The Wild Angels
From The Grindhouse Cinema Database
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Also Known As
- All the Fallen Angels
- I Selvaggi (Italy)
- Los Ángeles del infierno (Spain)
- All the Fallen Angels (USA - working title)
- Les Anges sauvages (France)
- Os Anjos Selvagens (Brazil)
- Helvetin jengi (Finland)
- I Selvaggi (Italy)
- De Vilda änglarna (Sweden)
- Vilde engle (Denmark - literal title)
- De Vilde engle (Denmark)
- Villit enkelit (Finland)
- Die Wilden Engel (Germany)
Tagline
- Their credo is violence...Their God is hate...and they call themselves 'The Wild Angels'
- Their credo is violence... Their God is hate...
- The most terrifying film of your time
Main Details
- Released in 1966
- Color
- Running Time: Germany:86 min | USA:93 min
- Aspect Ratio: (2.35:1)
- Rated: R
- Production Co: American International Pictures (AIP)
- Distribution Co: American International Pictures (AIP) | Astral Films (Canada) | Gloria (1967) (Germany) (theatrical)
Cast and Crew
- Directed by Roger Corman
- Written by Charles B. Griffith, Peter Bogdanovich (Uncredited)
- Starring: Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, Buck Taylor, Norman Alden, Michael J. Pollard, Lou Procopio, Joan Shawlee, Marc Cavell, Coby Denton, Frank Maxwell, Gayle Hunnicutt, Gina Grant, Art Baker
- Produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff, Roger Corman, Laurence Cruickshank, James H. Nicholson
- Original Music by Mike Curb, Davie Allan (uncredited)
- Cinematography by Richard Moore, Peter Bogdanovich (uncredited)
- Film Editing by Monte Hellman, Peter Bogdanovich (uncredited)
Film Review
At the beginning of the whole biker film craze, Director Roger Corman made one of the biggest hits with The Wild Angels. Actor Peter Fonda had previously been in more light hearted films like "Tammy and the Doctor" in which he played a clean cut guy. With The Wild Angels, Fonda took a new path in his career and began playing more rebellious characters.
Heavenly Blues (Peter Fonda) is the leader of the Venice, CA chapter of The Hells Angels. We get an awesome opening credits sequence as Blues drives down the highway while the fuzzed out rock guitar "Blues Theme" plays, (it's definitely the precursor to the opening of Easy Rider). One thing you'll notice in the film from the beginning is the use of the Nazi swastika. It even shows up on the main titles.
Blues stops to pick up his friend "The Loser" (Bruce Dern) at his job. When one of The Loser's co-workers notices Blues wearing a Nazi style Iron Cross necklace, he gives him static, but Blues and the Loser don't take his bull and slap him around. The Loser then gets fired because of this and he leaves the job site after tossing his helmet at the boss.
Blues and The Loser head back to his house where The Loser's old lady Gaysh (Dern's real life wife Diane Ladd) is waiting. The next thing Loser and Blues plan to do is get The Loser's stolen bike back from some mexicans who have it up in San Pedro. The entire biker gang including Pigmy (Bonnie and Clyde's Michael J. Pollard) heads up to the spot and when they find the bike, a fight soon breaks out between The Angels and the mexicans after Blues comically refers to them as "Taco benders". Pretty soon the cops show up and the gang take off, but The Loser steals one of the cop's bikes and takes off in the opposite direction of the gang. After a chase through the mountainous roads, The Loser is shot in the back by another cop and arrested. Hes then sent to a hospital back in LA.
The gang decide to break The Loser out, so they send Blues' sexy main squeeze Mike (Nancy Sinatra) in undercover as the Loser's sister and she then opens a sliding glass door to the hospital room. The gang infiltrate and take The Loser out, not before one of the gang attacks a black female nurse, practically raping her.
The gang now have The Loser back safe but at the gangs hangout, The Loser soon dies from complications from his wound. The gang now sad, distraught and angry decide to bring The Loser back to his hometown to be buried. My favorite scene in the entire film takes place in the church where the gang are listening to the preacher talk. Blues stands up and gives his own speech on freedom and oppression from "The Man". Its a classic monologue. Afterwards, the gang beat up the preacher and have one last wild party in The Loser's honor.
The Wild Angels is one of the gems of the Biker exploitation genre. For cult film buffs its essential viewing!
Reviewed by Popeye Pete - 9/24/07
Cool Quotes
Heavenly Blues: We wanna be free! We wanna be free to do what we wanna do. We wanna be free to ride. We wanna be free to ride our machines without being hassled by The Man! ... And we wanna get loaded. And we wanna have a good time. And that's what we are gonna do. We are gonna have a good time... We are gonna have a party.
