Hell Ride was written, directed by, and stars Larry Bishop. Bishop was a star of late 60’s biker pics. In 1996 he directed the little known mobster indie Mad Dog and Time. This new film is his second directing effort. He is probably best known as the strip club manager in Kill Bill Vol. 2. Quentin Tarantino is obviously a fan of his; he is executive producer of this movie.
Hell Ride is a biker exploitation movie. There is violence, drug use, nudity, and sex. Bishop as a director has clearly been influenced by Tarantino with his “hip” dialogue and detached attitude towards violence.
Bishop plays Pistolero, the “Pres” of the biker gang the Victors. His second in command is The Gent (Michael Madsen). Dennis Hopper plays Eddie Zero a former member of the gang and best friend of Pistolero. Now he may or may not be loyal to the Victors. David Carradine plays The Deuce. Years ago he was friends with Pistolero and a member of the Victors. But they had a falling out in 1976 and he started a rival gang the Six Six Sixes.
The Deuce and Pistolero’s falling out was over a women, Cherokee Kisum (Julia Jones). Pistolero loved her, but she lived with the Deuce. Cherokee and The Deuce were selling drugs, but Cherokee kept some of the money from the Deuce. On July 4th, 1976 the Deuce killed Cherokee in front of her son. But before Cherokee died she hide the treasure and made Pistolero promise to keep the treasure safe for her son.
In the present day The Deuce has become a legitimate businessman. Billy Wings (Vinny Jones) is now the gang leader of the Six Six Sixes. The 666ers and the Victors are still bitter rivals. The 666ers seem to be making more money than the Victors, which is causing unrest within the Victors. Pistolero is more concerned with finding Cherokee’s son Sonny and exerting his revenge on The Deuce. Comanche (Eric Balfour) is a new member of the Victors. It is a bit of an open secret within the gang that he is actually Sonny Kisum. Pistolero sets in motion his plan to revenge the Deuce and give Sonny the treasure. Meanwhile he most also deal with the 666ers and traitors in the Victors.
As you may be able to gather the plot is much too convoluted for an exploitation movie. Characters are introduced only to be shot or to sleep with Pistolero. The movie jumps back and forth between present day and the 70’s. There are double crosses, apparent double crosses, and joke double crosses. Unlike Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs the characters are not likable enough and the story is not interesting enough to warrant repeat viewings to aid comprehension.
None of the acting is particularly impressive. All the actors are playing echoes of other characters they have played. Carradine as The Deuce has the same air of gentle reasoned menace that his Bill from Kill Bill had. Madsen’s Gent is the same dangerous fool that his Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs. Larry Bishop tries to play Pistolero as cool and collected. We are supposed to like him because nothing fazes him, he has a smart-ass quip for everything, and he gets laid all the time. But the way he wears his shades all the time, lingers too long in doorways, and responds to everything with stupid smug smile on his face does not strike me as cool. He comes across more like an arrogant prick.
Bishop’s directing style is not very impressive. At first he does an interesting thing were the violent scenes are presented almost as love scenes, but about half way through the movie that approach is dropped. The sex scenes are more graphic and longer than you would usually see in an R-rated movie, but there is nothing artistic about them. The drug scenes are presented in an avant-garde way similar to the drug scenes in Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider. They have a weird strobe effect that is headache inducing.
Everyone in the movie speaks in a hip, irony filled dialogue. I believe its time to retire this practice, as it is growing ever more tiresome. When the Gent says “So what you’re sayin’ is…that the booty…in the box…that I already said…I want nothing from…is none of my business?” it is not clever, it is annoying. That is not even a very egregious example. No one speaks like this in real life, because it would be too annoying for those around to bear.
Tarantino fans can quite easily skip this film. In fact everyone can quite easily skip this film. Exploitation fans will probably find the violence too fleeting and I cannot see who else the filmmakers are trying to appeal to. In attempting to make an arty, hip, exploitation film Bishop has made a film that is not artistic, hip, or even a fun diversion.
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