B-grade "wheeler" has motorcycle gang infiltrating a small community, getting everyone riled up, especially service station attendant Jack Nicholson, who is introduced to us roughing up a middle-aged customer who just wants to fill his gas-guzzler with ethyl. Richard Rush is credited with the direction, however the real standout here is cinematographer Leslie Kovacs (aka László Kovács), whose attentive eyes and ears give us some provocative shots of the townspeople interacting with the biker hellions, aided by William Martin's editing. The juxtaposition of city squares and greasy rebels--the culture and the counterculture, if you will--is far more interesting than the 'plot,' which has Nicholson putting his faith in a fickle biker chick. Nicholson soon escaped from the drive-in movie rut, but co-star Adam Roarke never did. Handsome Roarke has panache and a moody, swaggering quality that mainstream Hollywood missed out on. Rush misses it, too, staging an unexciting final fight scene between Roarke and Nicholson that ends the movie with a thud. Stu Phillips' score is perhaps too perky for a picture like this. *1/2 from ****
Review of Hells Angels on Wheels
