Today's film for Hippie Hotties is a biker exploitation flick that was clearly inspired by Easy Rider. This goofy film is a fun watch and we see breasts, so let's dive into The Cycle Savages.
Bill Brame wrote and directed this cheap 1969 film. He also directed the hippie flick Scream Free! which was all about marijuana and it starred Natalie Wood's sister Lana Wood (for real). Otherwise, he was an editor who worked on Kojak, Cagney & Lacey, and Star Trek: The Original Series. So this guy is not some kind of one-trick pony.
That being said, his directorial debut was The Cycle Savages so he wasn't a pro at directing quite yet. There are certainly rough edges to this film, but that's part of the fun. It's no Star Trek, but it's a different kind of campy watch.
The plot follows an artist named Romko played by Chris Robinson who is trying to get to the bottom of a biker gang leader named Keeg played by Bruce Dern. Keeg is no good, you guys. It turns out that Keeg is running a white slavery ring (???) in Las Vegas. In order to keep his operation going, he thinks that Romko has to go, so he attacks him.
This lovely lady named Lea played by Melody Patterson takes the wounded Romko back to her apartment. She poses nude for him - because remember how he is an artist - and the two of them get turned on enough to make sweet sweet love. See? Art is cool!
While they are having beautiful and artistic sex that could rival Kate Winslet and Leo Dicaprio, Keeg is doing even more devious things. He kidnaps a new young woman and gives her a ton of LSD. Then there is a gangbang. Things aren't looking good for Keeg.
Meanwhile, the police question Romko about the attack but Romko suddenly changes his tune on Keeg. He doesn't want to incriminate him. Um...what??? I know he doesn't know that Keeg is currently kidnapping new slaves and doing very illegal things with them, but I think he knows ENOUGH. Am I wrong? The police decide all of this is simply too sketch so they arrest Romko and Lea (???). The pair are released because there is literally no reason to have arrested them.
There is no rest for Romko, however. The biker gang jumps him and kidnaps him, bringing him to a creepy basement for torture. Lea comes to the rescue, but she hesitates to pull the trigger on her gun. Another girl is basically like 'hold my beer' and grabs the gun to shoot Keeg without taking another second to think about it. Why would she? Shooting him being a slave. Finally, the biker gang is arrested and justice prevails.
Isn't that plot WILD? This film was co-produced by Casey Kasem and Mike Curb who later got into California politics. The movie was more or less forgotten, which is typical of exploitation films. According to his autobiography, Bruce Dern enjoyed working on this movie because he got to work with Scott Brady.
The music is very swingin' sixties in this movie, but it's otherwise a rather mindboggling watch. That being said Melody Patterson's nude body is a delight to watch!
