Here's what the creatures had to say:
KillDozer - "One of the greatest and most entertaining intros to a modern throw back ever! With that being said it then went straight downhill from there and I do mean straight down to a boring torturous hell where even the goriest kill could not bring my smile or interest back. It felt as though the gore and vulgarity was thrown at us a mile a minute to try and cover the fact that this film was made up of no less than 10 sub plots and no actual main plot to speak of. The acting was grindhouse, the banter was pure redneck gold full of over the top misogynistic fun that still was unable to make anyone in the screening give out a guilty laugh. All in all I feel like this was wasted talent. One star for making the film and one for some fun practical gore moments." - 2 Stars (not collection worthy)
The Ascendant - "James Bickert's (Crowd-Funded) sequel to his 2011 film, Dear God No!, is (mostly) 125-minutes of disappointment. Frankenstein Created Bikers (2016) has all the pieces for a fun Throwback (Exploitation) film, ranging from werewolves, (undead) bikers and bounty hunters to excessive nudity and gore. It also has the advantage of both a solid returning cast (Jett Bryant & Madeline Brumby) and the additions of genre darlings such as Tristan Risk (American Mary, The Editor), Laurence R. Harvey (The Human Centipede 2 & 3) and Ellie Church (Time To Kill, Headless). With all of those pieces behind writer/director James Bickert, why wasn't this a walk-in-the-park? Well, there are a myriad of fundamental & technical issues, all of which fall on the lap of Bickert himself. Scenes in the film feel overtly strange, not because of their content but because of how they appear and transition. As viewers, we are constantly placed in settings without any sort of context, such as establishing shots or shots where our characters are physically traveling to these locations (shouldn't there be more Choppers in this film?). Characters are constantly appearing suddenly, spouting their (stiff) lines and then casually moving onto the next scene. These lack of fundamental transitions make the film's flow confusing and rob its overall sense of urgency. In that lies the film's other glaring issue, which is that the pieces of this film are much greater than the whole. In Frankenstein Created Bikers' (2016) 125-minute run-time, you'll find quite a few scenes for a kinetic, gory and offensive 2-minute Trailer but not for a (full) coherent film. It almost feels like Bickert's goal was simply to shoot enough to make an interesting trailer as well as accompanying (Photo) stills and in that he succeeded. Actress Tristan Risk (Val) is the only person on set that seems to be having any sort of fun with her character, constantly chewing scenery, not only with her dialogue but with her physicality as well. The other characters in the film (including the returning cast) are written so thinly by Bickert, that they constantly struggle with character inspiration and dialogue. I wasn't expecting Bickert to write Citizen Kane but I wasn't expecting him to be so unsuccessful with caricatures either. Strangely enough, Dear God No! (2011) comes off as Bickert's stronger film and his bigger yet more confusing sequel, is a bit of a dud." - 2 Stars
Dabbles - "I honestly was really into this movie up until the final 45 minutes. The length killed my buzz and I'm usually all about weird movies with odd dialogue but this one just tried to do too much. (***Added after***) Unlike Science Team, this one felt more cluttered as far as placement of lines and pacing. It almost made this misdirection montage that confused the hell out of what to root for. I also almost fell asleep. As for the movie's pros, it's full of humor, visual effects, and good confusion." - 3 Stars
Trash - "Frankenstein Created Bikers was an interesting project, crowdfunded to afford a production on 35mm, and then taken on a roadshow to project the negative. Sadly, the movie doesn't live up to the concept. After a gory and frenetic opening that promises we are about to have a great time, Frankenstein Created Bikers gets completely sedate, medium shots with its characters talking and talking and little else happening. It's hard to get a grip on where anything is happening, because there's no effort put in to show us the locations and the layout. The most punishing part is its written in the voice of someone who must fancy themselves a redneck Shakespeare but sounds more like idiotic blathering that's impossible to retain. The only person who seems to land the hammy tone of the movie is Tristan Risk, whose final scene caused the room to point at me and declare "Oh look, it's Trash!" due to her man-hating insanity. But the most frustrating part is there's a lot of good hidden in there, but the bulky 125 minute run time makes it painful to get through. If you can make an awesome 80 minute Troma movie, make an 80 minute Troma movie! What is this?!?" - 1.5 Stars
