BLACK BIKERS FROM HELL (1970) ***

Black Bikers from Hell kicks off with an incredible breathless motorcycle chase scene in which a young member of the Choppers, an all-black biker gang wants to make a name for himself.  He smashes the window of the leader of the rival white biker gang, Chainer (Des Roberts), who takes off after him in hot pursuit.  The chase is peppered with flashbacks that not only provides the audience with the characters’ motivation, it also delivers plenty of nudity, hilarious dialogue (“I’m a new shade of black!”), and biker clichés, adding to the overall awesomeness of the scene.  The sequence culminates in spectacular fashion, leading to more problems between the two gangs.  

I wish I could say the second act was just as good, but it’s mostly nothing more than a collection of wild biker parties, brawls, and long montages of the gang riding their hogs.  

Despite the title, the main focus is on the white bikers.  The Choppers really aren’t given much to do after the first scene until the last act or so.  Also, there’s a pair of biker-hating cops who are referred to as “The Black Angels”, even though they’re lily-white. 

Whenever the movie tries to make some social commentary it comes off pretty clumsy. (“This country.  A white man can’t have a decent fight with a black man without everybody saying it’s racial!”)  It’s awkward, but hey, at least the filmmakers tried. 

While the film kind of stumbles and sputters during the middle section, the awesome finale is every bit as good as the whiz-bang opening.  There’s a big plot twist, an all-out biker rumble, a bobcat attack (!!!), AND more than one character is felled by poisonous snakes.  Sure, it’s all wildly uneven, but whenever Black Bikers from Hell is revving its WTF engine, it’s damn good times.

AKA:  Black Angels.