I was watching Americans Pickers the other day and one of the pickees was a collector of movie ephemera. Mike Wolfe spotted a poster for a flick that I had no idea existed: Werewolves on Wheels. It was a biker movie made to exploit the success of Easy Rider.
This poster has me wondering if the folks behind True Blood were influenced and/or knew of this movie. You may recall that the biker gang in the teevee show were werewolves. I googled it and came up empty. Woe is me, bop.
It’s trashy trailer time:
Finally, I hate to be a cliché on legs, but there’s only one way to conclude this post:
Okay, I watched the movie trailer. Because I’m not very smart, maybe. The voiceover mentions the “horror motorcycle” genre twice as if it’s a thing, and then finishes off with how Werewolves on Wheels is the first ever horror motorcycle movie.
And now? I want to see the movie. Lord have mercy.
It probably is a bad sign that the film, in its entirety, is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/n0hC2rK1oTk
I skimmed it, and here is what I can tell you.
The complete play length is 123 minutes
I estimate that 1/2 the film is lit by campfire
A very long 15 minutes is given to a fire lit satanic ritual that you can’t really see clearly, but seems to involve droning chanting, repetitive motions with bread, and a naked girl holding a snake.
Again by estimate, I figure that another 1/4 of the film is footage of the gang on motorcycles with music.
The soundtrack is pretty good.
The dialogue is awful (excerpts from a playful chase/seduction scene: “Why don’t you rape me Satan?” “Hey, slow down, I’m running out of gas here”)
All but maybe 10 minutes is filmed outdoors in what looks like the high desert outside of Palm Springs. But the dubbed in dialogue was recorded in someone’s basement.
So, all in all a pretty standard early 70s film. I give it a thumbs up.
But is it the greatest horror motorcycle movie ever made?
And thanks for taking the lead on that. I think my desire to see this has passed.