Lord Battle - "Retro grindhouse films have created a strange sub-genre, taking plots that are as deep as a trailer is long, and attempting to stretch them into a feature film. Now don't get me wrong these movies can work, Wolf Cop (79min), Headless (85min), and Turbo Kid (95min) are some of my favorites, each with their own simple premise stretched to around 90 minutes. Around the middle of act 2 (75min mark?) the creatures that were in attendance started to either fall in and out of sleep or become vocal about their disappointment in where Frankenstein Created Bikers (125min) direction had gone, which was insane since everyone loved the intro! The film was just waaaay too long and "All killer, no filler" doesn't mean you remove establishing shots, transition shots, and most B-roll. In the end this was a tough review to write since every actor in this film is a strong talent in the indie horror scene and its a shame the film was hurt so badly by one guy dropping the ball." - 2 Stars
Math Mage - "I love Frankenstein as a concept so I had high hopes, but most Frankenstein movies are garbage so I was prepared for disappointment. Or so I thought. This boring, repetitive, directionless mess contained 800% "Cleaver" dialogue and is peopled with interesting characters and a squandered premise. How do you fuck up zombie bikers Bigfoot hunters? This is how." - 2 Stars
Huntress - "From the very beginning, Frankenstein Created Bikers had a lot going on. Waves of new characters seemed to be introduced with every new scene and I got the impression I should already know who they were. Early into the film I was sure that seeing Dear God No beforehand would have clarified things for me. But by the end I had some doubts. This is not a movie to discount entirely; the effects were practical and looked great (there was no skimping out on blood and dismemberment!) but I could have done with less quarky dialogue. It felt out of place and character for these undead bikers." - 3 Stars
The Overlook Theatre Final Rating*
(Below is for after you've seen the film)
Originally this wrap up was going to be about other grindhouse films that featured biker gangs going up against other supernatural creatures. Thing is, other than Bigfoot (1970) which only sort of counts, there isn't very much variety, just a than a plethora of bikers vs zombie films. I just have no interest in sharing more zombie films. Thankfully Trash suggested we share a little insight into the world of Bosozoku girl gangs.
Bōsōzoku
The word bōsōzoku is also applied to motorcycle subculture with an interest in motorcycle customizing, often illegal, and making noise by removing the mufflers on their vehicles so that more noise is produced. These bōsōzoku groups sometimes ride without motorcycle helmets (which in Japan is illegal), also engage in dangerous or reckless driving, such as weaving in traffic, and running red lights. Another activity is speeding in city streets, not usually for street racing but more for thrills. With many bikes involved, the leading one is driven by the leader, who is responsible for the event and is not allowed to be overtaken. Japanese police call them Maru-Sō (police code マル走 or 丸走) and occasionally dispatch police vehicles to trail the groups of bikes for the reason of preventing possible incidents, which may include: riding very slowly through suburbs at speeds of 5–10 mph, creating a loud disturbance while waving imperial Japanese flags, and starting fights that may include weapons (such as wooden swords, metal pipes, baseball bats and Molotov cocktails). These bōsōzoku gangs are generally composed of people under the legal adult age, which in Japan is 20 years old.
Furyô banchô: Inoshika Ochô (Delinquent Boss) a bosozoku series, ran from 1968 to 1972 and spanned 16 films. Alleycat Rock: Female Boss came out in 1970 and was included in the series but depicted a female run gang, inspired by Roger Corman's The Wild Angels which was released in 1966.
(Alleycat Rock: Female Boss)
Now I haven't seen these films but I can only assume that they created a subculture of tough women that drive around flashy and angry, kinda like the opening of Akira. So we can learn about incredible subculture together, I've attached a half-hour doc Vice did on these women a couple years ago.
(Bosozoku Girl Gang member)
The Overlook Theatre materialized in a residence for a screening on 3/30/2017
*Based on the star ratings turned in by character reviewers, others viewed and got to "Dislike" or "Like" but that does not affect the rating.
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