Simply Perfect

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

She-Devils on Wheels (1968)* 1/2 (out of 4) A female motorcycle gang known as the Man Eaters cause destruction wherever they go. Their leader loves to party with men but the group is also known for destroying them. One member of the crew decides she wants out but doesn't know how to do it.Herschell Gordon Lewis adds the motorcycle flick to his endless genres that he managed to work in during his career. After the success of THE WILD RIDE we got a whole slew of low-budget motorcycle pictures but there's no doubt that this here isn't one of the better ones.As with a lot of Lewis' other films, their low-budget charm is on full display but it just doesn't add up to what you'd consider a good movie or a very entertaining one. It's really amazing that he started off in rougies before moving to nudies and then his infamous gore films. Later in his career he would make films like this, which were rather lame and tame. Sex is a big subject here yet we only see people kiss. There's no sex or nudity to be had.The film offers up the type of performances that you'd expect. There are some bloody bodies on display, although they don't reach a BLOOD FEAST type of level. The group of women add a little fun to things but SHE-DEVILS ON WHEELS just doesn't have enough going for it.

She-Devils on Wheels (1968) was Herschel Gordon Lewis' entry into the "hot" bikersploitation film craze that was occurring in the B-movie circuit. I guess the gory set piece movies were out and the biker films were in. This movie is something else, what is it I still haven't a clue. A man hating motorcycle club called The Maneaters drive around looking for trouble, getting in trouble with other clubs and fighting amongst themselves. But there's trouble a brewing within in the club. Can these She-Devils rule the road? Will the law catch up to them? Why does that camera shake so much? You'll find these answers when you watch "She-Devils on Wheels".Not an entertaining film. But if you're a die-hard Herschel Gordon Lewis fan then you'll want to grab a copy of this flick. Others need not apply.

This supposedly hot and crazy exploitation film about a group of very sexually obsessed female bikers turns out to be not nearly as crazy and wild as you might think. While these ladies talk non-stop about sex, they never really get around to doing much of anything--even though they supposedly see men as having one and only one purpose and that's to serve their many, many sexual needs. Plus, for sex-crazed bikers, they sure aren't very sexy and many look like they can barely drive their motorcycles. When they are having a race, the fastest bike looks to be doing about 30 miles an hour--wow, THAT'S crazy, man! I also like how a couple of the ladies actually drive a moped! What wild chicks! What she-devils!!! This film was the product of one of the all-time worst film producers, Hershell Gordon Lewis--one of only 3 or 4 directors that can possibly be worse at his "craft" than Ed Wood, Jr.. His movies are usually so bad that they are silly and very watchable for their camp value--and this one is no exception. The acting is strictly amateurish (at best), the song at the beginning is completely flat and the overall look is that of a home movie with a lot of friends mugging for the camera. It's bad folks...REAL bad! But therein lies some of its charm--making it a great film for a party, so you and your friends can laugh at its ineptness.Considering that EVERYTHING in the movie revolves around sex, it's amazing how little the film actually says or shows. Heck, you could almost show this film to a Sunday school class--even if you don't remove the severed head scene! Again and again when they are cursing, it turns out to be like Ralphie from A Christmas STORY--you know, when instead of the f-word, he says "Oh, fuuudge"! So, it's a pornographic and violent biker film with no skin, no cursing and silly violence (when present at all)! It's always pulling its punches and there is much more implied than explicitly shown or stated.Look carefully during the "sexy" shower scene--you can see she's wearing a bathing suit! Also, while this movie was entertaining, I sure would have loved to see John Waters' perennial stars, Edith Massey and Divine, in the film as biker ladies--it would have really, really improved it immensely and helped this movie to reach even greater heights as a cult film.By the way, I want to end with a bit about my rating of 2. By any objective measure of quality (except one), the film is just awful--terribly written, horribly acted, indifferently directed. So aesthetically, comparing it to other movies is like trying to hang a velvet Elvis painting in the Louvre. However, I must admit that despite being a giant pile of dung, the film sure is fun to watch and so I'll give it an extra point for watchability (sort of like a train wreck, by the way).

A comparatively goreless departure for the "Wizard of Gore," director Herschell Gordon Lewis, "She-Devils on Wheels" (1968) still proved pretty tough for me to sit through. From its lamely catchy "Get Off the Road" opening-credits rock 'n' roll number ("Get off the road before we get crossed/Or you're like to get your rear end tossed") to its abrupt headscratcher of a finale, the film disappoints at nearly every turn. The picture tells the story of the Man-Eaters, a female biker gang in Florida that does little but race around, has orgies with their male counterparts (fully clothed, dry-humping, safe-sex orgies, apparently), brawls with a gang of hot-rodders, and recites terrible dirty limericks to one another. With their battle cry of "Sex, guts, blood, and all men are mothers," the Man-Eaters are a pretty pathetic and repugnant bunch, albeit still tough enough to beat the crap out of the boys. Actually, the loathsome characters and virtual lack of plot (at least half of the film seems to consist of shots of the gals tooling down the highway...BORING!) wouldn't be so bad if Lewis' direction weren't so lackadaisical, if the sound weren't so bad and the editing so lame. With no nudity, little action to speak of, and not even much of Lewis' patented gross-out scenes (a few bloodied-up bodies and an admittedly memorable decapitation excepted), the film really doesn't offer much, even to lovers of bad cinema. The picture turned out to be only 85 or so minutes long, not the stated 104, a development for which I was indeed grateful. Oh, heck, why mince words? This is a terrible film.