William Bonner Movies
- 1971
- PG
In this drama, a former sergeant accompanies his deceased friend, a black man, home from Vietnam. There he tries to persuade the deceased's white girlfriend and the Indian leader of his motorcycle gang to come to the funeral. The ex-sarge also tries to understand the ins-and-outs of biker life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A slapdash epic of bad filmmaking geared strictly toward drive-in audiences, Dracula vs. Frankenstein has gone on to achieve cult status thanks to its sheer ineptness and impressive cast. At an oceanside amusement park, Dr. Frankenstein (J. Carrol Naish) runs a house of horrors that serves as a cover for his more devious scientific experimentation -- work that requires the murderous deeds of his mute assistant Groton (Lon Chaney Jr.). After stealing the corpse of Frankenstein's monster, Dracula visits the doctor and makes him an offer he can't refuse: resurrect the monster so that Dracula can use the beast to carry out his plan to take over the world. At the same time, lounge singer Judith (Regina Carrol) arrives at the park against the advice of detective Martin (Jim Davis) to search for her missing sister. She is drugged in a bar and winds up in the care of kindly stud Mike (Anthony Eisley), who takes up the investigation with her. Meanwhile, Dr. Frankenstein and Dracula resurrect the monster and immediately send it to kill the doctor's old enemy (Forrest J. Ackerman). Judith and Mike encounter the monster and, after a narrow escape, they confront Dr. Frankenstein who is beheaded in the ensuing melee. Sgt. Martin arrives in time to kill Groton before he attacks Judith, but not before Dracula kills Mike and takes Judith captive. He ties her up in the lab and prepares to bite her, but the monster goes mad, leading to a ferocious battle. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- R
The Hard Road is a 1970s exploitation flick posing as a crusading expose. Connie Nelson plays a "nice" girl who goes from bad to worse after she becomes pregnant. Kicked out of school and virtually driven from her home, Nelson finds solace in drugs. She starts out with pot, graduates to the hard stuff, and ends up selling her body in order to support her habit. This is your brain on drugs: any questions? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Connie Nelson, Catherine Howard, (more)
- 1970
At least Angels Die Hard strives to be something different. The usual motorcyle bums are in attendance, but this time they're the heroes rather than the antagonists. The storyline, concerning a mine cave-in in a small community, bears traces of the 1931 German film Kammeradschaft. Though on the outs with the community, the bikers prove to be heroes as they aid in the rescue of the trapped miners. But don't be lulled into thinking that Angels Die Hard is family fare: it still carries an R rating. The familiar faces dotting the film's cast include R. G. Armstrong, William Smith (what would a biker flick be without William Smith?) and Dan "Grizzly Adams" Haggerty. Filmed in 1970, Angels Die Hard was not given a general release until 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Baker, William Smith, (more)
Bikers, Nazis, Mafiosi, and the FBI all clash in this wild and wooly exploitation picture from director Al Adamson. Mark Adams (John Gabriel) is an FBI agent who has been assigned to infiltrate an organized crime ring that has obtained a set of printing plates that will allow them to produce nearly perfect counterfeit 20-dollar bills. The plates were made in Germany during World War II, and were discovered by a radical right-wing group hoping to restore the Nazi Party to power. The American gangsters are in cahoots with a group of wealthy American neo-Nazis sympathetic to the new German cause, led by fugitive war criminal Count von Delberg (Kent Taylor); the count has in turn recruited a vicious motorcycle gang, the Bloody Devils, to do his dirty work. Also featuring Broderick Crawford, John Carradine, and Col. Harland Sanders (the latter in a shameless plug for Kentucky Fried Chicken), Hell's Bloody Devils was produced under the titles The Fakers and Operation M as a straightforward espionage thriller; when distributors balked at the finished product, Al Adamson and producer Samuel M. Sherman added the biker subplot, and gave the product a more exploitive title. Shorn of the motorcycle gang footage, the film was also released as Smashing the Crime Syndicate. Nelson Riddle co-wrote the film's theme song, and Laszlo Kovacs and Gary Graver were among the cameramen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Gabriel, Kent Taylor, (more)
- 1968
In this bargain basement biker film, a soldier returns from 'Nam and learns that his brother-the-biker has been accused of killing the boy friend of the sheriff's daughter and incarcerating. Believing his sibling innocent, the vet takes over the gang and roars off to find the truth. His brother's former girl friend and the sheriff's daughter assist. In the end, they are successful and the brother is released. Unfortunately, he would have fared better had he remained in the hoosegow, for he turns out to be a savage brute who leaves his brother with only one logical option for dealing with him.... ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Orgy of the Dead wouldn't be worth anyone's time were it not for its star and screenwriter. The star is the inimitable prognosticator Criswell; the screenwriter is the immortal Ed Wood Jr., adapting his own novel. The King of Wretched Cinema weaves an incredible tale of a writer who decides to spend a night in a cemetery, the better to get into the mood to write a book on necrophiliacs. The writer and his girl friend are overpowered by several zombielike nude ladies (all played by LA strippers). Hero and heroine are tied to posts and subjected to the oratory of Criswell, aka "The Emperor." As if Criswell's ramblings aren't torture enough, the couple is then forced to watch the naked necromancers punish several "sinners" who've been condemned to eternal Darn-ation. The festivities come to an end when the sun rises, reducing Criswell and his followers to dust. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
