MOTORPSYCHO (1965)
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 74 Minutes 2 Seconds
Audio: English 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Director: Russ Meyer
Cast: Alex Rocco, Steve Oliver, Lane Carroll, Timothy Scott, Arshalouis Aivasian, Steve Masters, Holle K. Winters, Sharon Lee, Haji, Coleman Francis
Made just prior to Russ Meyer's better known Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! was this down and dirty biker exploitation flick MotorPsycho! (1965), wherein in a trio of wild biker punks, on pretty harmless looking Honda Sport 90s, tear though an isolated California desert town on their way to Las Vegas - the gang consist of deranged Vietnam vet leader of the pack Brahmin (Stephen Oliver, Malibu Beach), alongside his followers Dante (Joseph Cellini, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls), and the transistor radio loving Slick (Thomas Scott, Love Me Deadly). They're detouring through the desert scrub when they come upon a busty young woman (Arshalouis Aivasian) sunbathing while her husband (Steve Masters) fishes nearby. They beat the snot out the husband and rape her, then move on. Next encountering the gorgeous Gale (Holle K. Winters aka Lane Caroll, The Crazies) who they circle with their motorbikes while she walks the street, but her veterinarian hubby Cory Maddox (Alex Rocco, Lady in White) comes to her rescue, knocking around a couple of the bikers.
Made just prior to Russ Meyer's better known Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! was this down and dirty biker exploitation flick MotorPsycho! (1965), wherein in a trio of wild biker punks, on pretty harmless looking Honda Sport 90s, tear though an isolated California desert town on their way to Las Vegas - the gang consist of deranged Vietnam vet leader of the pack Brahmin (Stephen Oliver, Malibu Beach), alongside his followers Dante (Joseph Cellini, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls), and the transistor radio loving Slick (Thomas Scott, Love Me Deadly). They're detouring through the desert scrub when they come upon a busty young woman (Arshalouis Aivasian) sunbathing while her husband (Steve Masters) fishes nearby. They beat the snot out the husband and rape her, then move on. Next encountering the gorgeous Gale (Holle K. Winters aka Lane Caroll, The Crazies) who they circle with their motorbikes while she walks the street, but her veterinarian hubby Cory Maddox (Alex Rocco, Lady in White) comes to her rescue, knocking around a couple of the bikers.
The trio do not forget about the encounter though, and while Cory is off visiting a client, the horny top-stacked housewife Jessica (Sharon Lee, Reform School Girls), the vicious biker punks find her alone at home and criminally assault and violate her, leaving the rage-filled Cory to track them down to kill them. While hot on their trail through the desert Cory teams up with the buxom Cajun-lady Ruby Bonner (Haji, SuperVixens), another victim of the biker trio who left her for dead and murdered her much older husband Harry (Coleman Francis, The Beast of Yucca Flats).
Not a lurid, nor as well-made, as Meyers later flicks this psycho-biker, roughie, rape-revenger is still quite an action packed low-budget thrill ride chock full of seedy characters and busty Meyer's babes galore. Shot in black and white the film is rough but rambunctious, with plenty of gorgeous babes photographed against a backdrop of rough terrain, a Meyers specialty. This was a first time watch for me so it was a hoot to see Alex Rocco from The Godfather as the main heroic character, in his first featured film no less! The acting is pretty spotty in this one, especially from the women, with Rocco chewing up the scenery quite nicely, overacting and coming off a tad too hot most of the time, but it's all pulpy and wonderful, I can't fault it for that. One of my favorite scenes feature's Rocco's character snake-bit and forcing the Ruby to suck out the poison, with Rocco's character screaming "Suck it! Suck It Out! as he forces her head down onto the wound, it's totally bonkers. It's also interesting in that it's an early biker exploitation flick, though I do found it amusing that the biker punks are cruising around on Honda Sport 90s, which are not exactly badass bikes, that had to be a joke. It's also an early example of a flick that deals with demented Vietnam vet suffering from PTSD, with baddie Brahmin having a bit of a PTSD meltdown out in the desert. The film is also notable in that it depicts rape without so much as an exposed nipple, though the women are dressed and undressed quite often, but never fully nude, which is sort of at odds with what I have come to expect from Meyers, but it is no less shocking and visceral for it.
The isolated California desert terrain looks fantastic in black and white, Meyers of course shooting the film himself. The finale which involved being pinned down in a canyon under fire and a stick of dynamite certainly feels like a dry-run for Meyer's later flick SuperVixens which revisited the idea witha very similar scenario. Meyer's flare for editing and shot composition shines through, it might be a a cheap exploitation flick but it's still a banger in the hands of an exploitation master like Meyers. No one brought beautiful women and the wounded masculinity together quite like Meyers, the men here are the worst sort, even the local sheriff played by director Russ Meyers, credited as E.E. Meyers, makes mention that Cory's wife, who was just brutally raped, was not subjected to anything a woman's body wasn't made for, and hinting at the fact that she was asking for it, WTF!?!
Audio/Video: Motorpsycho! (1965) arrives on Blu-ray from Severin Films in 1080p HD, framed in 1.66:1 widescreen, sourced from a 4K scan from the original negative restored by The Museum of Modern Art. The monochromatic image looks stellar, grain is well-managed and looks organic, texture and fine detail are pleasing throughout, and the source is in fantastic shape. It's a very pleasing and filmic looking restoration. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. The track is clean and well-balanced, dialogue sounds fine, and the score from Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter (The Last Man on Earth) sounds terrific as well.
Not a ton of extras for this release, but what we get are excellent, starting off with a new Audio Commentary With Film Historian Elizabeth Purchell And Filmmaker Zach Clark. We also get archival extras by way of the 21-min Desert Rats On Hondas – Interviews With Actors Haji And Alex Rocco, plus the 4-min Trailer. The archival interviews with Haji and Rocco were a highlight for me, Haji talking about how she ended up working for Meyers, owing her career to him, and how much of a gentleman he was; as well as tales of what it was like shooting out in the desert, camping, battling the critters and taking cold-showers in makeshift showers. Rocco talks about being discovered by Meyer's wife Eve while bartending in L.A. after serving a year in prison for being a bookie, taking acting lessons from Leonard Nimoy, his style of acting, how he felt he over-acted quite a bit, relying on Meyers to help him get in the right frame of mind, and shooting the snake-bite scene, and some other interesting anecdotes from the set. He comes across as very modest and shy, seems like a hell of cool guy.
The single-disc Blu-ray release arrives in a black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork, which looks to emulate the vintage Russ Meyers Merchandising Corp. VHS tapes, which gives the Severin releases a nice uniformity.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary With Film Historian Elizabeth Purchell And Filmmaker Zach Clark
- Desert Rats On Hondas – Interviews With Actors Haji And Alex Rocco (21:16)
- Trailer (3:32)
- Audio Commentary With Film Historian Elizabeth Purchell And Filmmaker Zach Clark
- Desert Rats On Hondas – Interviews With Actors Haji And Alex Rocco (21:16)
- Trailer (3:32)
Screenshots from the Severin Films Blu-ray:
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