Satan's Sadists

Plot synopsis:
The plot centers around an outlaw motorcycle gang called the "Satans", who roam the deserts of the American Southwest. The gang's leader goes by the name of Anchor, and other members include Firewater, Acid, Muscle, Willie, Romeo and Gina. The gang comes upon two lovers whom they proceed to attack: they beat up the boyfriend and rape the girl. After the assaults, they kill both of them and throw their car, with them in it, over a cliff.
Johnny Martin, a Vietnam veteran U.S. Marine, is hitchhiking and is picked up by former police officer Chuck Baldwin and his wife Nora. Johnny was a military police officer in the Marine Corps and after his discharge he's moving to Los Angeles to "live a little". Tracy, a waitress, drives up a red dune buggy to a diner where she works. Tracy is late and explains to her boss, Lew, that she was late because she was studying for a college class. Nora spots the cafe and tells her husband and Johnny that they should go eat there. Johnny sits alone at the bar while Chuck and Nora sit at a table, thinking the Marine is being antisocial. Lew and Chuck small talk about the desert area and its isolation. Johnny meets Tracy and they both talk about getting away from the desert town.
The Satans arrive at the cafe and demand service. Romeo harasses Tracy as she tries to take the gang's order. Lew intervenes and the gang calms down. Firewater selects a song from the jukebox and Gina performs a go-go dance routine for Anchor, jealous of Anchor's attention towards the waitress. Lou pulls the plug on the jukebox and tells the gang that the place is "a place to eat" and "not a place to dance." One of the bikers hits on Chuck's wife and she throws a drink in his face. Chuck pulls out his revolver and tells them to "beat it." The bikers knock out Chuck and take his gun. The Satans take Lew, Chuck and Nora out behind the cafe. Nora is raped, and Anchor explains to them why they hate cops. Anchor kills the three of them as Johnny and Tracy escape in Tracy's dune buggy after knocking out Muscle and Romeo.
The bikers pursue Johnny and Tracy deep into the isolated desert. The dune buggy breaks down from damage that occurred when the couple ran over a couple of the bikes. Johnny and Tracy trek through the desert in an effort to reach help at the closest town before the Satans catch up with them and finish the job. The remains of the gang comes across a trio of female campers − Carol, Jan, and Lois − and party with them. Gina drives off in a jealous fit and commits suicide by driving over a cliff, dying with Anchor's name on her lips. Willie tracks Johnny and Tracy but is bitten by a rattlesnake and dies. Firewater goes looking for Willie and finds his body - he returns to discover Acid playing Russian Roulette with Chuck's pistol and Anchor has gone insane and murdered the three women. They fight and Firewater leaves Anchor for dead; he searches for Johnny and Tracy. When he finds the couple, Johnny surprises him and during the fight, a landslide crushes Firewater. He tells Johnny that Anchor is no longer a problem and dies.
As the couple relax and begin walking down the road, Anchor drives toward them on the last working gang motorcycle. He raves about being Satan and having paid his dues; it is Johnny's turn. As he raises the gun, Johnny throws a switchblade at the gang leader, killing him. Johnny is wounded but still able to drive the motorcycle; the couple get on the bike and leave towards the setting sun.

Tags: good versus evil, violence, sadist

Review:
"Sadists" a "fun" ride for the TRUE fan of BAD dudes!.
Coming from a huge fan of the trashy, 1970s, low-budget, motorcycle gang, genre, my comment may be slightly biased.
However, as far as sleazy 70s biker flics go, "Satan's Sadists" is indeed one of the better ones.
Russ Tamblyn outdoes himself as the whacked out, sadistic leader of the group.
The soundtrack is also tons of fun with some memorable "acid" tunes that should have you saying "Wow man!" every 20 minutes or so.It's a pretty violent entry to the biker genre, but few of them are really "sugary-sweet".
For something a little less shocking, "Easy Rider" would be a better choice or even "Hell's Angels On Wheels".Fans of schlock director Al Adamson have to see/own this one.
Sadistic Bikers From Hell - in the Desert!.
There are several things this picture cannot overcome with its very low budget: the pacing is very slow at points, photography is almost amateurish in places (blown up from 16mm, I think), there's filler - too many shots of motorcycle riders moving on the freeway, and lousy dialog/acting.
Then you have star Tamblyn, the biker leader, overacting or subverting his persona, depending on how you look at it.
He giggles like a madman as even his own fellow biker (Cardos) rebels against such pointless murder.Is Tamblyn just playing a joke on the audience?
