Hell's Bloody Devils (1970)

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Wanting to reestablish the Nazi Party in Germany, a rich and influential militarist named "Count Otto Von Delberg" (Kent Taylor) has acquired some extremely precise counterfeit plates and in order to fund his political ambitions has initiated a process to launder large sums of fake money through certain connections he has with the American mafia. One mob boss in particular named "Joe Brimante" (Keith Andes) is so impressed with the counterfeit dollars that he sends his most trusted lieutenant, "Mark Adams" (John Gabriel) to not only buy some of the fake dollars but to also inquire about purchasing the plates themselves. However, what nobody counts on is the fact that there are other organizations who are fully aware of these plates and they also want to get their hands on them as well. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that, although it may have been marketed as a "biker film" and certainly has its share of rough-and-tumble bikers, this particular picture turned out to be more of a "spy movie" than anything else. To that end, there were several twists and turns along the way which were quite intricate. Be that as it may, this was a complicated and rather confusing movie which had its good points here and there and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Although meriting one of the greatest opening credit sequences after a two minute trailer that seems separate but is actually part of the film that has a complete list of credits on its own, this misleading mess isn't a biker movie but rather a tenth-rate James Bond ripoff.A handsome secret agent meanders from one situation to the next seeking out neo-Nazis, bedding down babes and chasing goons, and the biker aspect is connected lamely by a woman who, after talking on various pay phones after each spy sequence, will then converse with, and give orders to, four bikers: part of the titular gang that's also shown sporadically roaring down the highway.On the spy side are various scenes with Broderick Crawford, Scott Brady, and John Carradine, all seeming as pasted-on as the American military scenes in Japanese Godzilla films. Buyer Beware of this patchwork clunker.

Ye Gods! First off, this isn't a biker film, in spite of the packaging of the DVD (2005 release). What is it really? A mess.Like Adamson's "Dracula Vs. Frankenstein," "Blood of Ghastly Horror" or "Psycho-a-Go-Go" this is really parts of two (or more) movies that were started and never finished, and patched together in whatever manner would supposedly make sense.News flash: it actually doesn't make any sense.Instead, we're cutting back and forth between footage of a biker gang riding around and making out with random chicks, and an FBI agent involved in a plot to infiltrate "The Syndicate", who in turn are helping "The New Nazi Party" (leader played by Kent Taylor, not attempting a German accent) by buying counterfeit bills from them, reportedly made from counterfeit Nazi plates left over from World War II (then 25 years in the past -- hmm, passing tons of crisp $20 bills dated 1942 wouldn't be suspicious, now would it??? ). Throw in an undercover (female) Israeli agent on the trail of the Nazis, Broderick Crawford as the FBI boss mumbling into his cigarette, and John Carradine in a hilarious bit part as a wacky pet shop owner, and you have a hilarious jumble of insanity.Just about the only thing that kept my interest were the rich late Sixties fashions (no Hippie wear, except for the bikers, instead all the men and women are dressed very formally in the manner of a major-studio Hollywood production, like a James Bond film). I have found out that the "James Bond" part of the film was shot under a different title, "The Fakers" (now the theme song, "The Fakers" makes sense). This part was shot in 1967, apparently also by Adamson and crew (all their names are in the original credit sequence), and then, I guess shelved because there were no takers for The Fakers. (Sorry.) After sitting on the shelf for a while, the biker gang part was shot in 1969, I suppose with Adamson attempting to market what he had as a biker opera. That's why the fashions change abruptly throughout the film.The other positive of note is the really good musical score, by Nelson Riddle! Lushly orchestral, with bongos going crazy and a dash of intense fuzz guitar. Where's the soundtrack for this? Unless, of course, they licensed needle-drop production music. Even if they did do that, I don't care, I still want a copy of this music. It's awesome.The music and the costuming (in the earlier "Fakers" footage ONLY), are so good that for a second Al almost fooled me into thinking this wasn't a low-budget mess. But only for a second. It probably helps that the budget on "The Fakers" was probably somewhat higher than the budget on the later segments Adamson directed. Sometimes Adamson's brand of slop is entertaining. Check out "Satan's Sadists" or "Blood of Dracula's Castle." Even "Dracula Vs. Frankenstein," as messed-up and weird as it is, is more entertaining than this mess. If you have to watch Hell's Bloody Devils, keep in mind, it isn't a biker movie. It's a bad James Bond rip-off tarted up to look like a biker movie so it could be sold to drive-in theaters. Thanks a bunch, Al.

One of Al Adamson's rarer features and the print I saw was worn out with Portuguese subtitles. I got it for Greydon Clark's appearance but he's in it for all of about five minutes and with two different hair styles. That's because, just as with Adamson's MEAN MOTHER, this film appears to have been started and never finished and then scenes were added years later to make some sort of assemblage of a plot. The problem is, it is hard to gather what is going on. Characters appear out of nowhere, the aforementioned change in hair styles sometimes makes them unrecognizable, Hell's Bloody Devils - the biker gang - serve less purpose in plot structure than the Russ Tamblyn led crew did in DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN, and the print was so choppy that whole bits of dialogue were missing. Nevertheless, it's still quite enjoyable to watch, with John Gabriel as a FBI agent posing as a member of the syndicate who gets involved with counterfeit money and in the end comes to blows with a surviving member of Hitler's inner circle as well as a flirtation with the high ranking Nazi's daughter. Broderick Crawford and John Carradine appear in small roles and the music is even catchier than Harley Hatcher's score for SATAN'S SADISTS. The camera work and direction seem more than competent and one can only imagine how solid the film would have been had it not ended up as a salvage job. Well worth checking out for the Al Adamson/Greydon Clark completist or if you are interested in movies with Colonel Sanders cameos (he has less screen time here than in THE BLAST-OFF GIRLS though).