Biker Movie Review – The Mini-Skirt Mob
This month Born To Ride reviews the Mini-Skirt Mob, another in a series of horrible old biker films for your entertainment. In some cases “the older the more horrible” comes to mind when dealing with these movies. This one was produced in 1968, and rates right (down) there with the best of the worst!
The plot bears more than a few similarities to Satan’s Sadists (which I have previously reviewed for BTR). In this case, it’s Shayne, the psychotic female leader of The “Mini Skirts” played by Diane McBain and her hair-do, stalking the innocent young couple along with her ‘gang’ members. It seems that “Jeff” the man she’s after used to be “her guy,” but he got wise, dumped his rodeo/biker buddies and married some hot brunette girl from the local bank. This in my opinion was a weird mix. The connection involving ‘biker’ girls and rodeo guys never seemed to materialize. It looked more like a ‘hippie’ flick than a poorly made biker film. Anyway, here’s my best shot at explaining the plot. … Just as Jeff, was preparing apply the pork to his new bride “Connie” all his old pals and the “Mini-Skirts” arrive at his camper trailer to party. This of course leads to a major fistfight, where Jeff and his new bride suffer the worst of the melee. Later Shayne the maniacal jilted blonde (and her hair-do) convinces the other ne’er-do-wells to hang around with her, and continue to torture Jeff and Connie. As they chase them up a mountain road Jeff swerves and runs “LG” off the road crashing his motorcycle into a deep chasm. They return to find him dead, and decide to leave, but some boy scouts see all the action. The cops come later, and haul LG off. (You don’t see too much of the cops in this one oddly. …) Later on, the gang finds Jeff and Connie camped out, and a couple of the guys rough Connie up while Jeff is out walking around. More psycho-babble from Shayne leads the gang to keep the couple trapped in the trailer with a rifle. That only works for a while, as Jeff tries to rig something up with the propane bottle, and the stove in the camper. As usual in these films one of the members turns on the other. In this case it’s Shayne’s sister, who wants to release Jeff and his bride and return to town. She knocks one of the rodeo rednecks out, and hatches a plan with Jeff and Connie. As she dons Connie’s clothes, the couple escapes while she fires at the gang from inside the trailer. The gang retaliates with Molotov cocktails, leading to one of the ubiquitous gags where a stunt man wears a fire suit and runs around the desert while flaming away. Anyhow, I’m not sure where the beer (or the empty bottles) originally came from, but the blast from the exploding propane kills Shayne’s sister. In the end two of the gang chase Jeff and Connie through the desert, and Shayne’s motorcycle slips on the edge of a ravine and crashes down several hundred feet. Shayne is holding on to the edge for dear life and begs Connie to save her. Connie grasps Shayne’s hand but well you know … she kinda lets go as Jeff approaches, and the couple watches as Shayne tumbles to her death.
As typical in these old reels, most of the actors were totally unconvincing. I found myself thinking- these aren’t real bikers or rodeo dudes! These are simply bourgeois B-movie Hollywood types earning a living at ruining their future careers. I think that during most of the viewings however. Biker exploitation? No. Waste of good Mylar? Probably. You watch it and decide for yourself.
I can only recommend this piece if you have a burning desire to see hot Sixties chicks in mini-skirts, go-go boots and huge hair. I did like the old Honda and Triumph motorcycles, and of course since there was Budweiser, (still not sure where it came from) it got one star. It runs 82 minutes, is available on DVD from MGM’s ‘Midnight Movies’ series, and I can only (in my right mind) give it 2 stars because there was a glaring lack of nudity. (The second star appears because I LOVE cat-fights!) So grab a Bud and some popcorn, and we’ll see ya next month!
The Phantom Movie Review
Do you have a favorite Biker Movie we don’t have? Let us know: info@borntoride.com