Greydon Clark is amusing as another biker who lives to get stoned on acid or LSD; his goal is to go on a one-way trip.
The title bunch are a particularly odious motorcycle gang in this, producer / director Al Adamsons' contribution to the then popular cycle of biker films.
Russ Tamblyn stars as cheerful psycho Anchor, leader of this gang.
Also among the cast are Scott Brady as weary cop Charlie, Kent Taylor as the diner proprietor Lew, Regina Carrol (Adamsons' real life partner) as biker mama Gina, Jacqueline Cole as comely waitress Tracy, Gary Kent as nice guy former soldier Johnny, and John 'Bud' Cardos, Robert Dix, Greydon Clark (who himself became a director years later), William Bonner, and Bobby Clark as the gang.
Carrols' slutty dance number inside the diner rates as a highlight, as do the fight sequences between Tamblyn & Cardos and Kent & Cardos.
As far as biker films go, this definitely has to be one of the trashiest ones ever made, and it's nothing if not amusing for its entire 87 minute running time.
Al Adamson's film is so low-budget and the actors( with a few minor exceptions) are so obscure, that this grade Z biker-flick is brutally realistic.
Made during a time of political as well as social conflict, Adamson strives to show the "hopelessness" of an entire generation "lost" as a result of the war in Viet-Nam. Russ Tamblyn's horrifying role as the demented leader of the gang is gut wrenching.
To the naked eye this may simply seem as a "schlock"- drive-in biker- quickie film.
Al Adamson is known for making horrendously bad movies (which I love), mostly biker action flicks or cheesy horror pics.
"Satan's Sadists" is a nice departure from the predictably bad premises usually found in biker movies.Adamson's regular cast comes along for the ride (Robert Dix, Russ Tamblyn, Regina Carrol, Gary Kent, Greydon Clark, etc.) and delivers all they can.
Tamblyn is terrifically sadistic and would continue in a similar role in "Dracula vs.
John "Bud" Cardos is Firewater, the mohawked biker, and he is very good.Adamson fans will appreciate the hard work put into this film, but "outsiders" will consider it boring, cheap, and dated.
Instead, I find it highly entertaining, action-packed, and one of the best biker films ever made.
If you've never seen an Adamson film before, this is probably where you should start.
If you're only familiar with Adamson's VERY bad horror films, try this on for size.
A sidenote: Jackie Taylor later changed her name to Jacqueline Cole and starred in "Satan's Cheerleaders" and MST3K fan favorite "Angels Revenge/Brigade".
Satan's Sadist (1969) ** 1/2 (out of 4) This biker flick pretty much put Independent International on the map and today it still holds up quite well.
The story is pretty simple as a biker gang led by Anchor (Russ Tamblyn) take people hostage inside a restaurant.
He kills three but two (Gary Kent, Jackie Taylor) get away and head out in the desert to hide.
Naturally the biker gang must go after them and soon both sides realize that Anchor really is beyond crazy.
Once you become familiar with the work of Adamson you'll begin to realize that he rarely turned out an "good" movie but this one here is perhaps the best I've seen at least from a technical point of view.
The performances, direction and cinematography are actually pretty good here, which might make some people think this isn't an Adamson picture but he had quite a bit to work with here and the end result works.
Tamblyn is extremely fun as the psycho biker as his laid-back approach makes for a good, cold villain.
Kent makes for a good hero and Taylor is at least easy on the eyes.
The supporting players feature some familiar faces including John "Bud" Carlos as an Indian biker, Adamson regular Regina Carrol play a sympathetic biker chic and Kent Taylor appears briefly as the restaurant owner.
The film pretty much goes all out in terms of exploitation as we get some fairly violent death scenes, several mild rape scenes and of course you can't be a biker flick without a good number of fist fights.
One of the highlights of the film happens when the bikers first appear inside the restaurant and the folks inside try to fight back at them.
The film starts to wear thin towards the end but this is something that happened with a lot of exploitation movies.
The most outlandish thing about SATAN'S SADIST is the fact that it has a soundtrack featuring six films by a group called The Nightriders.
This group isn't going to make you forget The Rolling Stones but the songs actually fit the film rather nicely..
It's not that good, but it definitely delivers on the drive-in schlock that made the late 60s and early 70s exploitation films fun.
The cast was mostly unknown at the time (most of them still are) with the exception of Russ Tamblyn (still can't get plum roles like in West Side Story).
I wouldn't say that it's a true biker film, but it's still pretty wild.The Sadists stop at a gas station/diner in the middle of nowhere in Death Valley.
