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Hell's Bloody Devils
One of many 'chop shop' productions directed by the late Al Adamson, Hell's Bloody Devils is a mish mash of a film that started as one project and ended up as something completely different by the time that it played theatrically. Part spy film, part biker trash epic, Hell's Bloody Devils shows all of the insane Adamson characteristics and all of the incoherence associated with much of his output from the time period in which it was made.
John Gabriel plays a hunky federal agent named Mark Adams who poses as a thug in order to sneak into of a local group of white power/neo-Nazi types' base of operations so that he can bring them all to justice. It seems that these scum-balls like money so much that they've started printing their own and they intend to team up with a local gang of criminals to make it big and keep the neo-Nazi spirit alive.
The leader of the Nazi punks is Count Von Delberg (Kent Taylor of Angel's Wild Women), a war criminal relocated to the United States. He was responsible for some seriously bad stuff during the second world war, and an Israeli secret agent named Carol (Al Adamson regular, Vicki Volante, of Five Bloody Graves) wants to bring him in to stand trial. It doesn't help matters much that the Count was the man who killed her parents. Eventually she and Adams team up to fight crime, but not before Adams has a chance to make a move on the Count's lovely daughter (Erin O'Donnell).
Will Adams and Carol be able to put a stop to the sinister plans of the racist scumbags or will the biker trash nazi punks get the cash they need to turn their plans up a notch and do whatever it is that they're setting out to do that must surely be very, very bad?
The fact that this was pieced together from two different projects, Godfrey Ho style, to make one bigger and better (?) film is obvious from the very start. Characters' hair changes depending on what scene they are in, as do their outfits, as does the lighting and location work as well. The editing is shoddy and the continuity has more holes in it than a piece of Swiss cheese. Not much of the movie makes sense, but despite the many, many flaws Hell's Bloody Devils still manages to entertain. Maybe it's the fact that it was, until now, the 'lost' Al Adamson film or maybe it's the sheer lunacy of the biker scenes or the contrived slickness of John Gabriel's Bond-style acting, I can't really say, but the movie is a lot of fun. It's certainly not a film to take seriously but if you're entertained by films that are truly 'so bad they're good' then this is one that you might want to keep an eye open for as it definitely delivers unintentional laughs aplenty.
The film's biggest hindrance is that there's not enough biker trash action in it. The spy-jinks take up the bulk of the running time and it just isn't as interesting as the seedier element that the leather clad bad boys bring to the screen. A gratuitous appearance from the legendary John Carradine in a small role and former Playboy Playmate Anne Randall and, last but not least, a rare on screen speaking appearance from Colonel Sanders himself (yes, that very Colonel Sanders, you read correctly) more than make up for that.
The DVD Video:
This disc presents a composite version of the movie. To provide the most complete version of the film as possible, Media Blasters used a few different film sources to put it all together and because of this, there are some inconsistencies in the look and feel of the film depending on what source was used at what point in the film. There is some moderately heavy print damage present in the form of scratches and nicks here and there, as well as a decent amount of film grain, but none of it renders the movie unwatchable. Color definition various as the sources change during playback and at times things are a little on the flat side but it's not too distracting. For an old, low budget Al Adamson movie, Hell's Bloody Devils doesn't look too bad and the later part of the movie does look significantly better than the first part does with a cleaner picture demonstrating better color reproduction.
Sound:The English language Dolby Digital Mono audio track is decent enough. There's a bit of mild hiss present in a couple of scenes but that's really about all that there is to complain about. Dialogue is clean and clear and the background music and sound effects are balanced properly and come out of the center channel with the proper amount of punch.
Extras:Sam Sherman produced this puppy and he's on hand to offer up another one of his truly fascinating commentary tracks. Anyone who has had the pleasure of listening to a Sam Sherman commentary in the past knows that the man is a veritable encyclopedia of exploitation movie making knowledge and that he's not shy about discussing the films he had a part on making. Sam covers all manner of criteria relating to this production and gives some interesting details on how the cast was assembled, some of the locations used, and where some of the ideas for the film came from and what they were going for when they made the movie. He also goes into a fair bit of detail about his rather unusual working relationship with Sam Sherman and how he was as a person to deal with, which gives the track a very interesting and personable touch, and he also details how the film was put together using a few different left over ideas and how it made it from a spy film into a biker movieā¦ sort of. This is a very fun, very lively and very informative commentary track and it makes for a great addition to this package.
Up next is a video interview with Sam Sherman and the star of the film, John Gabriel. Both men discuss working with the late Al Adamson and Gabriel fills us in on what he's done aside from this film, including some appearances in a soap opera or two and a turn as the original professor on the Gilligan's Island pilot episode. The two men seem to genuinely like each other and this little interview makes for a fun reunion of sorts for them as they get to trip down memory lane together.
Media Blasters has also dug out Al Adamson's 1993 appearance from the long running talk show, The Joe Franklin Show, in which he appears with a man who won a pretzel eating contest and a stand up comic who isn't very funny. Al doesn't really get to do much except sit there for most of the bit, but he does get a few words in edge-wise about one or two of his projects, even if he doesn't get to into much detail. Filmed roughly two years before he was discovered dead and encased in cement at the hands of Fred Fulford, this is an interesting if unremarkable little bonus feature.
Rounding out the extra features on this DVD are trailers for Hell's Bloody Devils, Run, Angel, Run Ray Dennis Steckler's terrible Las Vegas Serial Killer and two Umberto Lenzi films, the action packed crime film Syndicate Sadists and the early Italian cannibal film, The Man From Deep River. There's also a decent sized still gallery included.
Final Thoughts:Hell's Bloody Devils doesn't look or sound perfect but Media Blasters have served up a perfectly acceptable disc in terms of A/V quality for an old low budget production. The extras on the disc are great, especially the Sam Sherman commentary, and fans of Al Adamson's unique brand of junk filmmaking should find plenty to enjoy about this release. Recommended.
Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.
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