A George A. Romero movie starring both Ed Harris and Tom Savini as medieval bikers? That's a pretty obscure sounding movie and I also hadn't even heard of this movie before. It's also definitely a bit of an offbeat movie, though unfortunately it's not really as fun or interesting as it all sounds though.

This actually is the first movie that George A. Romero made after his hit movie "Dawn of the Dead", which seems like a pretty odd choice. I mean, going from zombies to medieval bikers seems like a pretty unusual, though certainly original step. It also wasn't quite as successful as his previous movie though, so he soon returned to the world of horror and zombies after doing this one.

The movie itself...well, it exists. I mean, it's certainly one you can easily do without. It doesn't offer enough of anything. Not enough entertainment, not enough excitement and not enough story, which seems like an odd thing for a 145 minutes long movie. So what was supposed to be the big 'conflict' in this movie? Ed Harris his character's struggles to keep the troop together and their way of life going? It really isn't ever all that interesting or engaging.

Perhaps it's true that I simply was expecting something differently from this movie. Something more adventurous, something more fun, something more action-filled or something more 'silly' perhaps. The movie feels a bit too serious for its concept, without ever featuring any deep or thought provoking themes in it.

It's still good enough to watch though, which mainly is due to its original and unusual concept. Seeing bikers dressed up as medieval knights, performing at their own renaissance fair, jousting at each other is a pretty unique sight, to say the very least. Especially when their leader and 'king' is being played by Ed Harris, in an early role for him, alongside some Romero regulars such as Ken Foree and Tom Savini. It also features some pretty good stunt work and nice comedy in it, just never enough of any of it.

All in all a still perfectly watchable little movie, though it's nothing too special, fun or thrilling to watch, in my opinion.

6/10

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This is a pretty decent early slasher, that's not a particularly well made movie but an enjoyable enough one for the fans of the genre.

It's a very cheap looking- and therefor also kind of trashy movie. Yet, this at the same time gives the movie a eerie type of feeling to it. With its atmosphere, this movie actually feels more like a '70's productions, rather than one from the '80's. And who knows. Maybe this movie was indeed shot in the '70's but not released until a couple of years later. You just never know with these obscure, little, cheap genre flicks.

But perhaps it's simply true that this movie feels like a good 'old fashioned' slasher flick because it got directed by an Italian, who pretty much invented and perfected the slasher genre further, during the '70's. And indeed, this movie truly has an 'Italian vibe' to it as well, with some of its shots, killings and use of blood and gore. It really goes over-the-top with its blood and gore at times but that's all part of the reason why these movies are often so much fun.

And I had a pretty good time with this movie as well but I still can't call at a very good one too. It's a bit too messy and simplistic for that. It's too random at times and not everything feels connected to each other. The first half of the movie is for instance totally different from the second half, that also features mostly different characters in it and is taking a different approach to the story. Normally these movies tend to get worse as they go along but in this case, the movie is actually getting better and better, as it's heading toward its ending.

The movie is mainly a slasher but it's being a whole of different other things as well. There are all different types of horror to be found in this movie, which also does add to the messy and random feeling of it but also still works out well for the movie at times. There are some genuinely good and well build up horror moments in this movie, especially when it's still being a mysterious one and one that focuses purely on its psychotic killer.

Not a great movie by any means but still a good and 'interesting' one for the slasher lovers out there and those who enjoy trashy, cheap looking genre movies from the '80's, done Italian style.

6/10

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It's an original enough movie but certainly not the best werewolf movie I have ever seen.

Well, this movie isn't doing an awful lot wrong but at the same time it still gives you the feeling it could have been a whole lot better. Perhaps the movie was too much focused on doing something new with werewolves and tried to be original with its concept, only to forget about its actual story.

There were some things I was really liking about the movie its story though. Thing I for instance really liked about it was how it slowly transformed from a normal and very typical serial killer type of horror/thriller into a more classic monster movie type of horror. I don't think I'm spoiling much by saying that at some point werewolves start to show up in this movie. After all, just look at the movie its cover and read its title...spoils everything from the get go. I definitely would have preferred not knowing at all what this movie was all about. This would have enhanced the movie its tension, mystery and horror significantly!

It was obvious to me that director Joe Dante must have really liked the werewolf movies from the '40's (perhaps that's also why John Carradine is in it?) and also used it as an inspiration for this movie. There are numerous references to it throughout and it tries to mimic some of its atmosphere, story beats and characters, which shouldn't be a big surprise, seeing how between the '40's and 1981, when this movie got done, not an awful lot of big or popular werewolf movies got made, so he didn't have much else to go by. As a matter of fact, it wasn't until this movie that the sub genre started to become popular again and more werewolf movies started to emerge, not long after this movie became an unexpected hit.

Thing I didn't like that much about its story was how it felt a little bit underdeveloped at times. The movie seemed to have plenty of ideas in it, that too often, don't amount to anything. Some potentially interesting side-plots were going absolutely nowhere and also got abandoned after a short while. I for instance would have loved the movie to focus some more on the Patrick Macnee character, who seemed like a pretty interesting one but hardly got used in the movie.

It's a flat out horror and monster movie but the movie at the same time still attempts to give the movie a sense of realism. At times it got in the way of the movie its horror and it just wasn't always working for me. I certainly liked the movie best when it was going all out with its horror and werewolf moments! This not in the least was due to the werewolves' impressive looks. The effects and makeup used in this movie, done by Rob Bottin and Rick Baker, looked absolutely fantastic. The transformation scenes were pretty impressive as well, especially when considering this is an '80's movie, that only had a very small budget to spend.

It's not entirely without humor but for most part this is a very 'serious' and straightforward, dark, horror movie by Joe Dante. A bit surprising perhaps, since he's better known for doing lighter type of movies. Even his other horror movies are much lighter ones, such as the original 1978 "Piranha" and the two much loved Gremlins movies. So know what to expect- or more importantly, not to except from this movie!

I liked watching this movie, mostly because it was an original and effective one within its genre but it's certainly not as great as it potentially could have been!

7/10

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