Films That Witness Madness

review

WILD RIDERS

"I bet you never thought that you'd have to pay your dues. Every hustler has to have a pay off. I've been paying for a long time. Now it's your turn. That's just the way this shitty world is."

WILD RIDERS is not a rape / revenge flick. It's not even a biker flick. It's closer to a home invasion thriller, even though it hardly thrills at all. Come to think of it, I don't really know what the hell this flick is. It has elements of all three but drowns them all in sleazy melodrama. It thinks it has something to say, some purpose to it, but it is largely vacuous and pointless. It has some moments of genuine intensity but those moments are surrounded by large stretches of pointless destruction. At times, I thought I was watching a exploitation version of "Of Mice and Men". Other times, I thought I was watching a low-rent STRAW DOGS knock-off.

Richard Kanter's film continues on like this through-out the entire film, shifting focus, shifting tone, switching leads, switching emphasis, until it all collapses in delirium. That WILD RIDERS manages to be enjoyable despite all it's obvious problems is a miracle. It has just enough nuance to it, just enough subtlety to be engaging and the performances - usually the death blow in films like this - help keep the characters interesting. It's a confused film but it is also an entertaining film.

Much of the credit for the film's success has to go to the screenplay. While it doesn't break any new ground, it's presentation differs from similar films. The basic plot is this: Pete and his mentally unstable sidekick Stick are bounced from their gang after they kill Pete's cheating girlfriend in Florida. The two make their way up the coast before spotting two women sun bathing in the backyard of a very posh home. Pete charms the lady of the house - a middle-aged, neglected wife of a classical composer named Rona - and he and Stick make themselves at home. While Pete is getting it on with Rona, Stick rapes her friend Laure. Naturally, Pete thinks this is all Laure's fault and this incident triggers a slow but steady decline into abuse and torment as Pete and Stick become more and more desperate and violent.

That's basically 3/4s of the movie right there. The last chunk of the film is best left undiscussed for those of you who plan on seeing the film as I would not want to ruin what is easily the best portion of the film.

The presentation of Pete and Stick - and the performances of Arell Blanton and Alex Rocco in the roles - is one of the best things about WILD RIDERS. Had this film came out after THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and not before it, we probably would be looking at two different characters. Unlike Krug and the mountain of Krug-inspired sickos that followed, Pete is a somewhat complicated character. He is obviously remorseful - or, at the very least, conflicted - about the murder in Florida. He reacts with anger when Stick rapes Laure and disgust after beating a man to death with a gun. He is not a sadist, just a punk saddled with a crummy life. He believes the world owes him one and carries a massive chip on his shoulder because of it. At the film's end, Pete watches Rona's husband play the cello. He remarks about how good he would have been at playing his guitar if he had rich parents to pay for all the lessons. The husband stops playing and tells Pete that his parents weren't rich at all. They were killed in a concentration camp. Pete's reaction tells the whole story. That's not what he wants to hear from this man. Pete has this mind set that only the privileged get rich. Everyone else suffers. Pete is the typical self-imposed exile from society, unwilling to pull himself out of his own misery, choosing instead to visit his misery upon those who have.

He is also saddled with Stick. Stick is obviously mentally retarded or mentally deranged. Pete is constantly having to corral Stick and monitor his behavior. I got the feeling that the only reason Pete keeps him around at all is to have someone close to him, someone who sees him as superior. Stick's main purpose in the film is to play the monster. Alex Rocco - who would soon earn major props for his role in THE GODFATHER - plays Stick with a kind of reckless abandon. He is a completely disgusting character, unshaven, unwashed, constantly blathering and flying into violent rage. He is also the most engaging character in the entire film. He serves a singular purpose. He is the brute, the monster who terrorizes the women when the boss is away. He treats the women the same way a child might treat a toy - or a family pet - when his parents aren't looking.

Badly. But with glee.

The film's victims, Rona and Laure, are not the typical kind of victims found in these films. For starters, both are middle-aged women. Rona, the main focus of the two, is not exactly without her faults. She's a reckless, compulsive woman who is constantly cheating on her husband while, I would suspect, spending his money. She is also an ace manipulator. In virtually all rape /revenge films - even though WILD RIDERS is not, I repeat, a true rape / revenge film - the female victims are all young, naive girls who fall prey to vicious bastards. Part of what makes WILD RIDERS seem so strange is Kanter's choice to have these particular women as his female protagonists.

I don't really know what to make of WILD RIDERS. I enjoyed it but I wasn't particularly impressed by it. It's not a good looking film nor is it particularly memorable - I just watched it last night and I can barely remember everything that happened in it - but it is one of those films that, as you're watching it, feels like it is doing it's job. It's sleazy and shameless but in a good way. I'll probably find myself returning to WILD RIDERS in the future. I suppose that's the best praise I can possibly give it.

All in all, recommended.

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