SATAN'S
SADISTS (1969)Director: Al Adamson
Troma
SATAN'S
SADISTS (1969)Inspired by the phenomenally successful biker film genre of the time, SATAN'S SADISTS was the title that put Independent International on the map. This ultra-violent, bloody action flick was their very first production, and it proved to be a big hit at the drive-ins in 1969. With an eight day shooting schedule, director Al Adamson took cinematographer Gary Graver, a great cast of older movie vets and his younger entourage, and really delivered the goods.
The sick opening shows a young couple making out outdoors. They're soon perturbed by the Satans, a bunch of tough looking bikers lead by Anchor (Russ Tamblyn). The Satans proceed to beat up the guy and, naturally, rape the girl. After they're through having their fun, they place the couple in their car, set in on fire, and push it off the cliff. The opening credits then commence to the tune of "Satan" ("I was boooorn mean!"), one of the many dated, but memorable tunes by Harley Hatcher on the soundtrack ("Is It Better To Have Loved and Lost" is the other standout track).
In the meantime Johnny (Gary Kent), a clean-cut, law-abiding young Marine has just got home from Vietnam. He hitches a ride with Charles Baldwin (Scott Brady), a patriotic cop vacationing with his wife (Evelyn Frank). They stop at a local diner run by Lew (Kent Taylor) and a pretty young college student, Tracy (Jackie Taylor). Trouble comes fast as the Satans pay a visit to the diner and disrupt things. Gina (Regina Carrol) does a sexy dance on a table, arousing the vicious gang until Lew puts a quick stop to it. A fight breaks loose, and the bikers get a hold of the cop's pistol. Anchor and his cohorts escort the cop, his wife and old Lew outside to teach them a lesson. Johnny and Tracy stay behind to tend to one of the members that was hurt in the fight.
In a nearby scrapyard, Anchor ties up his elder prisoners, and rapes the cop's wife. He proceeds to deliver this delicious speech after being yelled at by Scott Brady: "You're right cop. I am a rotten bastard, I admit it. But I tell ya something. Even though I got a lot of hate inside, I got some friends who ain't got hate inside. They're filled with love. Their only crime is growing their hair long, smokin' a little grass under the stars at night and writing poetry in the sand. And what do you do? You bust down their doors! Dumbass cop! You bust down their doors and you bust down their heads! You throw them behind bars! And you wanna know something funny? They forgive you!" After shooting all three victims he says, "I don't." This famous speech was improvised by Tamblyn himself and was instrumental in the film's theatrical trailer.
Getting back to the story, Johnny and Tracy manage to get away after Johnny kills two of the Sadists; one by smashing a medicine cabinet door in his face and breaking his neck over a bathtub, the other by drowning him in the toilet bowl. They head for the mountains in Tracy's red dune buggy, but the rest of the biker gang is hot on their tails and looking for revenge. The rest of the film concerns the young couple's struggle for survival, defending themselves from the vicious Sadists who excessively get on each other's nerves as well.
Adamson's definitive biker movie is great, nasty fun with really demented characters, especially Russ Tamblyn's. As Anchor, Tamblyn gives a convincing, low-key performance as a psychotic killer. His red-tinted granny glasses were an invention of his own, and the floppy hat he wears is a carry-over prop from a previous film he appeared in, FREE GRASS. Other members of the biker gang include Adamson regulars John "Bud" Cardos (who also coordinated the film's numerous fight sequences) as a mowhawked Indian named Firewater, Greydon Clark as a hopeless stoner named Acid, Robert Dix as a one-eyed oaf called Willie, and Regina Carrol as Gina, Anchor's "mama." Despite her being billed as the "Freak Out Girl," her character is anything but that and she actually pulls off a rather sympathetic performance. Old-timers Brady and Taylor are featured in smaller roles but as usual, they're fun to watch and add good contrast to the younger actors.
SATAN'S SADISTS was shot inexpensively on 16mm (to compensate for paying its "name" actors) and later blown up to 35mm for theatrical release. Taking that into consideration, Troma's full frame DVD looks very good. The colors remain distinguishable, and the image is smooth and free of excessive grain. Dark scenes (especially the outdoor nighttime scenes of the final reel) are too dark and hard to see. The mono sound is good, but if you hear noisy grinding, don't worry, it's just Gary Graver's 16mm camera rolling away!
There are a lot of extras on hand, including a commentary (and an on-camera introduction) by Independent International head Sam Sherman, who served as the film's "production consultant." This commentary was originally recorded in 1997 for the laserdisc release, but it still holds up fine several years after the fact. Sherman was not around during the filming of SATAN'S SADISTS, yet he still manages to fill the slot with great anecdotes about the cast and crew and the hassles with getting the picture released in time for the drive-in season. Sherman also presents an interesting overview of Independent International, since this was really the film that started it all.
Other supplements include a trailer, a TV spot (actually three different TV spots), the "Producing Schlock" documentary on Sherman and Independent International, and a still gallery including behind the scenes photos and pics of lovely Regina Carrol joyfully signing autographs for lucky drive-in patrons. There's also a radio interview with Regina who was obviously at the forefront of the film's busy promotional campaign. Since Regina died in 1992, it's a real treat to hear her talk about her craft, and she seems as sweet as everyone said she was. A must have "drive-in" disc! (George R. Reis)