The Peace Killers (1971)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Douglas Schwartz

Writers:

Michael Berk (writer)
Diana Maddox (story)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

They ride to love... They ride to kill!

Plot:

Siblings Kristy and Jeffrey are buying supplies at a remote desert gas station when some members of a biker gang come cruising in...

Plot Keywords:

Biker | Gang | Motorcycle Gang | Harassment | Hippie

Cast

Clint Ritchie	...	Rebel
Jess Walton	...	Kristen
Paul Prokop	...	Alex
Michael Ontkean	...	Jeff
Lavelle Roby	...	Black Widow
Nino Candido	...	Snatch
Jon Hill	...	Whitey
Gary Morgan	...	Gadget
John Raymond Taylor	...	Cowboy
Robert Cornthwaite	...	Ben
Kres Mersky	...	Carol
Albert Popwell	...	Blackjack
Joey Rosendo	...	Joey
Candace De Puy	...	Linda
Jack Starr	...	Detective

Also Known As:

The Peacekillers (Europe: English title) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:18 | USA:R

Company:

Damocles Productions

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Cecil B. DeMented (2000)

Soundtrack:

Rebel

Definitely worth a look

A young woman (Jess Walton), who is the former "old lady" of the vicious leader of a motorcycle gang, is living in a rural hippie commune with her brother (Michael Ontkean) when she is spotted by several members of her former gang. The bike gang ("Death Row") shows up at the commune, "crucifies" the pacifist leader of the group on a peace symbol (some heavy symbolish here), and takes off with the girl, planning to "teach her a lesson" by gang-raping her. She escapes again with the help of a bizarre interracial rival biker gang, which is led by a black woman(!). They return her to the commune with the "Death Row" gang hot on their trail, and the brother tries to convince the pacifist leader to fight back this time.

This biker vs. hippie movie is no masterpiece, but it's surprisingly entertaining. Whatever message it is making about violence and pacifism seems a little confused, but I still find movies like this vastly preferable to the mindless, simplistic movies that have dominated the action/revenge genre since the era of Reagan and "Rambo". In real life, of course, the bikers actually got on pretty well with the hippies, despite their diametrically opposed politics and attitudes towards women, mostly due to their mutual interest in drugs (which said a lot about the priorities of the hippie movement). It's also a little hard to believe anyone still regarded hippies as naive, gentle pacifists after the Manson Family murders.

The lead actress Jess Walton is absolutely beautiful (and has nude scenes). She kind of reminds me of British actress/singer Jane Birkin. This is her only major movie, but she would go on to a long television career. The director Douglas Scwartz would also go to a long television, uh, career (he later created "Baywatch"--oh, the horror, the horror!). Michael Ontkean though is the most recognizable talent having appeared in both famous movies ("Slapshot") and TV series ("Twin Peaks"). This is definitely worth a look.