Unholy Rollers (1972)

You know what there isn’t enough of?  Movies about the sport of Roller Derby!  If you don’t know what Roller Derby then let me give it to you in a nutshell.  You have two teams of skaters that skate around a rink in a circle trying to score points by passing members of the other team.  While this is happening both teams are taking shots at the other teams players trying to knock them out.  Of course as you watch the movie you realize that much like “professional” wrestling there is a script and a plan.  That is until an angry young woman named Karen shows up and starts playing by her own rules.  In spite of being very popular with the fans (and therefore her boss) she irritates the other players by showboating and going off script.  Eventually this gets some one hurt and the rest of the players get their own revenge on her.  This is only made worse by her self-destructive behavior.

This movie starts off as a cheesy exploitive drive-in flick.  You have the Karen character being manhandled by her boss (literally), lots of female nudity, some off color remarks about gays, and of course a comedic creepy alcoholic doctor.  The coaches of the tow Roller Derby teams make for some really funny moments, especially the coach of the Avengers who we keep joining as she delivers the punch line to an off color joke.  Basically what you would expect from a cheesy drive-in movie.  But what I didn’t expect is the turn that the movie takes.  The character of Karen starts to spiral out of control and become self-destructive.  When other characters try and help her or reach out she basically tells them to go to hell.  When her friends and roommates leave, partly due to her behavior I think, she doesn’t have anyone to lean on.  In fact if you think about it right before her meltdown at the end of the movie she goes to see her mother.  It is almost like that was her attempt to connect with someone, and when that fails she is sort of locked into her fate. 

Of course I might be reading way too much into the movie.  Then again I think that even fans of the exploitation and drive-in scenes tend to overlook what are actually sometimes very serious and well made attempts at telling stories or developing characters.  Buried under the at times silly setting of the roller derby, goofy characters, and bad jokes is a thoughtful look at a woman that has some issues.  I also think that fans of Gator Bait (the other big Claudia Jennings movie) might be really surprised by her performance.  I found her convincing as Karen.  Don’t get me wrong I love Gator Bait, but I never would have thought she was capable of turning in a role like this.

Unholy Rollers is a surprisingly good movie that I can’t recommend more.  While not a perfect movie it is worth checking out. 

3 ½ out of 4  

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2010 John Shatzer