when it came to the crunch. There was a lot of timer checking during my viewing. The action is pretty cut and dry. These generic moments lacked the rush and felt terribly banal. One staged car chase scene is quite laughable as you notice crowds along side the streets watching on. And a lack of traffic during these scenes loses a bit of creditability. More often there was plenty of posing and bling, especially towards the earlier half of the film. Involving motorbikes. If you love that sort of thing, you might get something out of it. But it did grow tiresome and the restless script didn't help the tepid nature it seem to fall into. The plot is rather conventional (and incoherent) even with all its overblown drama, few surprises and web of deceit. The constant where's the package line, really did start to rub me up the wrong way and actions of certain characters became extremely annoying. It comes across as dumb, senseless and meandering, but it seems to hold your attention nonetheless. Acting is wooden all round, but I can't fault it because it didn't do any damage. Mike Valletta was decent enough in the heroine role and Blythe Metz smokes up the screen. Booming out of the speakers is a blaring heavy rock soundtrack that goes down with that biker spirit. The blunt soundtrack seems to change depending on what gang / people it wants to focus on. Director James Archer did an admirably workable job, but it needed more oomph for its buck and slipshod editing didn't do anything for its lagged pace. What's going on with the open-ended conclusion though? After all of that you get the feeling "is that it?" to the story's dying outcomes. Is a sequel on its way… or maybe this was a pilot for a series? Oh well, you just feel short-changed.

While I didn't care too much about it, this exercise is far from a complete mess and throws up some minor goods… if you look hard. Or who am i kidding? Just simply enjoy the scenery in the strip club, fellas.