Average Rating: 3.5/10
Reviews Counted: 61
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 55
Hell Ride misses out on the rusting zeitgeist of the biker genre, sucking the glee from a saucy premise.
Average Rating: 3.5/10
Critic Reviews: 19
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 17
Hell Ride misses out on the rusting zeitgeist of the biker genre, sucking the glee from a saucy premise.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.7/5
User Ratings: 4,980
Veteran AIP genre star Larry Bishop (son of famed Rat Packer Joey Bishop) directs and stars in this gritty revenge tale concerning a biker gang that rallies to avenge the violent murder of a fellow gang member. An homage to such classic biker films as Chrome and Hot Leather and Angel Unchained, Hell Ride was conceived when director Bishop was invited to Quentin Tarantino's home to view a print of The Savage Seven. Upon realizing that there hadn't been a true biker film in years, the pair quickly
Aug 8, 2008 Wide
Oct 28, 2008
$0.2M
Dimension Films
All Critics (63) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (6) | Rotten (57) | DVD (10)
The dialog is clever, nutty and syncopated, with a soundtrack -- of the "C.C. Rider" vein -- which ain't half-bad, either.
It's a claustrophobic dud, full of ludicrously purple tough-guy dialogue and lip-smacking vamps in bikinis (how hot!), with so much monotonous hip violence there's scarcely room for anything else.
Maybe only once every six months am I in the mood for jokey sadism, but this struck me as the right picture for the right time.
[Director Larry Bishop] burdens his film with clumsy art-house ambitions that clash with its embrace of bikes, beer and booty. If any of this sounds amusing, be warned: it's not.
The script, written by Bishop, barely makes sense. It lacks anything resembling wit, unless you think it amusing that these aging cyclists brag about needing their three B's -- bikes, beer and booty.
Does it count against you when you actually set out to make an awful movie? It should.
Bikers, babes, blood, booze ... and blah.
Hell Ride is a smoldering yet completely dull wreck of a movie.
Instead of a sublimely ridiculous and sleazy bike-movie homage, Bishop delivers self-amused, emptily crude faux-grindhouse that only fanatics of the genre will excuse.
A revenge and biker warfare bonanza that will appeal to the folks who loved masterpieces like "The Warriors" and "Switchblade Sisters"...
Having a properly slimy bit of modern exploitation filmmaking isn't something to scoff at, but I do wish that the experience had even a bit of fizz to it.
The only thing that works in 'Hell Ride' is the throwback style and visual tone it lovingly mimics.
Not to be confused with the more famous grindhouse biker flicks of a bygone era, Hell Ride misses out on that critical sense of freedom on the open road.
Bishop's film is an exercise in style and tone that certainly takes much from the genre that inspired it, but it certainly contributes nothing to legitimize its artistic integrity or extend its historical longevity.
"Hell Ride" is so bad that if I were forced to choose between seeing it again or seeing my worst nightmare version of what "Wild Hogs 2" might entail, I am fairly certain that I would select the latter without a moment's hesitation.
The main problem is Bishop's adamancy on playing the lead tough guy when he's got the face of a shoe salesman.
I originally saw Hell Ride when it first was released, and despite a good enough cast (aside from Eric Balfour, who is the worst actor here) the talent is waste on-screen. The film has nothing going for it; the plot is paper thin, a total mess and is poorly constructed. Hell Ride tries too hard to be Easy Rider, but
October 21, 2011
Super Reviewer
I didn't think "Hell Ride" was all that terrible, but it completely failed to capture the spirit of Grindhouse cinema and in the end wasn't all that fun (despite trying real hard to be). Larry Bishop's direction is kind of flat and inept, but it's his performance as one of the most uninspired, bargain-basement
July 3, 2009Super Reviewer
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