Angels Hard as They Come

Angels Hard as They Come is a 1971 biker film directed by Joe Viola and starring Scott Glenn, Charles Dierkop, Gilda Texter, James Iglehart, and Gary Busey. It was co-written and produced by Jonathan Demme.^[4]

Angels Hard as They Come
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Joe Viola
Screenplay by	Jonathan Demme Joe Viola
Produced by	Jonathan Demme
Starring	Scott Glenn Charles Dierkop James Iglehart Gilda Texter Gary Busey
Cinematography	Stephen M. Katz
Music by	Richard Hieronymus
Production company	New World Pictures
Distributed by	New World Pictures
Release date	1971 (1971)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$180,000[1] or $125,000[2]
Box office	$2 million[3]

Plot

Long John, Juicer, and Monk are members of a motorcycle gang, The Angels. When one of their drug deals is cancelled, members of another motorcycle gang, The Dragons, invite them to the ghost town of Lost Cause, where some hippies have started a commune. General, leader of the Dragons, challenges Long John to a race and loses. Long John then meets the hippie Astrid, to whom he is attracted. She says their leaders, Vicki and Henry, are unhappy with the Dragons.

That night, several drunk Dragons attempt to gang-rape Astrid. The Angels intervene, and one of the Dragons stabs Astrid to death. The Dragons blame Long John, accusing him of trying to kill General. The next day, the Dragons tie up the Angels and attempt to kill them. Long John frees Monk, who escapes. Monk runs out of gas in the desert, is chased by a racist on a dune buggy, and eventually steals a camper.

The hippies drug the Dragons' food and help Long John and Juicer escape. Monk finally reaches the home of Cloud, the drug dealer whom the Angels were to have met at the film's start. The remainder of the Angels are at Cloud's, and they follow Monk back to Lost Cause. In the morning, General ties Vicki to a pole and threatens to burn her alive if the hippies don't turn over Long John and Juicer. Henry attempts to kill General with a knife. General takes it from him and realizes the knife belongs to a fellow Dragon, Axe. General now realizes Axe tried to kill him during the rape of Astrid, and kills Axe.

The Angels finally arrive in town, kill all the Dragons, and rescue Long John and Juicer. Everyone leaves town, the bikers and hippies going their separate ways.

Cast

• Scott Glenn as John "Long John"
• Charles Dierkop as General
• James Iglehart as Monk
• Gilda Texter as Astrid
• Gary Busey as Henry
• Gary Littlejohn as "Axe"
• Don Carerra as "Juicer"
• Janet Wood as Vicki
• Brendan Kelly as "Brain"

Production

Jonathan Demme met Roger Corman while doing publicity on Von Richthofen and Brown. The producer was impressed by publicity material Demme had written and asked if he was interested in writing a motorcycle movie. Demme pitched the idea of a motorcycle version of Rashomon and wrote it with Joe Viola, who directed TV commercials Demme had produced.^[2] Jack Fisk was the art director.

Reception

The film was very successful with Corman saying it earned rentals of over $700,000 and returning a profit of 46% within the first year.^[3]

See also

• List of American films of 1971