Review of Hell Ride (2008) by Stuart K — 02 Sep 2011
Written and directed by character actor Larry Bishop, produced by Quentin Tarantino, who championed Bishop since his cameo in Kill Bill: Vol 2 (2004). This is a biker film, which feels like a B-movie from the 1970's.
It's short, though it isn't perfect, it feels more authentic than the Grindhouse films QT did the year before. Larry Bishop plays biker Pistolero, who is president of a biker club in Southern California, known as the Victors.
Pistolero's assistants are The Gent (Michael Madsen) and Comanche (Eric Balfour), who are faithful to their boss, in a weird love-hate sort of a way. For years, Pistolero has been seeking vengeance for the death of his girlfriend Cherokee Kisum (Julia Jones) since 1976.
She was murdered by The Deuce (David Carradine) and Billy Wings (Vinnie Jones), leaders of arch-rival biker club, the Six-Six-Six'ers. Now, the Six-Six-Six'ers have been reformed in Los Angeles, and Pistolero is looking to get even with them once and for all, and gets help from the sultry Nada (Leonor Varela) and old friend Eddie Zero (Dennis Hopper).
It's a homage to all the kinds of films that were made in the 1960's and 1970's by American International Pictures, some of them, Bishop was in, and these were films QT loves and references too.
This is quite trippy and experimental, and it does have it's flaws, (Vinnie Jones with an American accent), but it doesn't outstay it's welcome, and it's welcome at a time like this.
This review of Hell Ride (2008) was written by Stuart K on 02 Sep 2011.
Hell Ride has generally received mixed reviews.
Was this review helpful?
