Produced by none other than Dick Clark, this isn’t just another flick meant to wither away at a drive-in. It’s a kinetic, countercultural collision of genres that deserves its place in the pantheon of exploitation classics. It takes place in a world fraught with tension, set on a reservation where modern-day Native Americans are trying to get by, only to be squeezed by a greedy local businessman named Fillmore (Mel Berger).
Into this pressure cooker rides Kisum (Adam Roarke) and his motorcycle gang. What follows isn’t a straightforward tale of good versus evil. It’s a high-stakes, triple-layered con. The townsfolk want the gang to run the Natives off; the Natives just want to be left alone; and the bikers are playing every angle to see how they can come out on top. It’s a twisted, gritty inversion of Seven Samurai that keeps you guessing who is manipulating whom until the very end.
As the Native Americans, you have Robert Walker Jr. as the leader, Johnny, whose comrades are played by Running Buck (John “Bud” Cardos), Joint (Larry Bishop) and Grey Wolf (Max Julien). Roarke is great, a stoic and smart leader who wouldn’t expect to be riding a steel horse. He hates everyone — his gang, the town, probably the Native Americans — but he wants to get with Johnny’s sister, Marcia (Joanna Frank). Plus, you get John Garwood, Richard Anders, Billy Green Bush, Gary Kent and even guitarist Duane Eddy. Probably the biggest star has the smallest role. Penny Marshall makes her screen debut here as Tina and gets puked on by a biker.
Director Richard Rush (Color of Night, Thunder Alley, The Stunt Man, Freebie and the Bean, Psych-Out, Hells Angels On Wheels) was operating at the top of his game here, balancing the demands of a genre production with genuine artistic innovation. He and cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs were among the first to use the rack focus technique in this film, shifting focus between different depths of field within a single composition. Rush was so serious about the craft that he even held a patent on a lens designed for the maneuver.
The music isn’t just a soundtrack. It’s an essential character. It features the Cream track “Anyone for Tennis,” which adds a strange, melodic weight to the bikers’ wanderings, as well as the “Iron Butterfly Theme.“
