The Cycle Savages
The Cycle Savages
R | 22 August 1969 (USA)
The Cycle Savages Trailers

The leader of a biker gang takes exception to an artist sketching them, so he makes plans to crush the artist's hands.

Reviews
Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!
Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.
gavin6942 The leader of a biker gang (Bruce Dern) takes exception to an artist sketching them, so he makes plans to crush the artist's hands.The film is cheap, with awful audio and terrible music. This was director Bill Brame's debut, though he had worked as an editor on "Star Trek" (and continued to be an editor for many years after). Although the movie has Roger Corman written all over it, this surprisingly is not one of his films.We get some decent cast members here: Dern, Melody Patterson and even Casey Kasem (who doubles as executive producer). And there is some interesting conflict, but this is a largely disposable film.
Wuchak Released in 1969, "The Cycle Savages" starts off like it might be a decent cheap biker flick in the manner of, say, "Angel Unchained" (1970). The opening credits sequence is effective and the pre-heavy metal rock theme is simple, but enjoyable, particularly the energetic percussion. On top of this, Bruce Dern is effective as Keeg, the ee-vil leader of Hell's Chosen Few, Chris Robinson is solid as the courageous protagonist and there are a few quality gals -- Dern's brunette babe, Sandy (Maray Ayres), and two blonds, Lea and Janie (Melody Patterson and Karen Ciral). It's also cool to check out the late 60's California locations.Unfortunately these are the only good things I can say about this flick. The plot is really really DUMB; like it was conjured up by a 12 year-old. It involves Keeg getting upset over a sketch artist for making drawings of his gang in wild revelry. Apparently, Keeg believes the sketches can be used to convict him and his gang (Why sure!). The dialogue and acting are just as bad. At one point they put the artist's hands in a vice, threatening to crush them, but it's clear that he can remove his hands at any time.BOTTOM LINE: I can't tell you how awful this "film" is. At least a cheapo biker flick like "The Tormentors" is entertaining and has a semi-interesting story, but "The Cycle Savages" can't even do that. It's only worthwhile for a few good-looking late 60's "chicks" and as a period-piece oddity.The film runs 85 minutes.GRADE: D- PS: If you want to see a great late 60's/early 70's biker flick, catch the very first one, the infamous "The Wild Angels" from 1966 starring Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern, Nancey Sinatra and Diane Ladd. "The Wild Angels" is simultaneously shocking and profoundly brilliant (yes, even though it's essentially a Roger Corman 'B' film). See my review for full details.
Scott LeBrun Bruce Dern is at his psychotic best as Keeg, leader of a biker gang and a white slave trader to boot. He realizes that a newcomer to his neighbourhood, an artist named Romko (Chris Robinson) has been sketching them, and he doesn't like this, so he plans on doing some serious damage to the mans' hands. Meanwhile, Romko is falling in love with local gal Lea (Melody Patterson of 'F Troop' and the trash flick "Blood and Lace"), who feels much guilt about the part she plays in Keegs' schemes. The most interesting thing of all when it comes to "The Cycle Savages" is the fact that it was executive produced by record executive (and later lieutenant governor of California) Mike Curb and legendary D.J. Casey Kasem (who also plays a small role). The movie is written and directed by Bill Brame, and is rather crudely and awkwardly done in its fight scenes. It does have one extremely tasteless scene that kicks up the sleaze factor a notch and which will make it worth watching for trash film fans. The lovely Patterson does a nude scene, which is a nice bonus, but ultimately it's too tastefully done to really satisfy some viewers. Otherwise, it's fairly grim, gritty stuff, but does not stand apart from any other biker film of the era. It's mostly watchable because of Derns' marvellously scuzzy performance; Robinson is much too stiff, but Patterson is quite appealing, and there's more eye candy in the form of Karen Ciral as the naive Janie, who has to suffer some pretty awful treatment from Keeg and gang. Maray Ayres is good as pathetic biker mama Sandy, and veterans Scott Brady and Steve Brodie make uncredited appearances as vice detectives. You're not likely to remember this film for long after it's over, but it's passable enough stuff that kills 82 minutes fairly well. Even at 82 minutes, one can feel the padding on this thing, but all in all die hard fans of the Bikesploitation genre may get a kick out of it. Six out of 10.
funkyfry I don't bandy words like that around, but this film pretty much IS worthless, even for those who might be seeking cooler-than-thou amusement or exploitation kicks.... there's not enough that's amusing or erotic to excite a gerbil. Dern gives his stock performance. The only thing that gave me pause to laugh or even wake up was the sight of Casey Kasem, legendary "reach for the stars" top 40 radio host, pimped out in a bathrobe with chicks at a backyard pool.Not much here worth looking at.