Werewolves on Wheels

U.S.A. | 1971 Directed by Michael Levesque Starring Stephen Oliver D.J. Anderson Severn Darden Color | 79 Minutes | R Format: DVD (R0 - NTSC) Dark Sky Films

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7     7   10 = Highest Rating   Guest Review by John Gargo

The Devil's Advocates are a biker gang who ride the desert roads in search of the next great kick. Their endless pursuit of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll hits a bit of a snag when they make an ill-advised visit to a satanic monastery. Does the film live up to its undeniably great title and striking poster art?     The sound of jangling guitars introduces us to our denim-clad road warriors, defiantly tearing down the highway on their choppers. They are led by the confident and commanding Adam (Stephen Oliver) and his girl Helen (D.J. Anderson of Count Yorga, Vampire). The third key member of the group is the aptly named Tarot (a very cool Duece Berry), a sort of spiritual guru who specializes in reading cards. Tarot reads them for Helen at a gas station and predicts an ominous future for her and the rest of the Devil's Advocates.     That prediction is realized when the gang stumbles upon a remote monastery in the woods. A group of hooded monks emerge and offer the intoxicated, rowdy bikers some bread and wine, which they happily accept. The generous gifts are of course drugged, leaving our heroes incapacitated and helpless to the sinister motives of the monks. That evening, through satanic influence, a hypnotized Helen takes on the role of the "Bride of Satan" and performs a nude ritualistic dance for the monks. Her orgasmic screaming wakes up Adam, who is a little more than disgruntled to find his women missing; he gathers up the rest of the gang to bust some heads and save Helen. The monks don't put up much of a fight and the bikers are back on the road in no time. Little do they know that Helen's striptease tango with the Prince of Darkness has gotten her infected with a bad case of lycanthropy. I bet she wishes she used protection...     Clocking in at a lean 79 minutes, Werewolves on Wheels is a fun exploitation flick if approached in the right frame of mind. First and foremost, those expecting ample werewolf action will likely be disappointed. The hairy beasts don't show up until halfway through the picture, and even then they are relegated to the shadows and brief glimpses of gory nocturnal maulings. We don't actually get to see any werewolves until the crazed finale, and when they do show up the tacky dime-store makeup effects make for a good laugh (and an odd juxtaposition with the fleeting shots of gore). Despite the title of the film, the real focus of this picture is on all of the satanic mumbo jumbo. The big ritual scene that occurs early in the film is gleefully laden with all the clichés we've come to expect from cult cinema — animal sacrifices, snakes, skulls, fire, smoke, and a hilarious black mass narration by the leader of the monks, known only to us as One (an excellent Severn Darden who, according to the commentary, ad-libbed most of his inspired monologue). The biker scenes are also quite enjoyable; due to budgetary restraints the filmmakers could only afford a handful of professional actors, which meant that most of the bikers that you see in the film are the real deal. This lends a kind of naturalistic authenticity to the picture. It also helps that a lot of these guys are actually pretty funny, in particular a fellow dubbed "Movie" who in a memorable scene poorly impersonates John Wayne.     Speaking of memorable characters, the aforementioned Tarot is featured prominently in the plot and what little significant dialogue that occurs in the film is mostly centered on his philosophical hippy musings. In one scene, he holds a meditative pose for what seems like an eternity while discussing the matters at hand with a skeptical Adam. Adam is frustrated with his friend's vague warnings of tampered "vibes" and spiritual goings-on, in particular with the unnerving effect that they are having on the rest of the gang. A scene immediately prior to the climactic action sequence focuses on the faces of the weary bikers, cold and distant... Granted, while there's not much horror during most of the second half of the film, the filmmakers are successful in creating a subtle feeling of paranoia among the gang.     All in all Werewolves on Wheels is a very strange movie, although if you dig on weird genre hybrids like I do, this satanic cult/werewolf/biker flick is probably right up your alley. Director Michael Levesque's film has its own sort of weird internal logic, perhaps best illustrated in one scene where driving through a sandy gust of wind across a highway inexplicably transports the bikers way off road into the desert. There's an endearing pedestrian surrealism to the film, especially illustrated by Levesque's penchant for fire imagery. The concluding moments of the film don't particularly make that much sense (even with the explanation offered in the commentary), but in the end the filmmakers make good on their promise to get a werewolf on a motorcycle.     That's got to count for something.

Werewolves on Wheels arrives on DVD thanks to Dark Sky Films and they've done a phenomenal job. The anamorphic 1.85:1 aspect ratio is really a thing of beauty. I would never have imaged an obscure film like this to look as good as it does here. Print damage is minimal and a handful of the night scenes are a little dark but other than that the film looks amazing — a real commendable job. The 2.0 mono soundtrack is also good and compliments the rock music score quite well.     On the extras front there's an audio commentary with director Michael Levesque and co-writer David M. Kaufman. The track is moderated by David Gregory (from Blue Underground); it makes for an engaging listen. Gregory keeps things on track and both filmmakers have a lot of fascinating tidbits to offer about the film. The inevitable comparisons to Easy Rider are of course brought up, but there's also some interesting information about would-be social commentary and some fun anecdotes. One unfortunate fact that is often brought up in the commentary is how the MPAA drastically forced the filmmakers to edit out a lot of the violence, which according to Levesque was much more explicit in earlier prints. The photo gallery is pretty disposable, as those things usually are, but the radio spots are very amusing. Rounding out the extras are an extremely battered theatrical trailer and a trailer for what looks like another unique biker film, 1970's The Losers (AKA Nam's Angels). 4/22/06

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