Angels Hard as They Come

Charles Dierkop

Joe Viola's Angels Hard as They Come is a dreadful biker flick, churned out for Roger Corman's New World Pictures in 1971. Despite the picture above, the flick is a color film shot at the disused Paramount Ranch. Scott Glenn stars as the stoic Long John who clashes with a rival biker gang after they assault and kill a hippie chick he is sweet on. Screenwriter Jonathan Demme pitched the script to Corman as a "biker Rashomon", but all the two films have in common is a rape. Viola, a lifelong friend and collaborator of Demme, seems to be learning as he directs and the result is slipshod, clumsy, and ugly. Demme's script is hardly better. A "good" print of this is hard to find. The print Tubi is running seems to be a dub of a VHS tape, though I doubt even a cleaned up print would look much more professional. Pictorially and aurally, this movie is no Easy Rider.

What interest the film has is the experience it provided for those seeking a toehold in the film industry. Glenn would go on to play the strong, silent type for another half a century. Gary Busey pops up as an apple cheeked, non-violent hippie. Charles Dierkop wins best in show by going full Manson for his role as "the General". Dierkop popped up in almost every 1970s cop show as a crooked lawman or hood. Jack Fisk did the art direction and Caleb Deschanel is credited with "Additional Photography". Angels Hard as They Come made Corman a pile of money, but only the more intrepid exploitation film historians need seek it out.