Die rasenden Rocker vom Thunderstrip (1970)

Die rasenden Rocker vom Thunderstrip: Directed by David L. Hewitt. With Jody McCrea, Maray Ayres, Mick Mehas, Casey Kasem. A vicious gang of murderous bikers goes up against a trio of beautiful bootlegging sisters.

“Director David Hewitt is best-known for his sci-fi work such as WIZARD OF MARS and JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF TIME, as well as the unclassifiable THE MIGHTY GORGA, which Iu0026#39;ve seen about ten times! This little-known biker/rural-revenge flick (shot in Texas?) was written by the great comic artist Pat Boyette, photographed beautifully in widescreen techniscope by the reliable Gary Graver (who also edited and has a brief cameo), and acted by an impressive troupe including Gary Kent (you want to see his character killed after spending ten minutes with him!), Jack Starrett as the sheriff (perfect for the role, and he has some nice comic scenes with Casey Kasem), the lovely Megan Timothy, and in one of his last films, Jody McCrea. With a hippie-bluegrass score, fine rural locations, a grim unwashed look to the characters and the production, a nice widescreen transfer on the VHS tape, and the above-mentioned acting/directing/photography, GIRLS FROM THUNDER STRIP is a lost classic that will surely attract more attention in future years.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNow, if only I can find a copy of the Hewittu0026#39;s OTHER biker film, the patchwork HELLu0026#39;S CHOSEN FEW (the bikers in this film wear Hellu0026#39;s Chosen Few jackets, by the way!). This is a film worth finding. 1960s independent films such as this take a lot of chances and are able to do so much on so little money. Too many of todayu0026#39;s u0026quot;independent filmsu0026quot; are either pretentious film-school swill or shot-on-video predictable garbage or self-consciously u0026quot;campu0026quot; or u0026quot;decadentu0026quot; bore-fests. Hewitt/Graver/Kent and crew were in the right place at the right time with the right talents and with the desire to CREATE. Thankfully, the drive-ins of the day provided an outlet for their work…work which we can enjoy today through the magic of video. By the way, this film would look GREAT on the big screen,although I canu0026#39;t imagine ever having a chance to see that happen in my lifetime…”