(Roadshow Entertainment)

Schlocky Tarantino-produced biker flick

The early signs are not good – a straight-to-video movie with Vinnie Jones in it. That said, popping Hell Ride into the DVD player does provide some undemanding fun. Quentin Tarantino has put his name behind the film, thanks to his fondness for Larry Bishop, an actor who appeared in some of the earliest biker exploitation movies. Ambitiously, Bishop writes, produces and stars in the whole shebang, which revolves around a messy plot involving two rival biker gangs The Victors (led by Pistolero, played by a miscast Bishop) and The 666ers. Most of the film is an excuse for cheesy dialogue, plenty of nudity and lots of sex ‘n violence, although the accompanying commentary has Bishop paying homage to everyone from Godard to Italian pervemeister Tinto Brass. Essentially, though, it’s a true exploitation movie, in that it is not only a nod back to B-grade biker movies of 40 years ago, but features plenty of stylistic touches we’ve already seen from Tarantino and his buddy Robert Rodriguez. Even David Carradine pops in for a cameo! But if you’re not above watching a derivative bit of trash (and I know I’m not!), you’ll have some good fun with Hell Ride. Oh, and Michael Madsen pulls off yet another cool-as-ice performance as the Pistolero’s buddy The Gent.

**½  

MATT THROWER

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