(1971)
Directed by Michel Levesque
Starring Stephen Oliver, D.J. Anderson, Deuce Berry, Billy Gray, Barry McGuire, Severn Darden

This is one of those famous cult titles that we all remember reading about or seeing mentioned in some reference book.  What a great exploitation title, huh?  Right there you have two different types of exploitation movies together…bikers and monsters!  What more could you ask for? Well, maybe that the film delivered on what the title promised? Okay, this is exploitation after all, so I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised to discover that it’s only ONE werewolf on wheels, and that is only at the end of the film. But since when did these kinds of movies from this era deliver 100% of the time on what their ads promised?

If you can get past that, what you do have is still an entertaining little biker flick with a little horror twist thrown in. We have a biker gang named The Devil’s Advocates, led by a guy named Adam, roaming through the west. They seemed to be your typical biker gang, looking for fun and thrills, though they do seem to do a lot of hugging . . .

When their mystic member named Tarot tells them of a place where “it’s really at”, they head off to this strange monastery. The robed figures come out and bring bread and wine for the gang, who gladly partake in the communion. But after the gang passes out, the monks start the real fun. Adam’s girlfriend is drawn to the worshipping and does a freaky naked snake dance for the monks, which is a very memorable moment in ‘70s exploitation filmmaking if there ever was one!

Once the bikers start to wake up, they realize what’s going on and start to raid the monastery and beat up the monks, before taking off into the night. Just another day, right? But once things seem to go back to normal, the next night, something attacks two of the members, tearing their throats out. Was it some beast wandering through the desert, or was it the evil that Tarot warned them about?

The leader of the monks, simply called One, is played by Severn Darden, though you really can’t see his face, but he’s a very recognizable character actor from that time, especially on TV. He plays the cult leader with all the zest of a Shakespearian actor playing Hamlet!

One of the highlights of the film for me was pretty much a lucky accident for the filmmakers. They needed a guy to play the gas station attendant so that the bikers come in and take the gas. According to the commentary, the director found this old guy, Leonard Rogel, who wasn’t really an actor, but had no problem giving these bikers a mouthful, which is pretty damn entertaining.

Director Michael Levesque didn’t direct too many pictures, with this one being his first. But he did he did work as an Art Director on some other popular titles, such as Russ Meyer’s Supervixens (1975) and Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979), Don Edmond’s Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976), and even The Incredible Melting Man (1977). Granted this might not live up to its title, it is still a fun little trip down to the time of ‘70s exploitation when craziness and originality was more important than much else. And no matter what, it still has one of the best horror / exploitation titles, and some really bad-ass poster art!