Satan's Sadists (1969)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Without meaning to, I've ended up watching a fair chunk of Al Adamson's film output. "Satan's Sadists" seems to me to be the best of this bunch, probably because his style fits in better with drive- in biker films than some of the science fiction ("Brain Of Blood") and action oriented ("East of Watts") things he's tried. As usual with Adamson, there's a great deal of filler as characters play "hide and seek" with each other across an empty landscape, and there are a large number of aggressive non-performances here. (A few of the actors have their characters killed off before they can really show anything,maybe not their fault.) "Tracy" is particular is nothing more than a walking Kewpie doll. And Russ Tamblyn is aggressively awful when he's not being totally flat, hiding behind sun glasses and a really stupid hat. But "Firewater" is pretty good - in fact, he's the most interesting thing in the movie. And "Johnny" has a fairly predictable role, but the actor playing him is a good combination of he-man and sensitive guy. Plusses: The rocky, dusty, open landscape works to the movie's advantage, and someone had the good sense to work some heavy "Ventures" style guitar themes with an Indian war dance motif into many desert scenes that would otherwise be much duller. It was also kind of fun to see some familiar faces from other Adamson movies in the mix. (Even if I hate a movie, I generally have sympathy for the actors in it, most of whom are just trying to earn a living.) 3 stars, but I'd watch this 10 more times before I'd watch "Brain of Blood" or "Girl In Gold Boots" again.

I say "One of the Best" because I collect "Cheap Biker Movies" and this IS one of the best. The cheaper (as in low budget, minimal plot, horrible acting, etc.) the better. I realize most accidents in the home happen in the bathroom,so take note of the medicine cabinet scene in the diner's restroom. Did you know you can DIE if someone opens a medicine cabinet door in your face? It was a very graphic and horrible scene (notice any tongue-in-cheek, here?) I felt sorry for the Bro who died a terrible and bloody death. Also, these "Bros" can really handle a "Hog" off road. Realistic? Wow! Honestly, this movie keeps me on the edge of my seat every time I break it out and watch it. I have to be on the edge of my seat 'cause my head is in a bucket! Highly recommended movie to watch if you love the best of the worst.

SATAN'S SADISTS is a rather depraved film. While it is much better than the usual Al Adamson film, this isn't saying much since in his other films he set the bar so low! The reason I chose to watch such a bad film is that I am a bad film addict and have already seen about a dozen of Adamson's films.The film is about a group of seven bikers who drive around tormenting people. For 1969, it's incredibly violent and ugly--featuring rapes, execution-style murders, a man being drowned in a toilet and many other rather depraved activities. And, amazingly, they're all pretty graphic.The Sadists all descend upon a café in the California desert and by the time they're through, most of the innocent people there are dead. Two folks are able to escape and most of the film consists of the bikers trying to catch and kill them, as they were witnesses to some of the mayhem. One by one, however, the bikers are either killed off or kill each other in completely stupid ways. For example, having the biker chick (Regina Carroll--Adamson's wife) kill herself the way she did of the druggie biker shoot himself just seemed silly, though it did help to even the odds a bit.The film features occasionally bad acting (though some was good, I must admit), tons of sick violence and some of the worst camera work I've ever seen in a film. While I am sure that filming in the desert isn't easy, too many blown shots weren't re-done--with many being so blurry as well as very, very poorly centered shots. As a result, no one other than Adamson can be blamed for the film's worst attribute. There scenes should have been edited out or re-shot--not stuck in simply for economy's sake.Overall, it's a bad film that is, at times, exciting to watch. However, because it's so unrelentingly sick and mean-spirited, I honesty can't recommend it to anyone...even blind people!

In order to get any enjoyment or entertainment, or just dumb-fun in a B-movie (if that) kind of way, like Satan's Sadists (not inappropriately released on DVD in some circles by Troma), is to take into context that it was, of course, the late 60's, and it remains in the sub-genre that is the biker-movie. I almost hesitate to slap the label 'exploitation flick' on it because one would have to take completely into mind what exploitation entails. Maybe there were many (maybe mostly) good-hearted bikers like the ones in Easy Rider that wanted nothing more than to get stoned and ride their wheels without too much trouble. But that is in a particular kind of movie that tries (and succeeds) to rise above the expectations of the enclave of biker movies. For the most part, as with Satan's Sadists and many others, a biker gang with a cool sounding name goes into a town, bothers the habitants to a point of total suspense and shock, and the filmmaker may or may not try to dig a little under the surface, go beyond the expectations up to a point.One of the things that makes Satan's Sadists work, up to a point, is that producer/director Adamson usually doesn't mistake what it is that he's making. A film like this, when it played (where and if of course being part in question), would just be used as fodder for make-out sections and beer contests for those in the cars at the drive-ins, just good enough to not make anyone start chucking things at the screen. Adamson brings forth all the ideal elements- a gang of six (including the perennial grungy/sexy female) with attitude braced in their eyes and sunglasses, the older straight-laced couple, the good-looking younger couple, and plenty of room for tracking, driving shots of bikes. The gang here of the title run into a cop and his wife, a waitress, another young guy and the owner of a small pit stop in the middle of the California desert.Basically, describing the plot would be moot; say enough that it is as much of a usual biker film as it is a revenge picture (and usually the two go one in the same with these movies). To Adamson's credit, given a group of non-professional actors (or B/C/D movie actors) that are hit or miss (the bikers are all alright, as are the cop and his wife, but some of the other parts of the younger women are pretty bad), he tends to push some of the boundaries of what can be done within the framework of the structure. We have an idea of what will go on, of course, after a crucial moment in the film, but there are little things, like when the bikes brake-down in the desert, or when other minor female characters are introduced all of a sudden in the desert, or the impromptu dance scene in the restaurant (though that is a staple in many of these flicks, a cool one at that). It's when Adamson sometimes kids himself with what he's doing that it steers away, like a little mini-speech given by the groups leader about 'the man' versus the 'love' generation before a certain murder takes place. And the music, while with a cool opening number, is draining aside from an interesting drum solo here and there.I wouldn't say to start with Satan's Sadists if you're just starting to get into these kinds of films, as it is relatively hard to find and Adamson, while not without his cult fan-base, was unknown to me before seeing the film and really does nothing more than make your standard genre movie. However it's not to say that within the 'standards' there aren't some creative flourishes. I liked how there was always the one character clinging onto getting stoned and tripped whilst the others went on with their tough business, who even provides a couple of laughs. And where the film heads to is exciting on the most primitive, fast-food sort of level. There are certainly 'better' movies out there, probably with better acting and better use of music and locations. But at least in Adamson there is a little experimentation and touches of daring in his style; little insert close-ups and zooms/pans are interesting, and at times a certain zaniness tries to work its way into the steady shots. If a biker picture, in all of its likely exploitive tendencies and cardboard psychology, is more about attitude and using what is there within the limitations, Satan's Sadists is not bad, though not great.