The gang decides to have a little fun at the diner, but things go sour when the old man tells them to leave.
The marine kills two of the gang, and then he and the waitress escape into the desert.
Of course, the gang chases them down because they don't want any witnesses.The acting wasn't great, but it sufficed for a low budget biker film.
There's the sadistic leader (Tamblyn), the acid freak (cleaverly nicknamed acid, those zany bikers), the tough guy, the sex fiend, and leader's strung out girlfriend.
Overall, it wasn't great, but it suffices as an exploitation film and if you get into it it is kind of fun.MST3K fans look out for the teacher in "Angel's Revenge" as the waitress, and Acid (Greydon Clark, the director of "Angel's Revenge")..
the biker movie pathos, by Al Adamson.
In order to get any enjoyment or entertainment, or just dumb-fun in a B-movie (if that) kind of way, like Satan's Sadists (not inappropriately released on DVD in some circles by Troma), is to take into context that it was, of course, the late 60's, and it remains in the sub-genre that is the biker-movie.
Maybe there were many (maybe mostly) good-hearted bikers like the ones in Easy Rider that wanted nothing more than to get stoned and ride their wheels without too much trouble.
For the most part, as with Satan's Sadists and many others, a biker gang with a cool sounding name goes into a town, bothers the habitants to a point of total suspense and shock, and the filmmaker may or may not try to dig a little under the surface, go beyond the expectations up to a point.One of the things that makes Satan's Sadists work, up to a point, is that producer/director Adamson usually doesn't mistake what it is that he's making.
A film like this, when it played (where and if of course being part in question), would just be used as fodder for make-out sections and beer contests for those in the cars at the drive-ins, just good enough to not make anyone start chucking things at the screen.
Adamson brings forth all the ideal elements- a gang of six (including the perennial grungy/sexy female) with attitude braced in their eyes and sunglasses, the older straight-laced couple, the good-looking younger couple, and plenty of room for tracking, driving shots of bikes.
The gang here of the title run into a cop and his wife, a waitress, another young guy and the owner of a small pit stop in the middle of the California desert.Basically, describing the plot would be moot; say enough that it is as much of a usual biker film as it is a revenge picture (and usually the two go one in the same with these movies).
To Adamson's credit, given a group of non-professional actors (or B/C/D movie actors) that are hit or miss (the bikers are all alright, as are the cop and his wife, but some of the other parts of the younger women are pretty bad), he tends to push some of the boundaries of what can be done within the framework of the structure.
We have an idea of what will go on, of course, after a crucial moment in the film, but there are little things, like when the bikes brake-down in the desert, or when other minor female characters are introduced all of a sudden in the desert, or the impromptu dance scene in the restaurant (though that is a staple in many of these flicks, a cool one at that).
It's when Adamson sometimes kids himself with what he's doing that it steers away, like a little mini-speech given by the groups leader about 'the man' versus the 'love' generation before a certain murder takes place.
And the music, while with a cool opening number, is draining aside from an interesting drum solo here and there.I wouldn't say to start with Satan's Sadists if you're just starting to get into these kinds of films, as it is relatively hard to find and Adamson, while not without his cult fan-base, was unknown to me before seeing the film and really does nothing more than make your standard genre movie.
But at least in Adamson there is a little experimentation and touches of daring in his style; little insert close-ups and zooms/pans are interesting, and at times a certain zaniness tries to work its way into the steady shots.
If a biker picture, in all of its likely exploitive tendencies and cardboard psychology, is more about attitude and using what is there within the limitations, Satan's Sadists is not bad, though not great..
SATAN'S SADISTS has to come down in history as THE Al Adamson masterpiece.
Take my word and forget this thing if you hate all the crappy biker movies of the past thirty years.
By the way, Clark did act before serving time as a successful director of drive-in filmfare including SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS, THE HI-RIDERS, and JOYSTICKS.
Die-hard biker film loonies will enjoy it.
Tamblyn plays the leader of a pack of Hell's Angel's who spread panic and bring death and destruction to the region.The prologue is particularly obnoxious : a scene of rape and the victim seems to appreciate bestiality.But the movie is outright reactionary: that long-haired youth is fatally dangerous ,but fortunately the clean cut kid,a former marine,is here to save the damsel in distress in miniskirt.THe hero utters this hilarious line :"in Vietnam,at least,I was paid when I killed someone".Russ Tamblyn sank really low :he's best remembered for " the last hunt" "west side story" and the extraordinary horror classic "the haunting" (1963).
Adamson has made a movie that defines exploitation.
