In the subgenre of low-budget rape/revenge films, there are some winners (Ms. 45, I Spit on Your Grave and Thriller A Cruel Picture) and losers (Trip with the Teacher and The Last House on the Left).
Add Russ Meyer’s 1965 flick Motorpsycho to the W column.
A trio of murderous bikers roar through a small desert town, raping and nearly killing the wife of veterinarian Cory Maddox (played by Alex Rocco) while he’s out on call. Outside of town, the trio attack fiery Ruby Bonner (Haji) and her husband, killing him then shooting her, leaving her for dead.
Cory discovers Ruby and treats her wound. Filled with rage, the duo vow to take down the bikers once and for all, setting off on a vengeful pursuit through the desert.
1965 saw the debut of New Hollywood, a period that would run until the early 1980s. This was the death knell for the big studios as audiences wanted more violence, more realism and more intensity in their films. Grand lavish Technicolor musicals like Doctor Doolittle just weren’t cutting it any more.
It was a perfect time for director Russ Meyer, who’d honed his craft making newsreels in battle-scarred Europe during World War 2. Now he could make the films he wanted. The budgets may have been small, but everything else in his films was big.
Motorpsycho has all the usual elements of a Meyer film: women with huge bosoms wearing tops so tight that they look to be one second from popping off, histrionic acting and hair-trigger violence.
There’s no shortage of beautiful women in Motorpsycho, especially actress Haji, who I STILL feel is one of the sexiest actresses ever to grace a screen. The actress was 5’9” tall but on screen she’s practically Amazonian, fierce, tough as nails and looking 7 feet tall. In Meyer’s next film, Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, she’s equally formidable, nearly stealing the film from force of nature Tura Satana.
Alex Rocco (less than a decade before he plays the legendary Moe Green in The Godfather) plays a surprisingly “aw shucks” character here in Cory. It’s kind of startling seeing him play a simple country doctor after watching him in worldly gangster roles throughout the years. He and Haji make a great pair, his calm calculating nature a great counterpoint to her wildcat “take no prisoners” savagery and fiery temper.
It’s not all seething rage and violence though. The two open up to each other in a couple quiet moments during the film and dare I say it? It’s terribly sweet and lovely and that’s something I thought I’d never say about a Russ Meyer film. Even more remarkably, the two never veer into schmaltzy romanticism. Cory’s dedicated to his wife and Ruby pretty much hates most men, so even though there’s some sexual tension between them, they stay focused on revenge and kick romance to the wind. I appreciated that.
My one problem with the film are the trio of biker thugs. They’re incredibly one-dimensional, even for a Russ Meyer film, leering and lunging at the camera but never really feeling that intimidating. They reminded me of a darker version of the standard henchmen appearing in the 60’s Adam West “Batman” show. If not for the fact that they’re murderers, these guys could have been laughing it up with Cesar Romero’s Joker.
Aside from that, I love the film. It’s definitely in my top 3 Russ Meyer films and one I’ll be rewatching many times in the future.
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