There is indeed a cult following to this movie, alternately
titled THE DEATH WHEELERS in some releases. I recall the first time I ever saw
the film on a terrible VHS copy put out by one of the really low quality
companies that recorded everything in slow speeds to use less tape, the end
result being a washed out picture with glitches, static, rolling bars and
terrible sound. To say I was unimpressed would be an understatement. And yet I
heard and read of people loving this movie and wishing there would be a great
print offered by someone. Arrow Video has met that challenge.
The story is fairly simple. A bike gang known as The Living
Dead tool around on motorcycles that would leave much to be desired by U.S.
biker gangs. With skulls painted on the front of their helmets and their name
printed on their leather jackets they terrorize motorists on the road by racing
by them or straight at them. Oooo scary.
The leader of the gang is Tom (Nicky Henson), a long haired well-bred
and well-dressed young man with a curious interest in life after death. His
mother (Beryl Reid) is a psychic who holds séances in their posh modern styled
home. She has a servant of sorts in Shadwell (George Sanders). We’re not quite
sure if he’s her butler, confidant or lover but he’s there and helps her. It
seems she holds the key to eternal life but she refuses to share it with Tom.
He does learn what it is though: you simply have to believe you will not dies
with every fiber of your being. Yes, that is the secret to eternal life.
Really?
So what does Tom do with this information? Test if of
course. He believes totally that he will live and on a jaunt with the gang
terrorizing the locals he eventually drives his motorcycle straight off the
bridge. This results in his death. The gang wants him to go as he lived and
buries him in the local cemetery sitting astride his motorcycle in an upward
position. No coffin and with barely enough dirt to cover him. But remember Tom
knew the secret to eternal life. With the sound of motor revving he pops up out
of the ground, his motorcycle propelling him forward.
Meeting up with the old gang he shows them he is now
invincible. Excited by the news each member then makes the decision to follow
suit and they kill themselves one by one only to come back. The only exception
is Tom’s girlfriend who isn’t quite sure this is what she signed on for. More
happens but this sets things up for you.
For me the story was really lacking in any meat that should
have been wrapped around the bones offered here. Perhaps worse was that the
“biker gang” seemed more like a bunch of rich spoiled kids tooling around on
scooters than the Harley styled motorcycles seen in most biker flicks of the
time or on the open roads to this day. That anyone would find this group
frightening if encountered on the roads was something I just couldn’t wrap my
head around. At times I wondered if Austin Powers would pop up as a gang
member.
And yet there is a certain amount of charm to the movie. It
showed a time in history when this was the supposed rebel. It’s a far cry from
what we’ve seen represented in English cinema since when you look at films like
SCUM or LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing
or a bad one but at least we have something captured on film that shows us what
may have been going on at the time.
I give Arrow Video high praises with each new release they
offer and it holds true here again. The quality of the print here is such that
it made me forget that washed out old VHS version I saw years ago. If there is
a fog bank on screen here it is intended rather than a sad state of affairs
given us by some cheap video company. In addition to the best version available
on disc we have a slew of extras. There’s an interview with Nicky Henson, an
archive featurette with interviews with the rest of the cast, an archive
interview with the music composer for the film, an archive interview with a
singer for main song in the film, a new featurette about the company that made
the costumes, a short piece on restoring the film and the theatrical trailer.
This movie may not be everyone’s bag of tea but it is
definitely worth a watch. Horror fans will want to add it to their collections.
Movie fans will want to give it a glimpse. And those of us who found the film
in the dollar bargain bin years ago on VHS will now have the chance to see it
in much better shape than we did all those years ago.
Click here to order.
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