Judged in its own genre (the no-budget drive in flick) this movie is absolutely one of the best.
** In spite of what another comment advised, I do prefer Adamson's cheesy horror pics to his action films.
There's more fun stuff to look at.However, as a biker film fan, I had to check out this joint.
It's pretty much bikers come to town, bikers menace and kill nice people, and everyone battles to the death until the only ones left standing are our hero and heroine, walking into the sunset.This was all filmed in the desert around Palm Springs (Adamson's home until his untimely passing), and frankly, the scenery is very boring and hard to look at.
That setting at least gives the bad guys a semi-interesting location and some chance to pick up objects and hit people with them.The last half of the movie involves our hero (ex-Marine from Vietnam)and heroine (plucky local waitress who wants a husband) running around these barren rocky desert canyons that all look the same, ducking into caves trying to avoid "Anchor" the head psycho biker (Russ Tamblyn) and his murderous cohorts.
(Isn't this the same place where EEGAH lived?) About the only interesting twist is Regina Carrol's "Thelma and Louise" impression.I guess you could look at this as some sort of allegory for the nation and its torments during the heinous late 1960's, bla, bla, bla, but I don't think so.
It's not even the best biker film..
SATAN'S SADISTS is a rather depraved film.
While it is much better than the usual Al Adamson film, this isn't saying much since in his other films he set the bar so low!
The reason I chose to watch such a bad film is that I am a bad film addict and have already seen about a dozen of Adamson's films.The film is about a group of seven bikers who drive around tormenting people.
And, amazingly, they're all pretty graphic.The Sadists all descend upon a café in the California desert and by the time they're through, most of the innocent people there are dead.
Two folks are able to escape and most of the film consists of the bikers trying to catch and kill them, as they were witnesses to some of the mayhem.
For example, having the biker chick (Regina Carroll--Adamson's wife) kill herself the way she did of the druggie biker shoot himself just seemed silly, though it did help to even the odds a bit.The film features occasionally bad acting (though some was good, I must admit), tons of sick violence and some of the worst camera work I've ever seen in a film.
As a result, no one other than Adamson can be blamed for the film's worst attribute.
There scenes should have been edited out or re-shot--not stuck in simply for economy's sake.Overall, it's a bad film that is, at times, exciting to watch.
A pleasingly nasty'n'scuzzy piece of low-grade biker trash from the always reliable Al Adamson.
A thoroughly despicable gang of cheerfully repugnant Harley hounds led by a deliciously hammy Russ Tamblyn kill old geezers Kent Taylor and Scott Brady.
Future schlock movie director Greydon ("Without Warning") Clark also scores with his offbeat turn as Acid, a doped out of his skull biker whose brain has become irrevocably addled due to the ingestion of far too many sunshine tablets.
Fellow future schlock movie director John "Bud" Cardos likewise impresses as Mohawk-sporting Native American biker Firewater.
While there a motorcycle gang called "Satan's Sadists" drive up and upon entering the café begin to give the few people there a hard time.
One thing leads to another and after eventually killing Charlie, Nora and the owner of the café outside the gas station, the psychotic leader of the gang who goes by the name of "Anchor" (Russ Tamblyn) returns to the café to finish off both Johnny and the waitress named "Tracy" (Jackie Taylor).
Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I thought this was one of the grittier films of this particular sub-genre with a good dose of raw violence and a late-60's atmosphere that blended in quite nicely.
Al Adamson's best film (though that's not saying very much)?.
Without meaning to, I've ended up watching a fair chunk of Al Adamson's film output.
"Satan's Sadists" seems to me to be the best of this bunch, probably because his style fits in better with drive- in biker films than some of the science fiction ("Brain Of Blood") and action oriented ("East of Watts") things he's tried.
As usual with Adamson, there's a great deal of filler as characters play "hide and seek" with each other across an empty landscape, and there are a large number of aggressive non-performances here.
But "Firewater" is pretty good - in fact, he's the most interesting thing in the movie.
And "Johnny" has a fairly predictable role, but the actor playing him is a good combination of he-man and sensitive guy.
Plusses: The rocky, dusty, open landscape works to the movie's advantage, and someone had the good sense to work some heavy "Ventures" style guitar themes with an Indian war dance motif into many desert scenes that would otherwise be much duller.
It was also kind of fun to see some familiar faces from other Adamson movies in the mix.
(Even if I hate a movie, I generally have sympathy for the actors in it, most of whom are just trying to earn a living.) 3 stars, but I'd watch this 10 more times before I'd watch "Brain of Blood" or "Girl In Gold Boots" again.