RunAngelRun

Run Angel Run! (1969)

Legendary genre actor William Smith stars in this late ‘60s biker movie as Angel, the man who dared to break ranks with his gang. As the movie opens we find out that Angel has sold his story to a news magazine for $10,000, sending him on the run from his former friends. Not only that but every other gang on the West Coast is looking for him too. So Angel and his girlfriend end up hiding out near a sheep farm where he befriends a local farmer and tries to live a straight life. But his old life finally catches up to him when the gang shows up for some payback.

Run Angel Run is a solid bit of biker cinema. It has everything that you would expect in one of these movies, a bar fight, lots of riding on the open road, scumbag bikers attacking women, and most importantly said scumbags getting what is coming to them in the end. This is all wrapped up in a neat little package that drags a bit in the middle, but is mostly entertaining. But as someone who has seen a lot of these movies I was surprised at what else the story has to offer. At the hear of this movie is a love story between Angel and his girl, Laurie. In spite of how gruff he can be and no matter how much he fights settling down the guy obviously cares about her. And while the movie never comes out and says it she seems to be the motivation for him to break with his old life and try starting a new one. This is really something different and is probably why I keep coming back to check it out over and over again.

I also wanted to mention something about William Smith’s performance. Like many other genre fans I’ve always just remembered him for all the cool drive-in flicks he did like Invasion of the Bee Girls, Black Samson, and Grave of the Vampire. Most of his roles were either as the bad guy or a butt-kicking hero. But Run Angel Run shows that the man could act. If you are a fan of Mr. Smith but haven’t seen this one you really need to. This might be his best performance, especially in a starring role.

Now I don’t want to scare any genre fans off with my talk of acting performances and a love story. Like I’ve already mentioned this one does deliver what you would expect. And there is a definite exploitation vibe when it comes to the assaults. Also the movie is definitely in the moment with some of the dialogue. There is a lot of talk about being free and plenty of "groovys" and "mans" dropped. But I just wanted to talk about why I think that Run Angel Run has a bit more going for it then many of the other flicks in the biker subgenre. I recommend that everyone check out this one.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer