Outlaw biker clubs formed in the late 1940s on the
West Coast after the end of
World War II. Their culture was first popularized in the
Marlon Brando film
The Wild One (1953), which tells a story based very loosely on actual events, the 1947
Hollister riot. The film's success was followed by a string of low-budget
exploitation films aimed at a teenage audience such as
Motorcycle Gang (1957) and
The Hot Angel (1958). But the genre really took off in the mid-1960s, after the
Hells Angels motorcycle club became prominent in the media, in particular, after
Hunter S. Thompson's book ''
Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs'' (1966) was published.
Films of the 1960s In 1965, director
Russ Meyer made
Motorpsycho (aka
Motor Psycho), an obscure film about an evil motorcycle gang led by a disturbed Vietnam War veteran. In 1966,
American International Pictures (AIP) released
The Wild Angels with
Peter Fonda,
Bruce Dern, and
Nancy Sinatra. This film, aimed at the teenage drive-in crowd, was a surprise hit and a new
exploitation film subgenre was born. AIP dominated the market and quickly released a semi-sequel ''
Devil's Angels starring actor-director John Cassavetes and The Glory Stompers'' with
Dennis Hopper in 1967. In 1968, AIP produced
The Mini-Skirt Mob,
Angels from Hell, and
The Savage Seven (the film debut of actress/director
Penny Marshall). The company made five more biker gang films: ''
Hell's Belles (1969), Hell's Angels '69 (1969), Angel Unchained (1970), The Hard Ride (1971), and Chrome and Hot Leather'' (1971). AIP and Fanfare Films also co-produced
The Born Losers (1967). Fanfare made
Hells Angels on Wheels (1967) with
Jack Nicholson,
Run, Angel, Run! (1969),
Wild Wheels (1969), and ''
Nam's Angels'' (1970). Other small independent filmmakers went on to produce dozens of low-budget biker films until the trend dissipated in the early '70s. Crown International produced and/or distributed
Wild Rebels (1967),
The Hellcats (1968),
The Sidehackers (1969),
Wild Riders (1971), and
Pink Angels (1972). Independent-International Pictures Corp. produced three films in this genre directed by
Al Adamson – ''
Satan's Sadists (1969), Hell's Bloody Devils (1970), and Angels' Wild Women'' (1972).
The Rebel Rousers (filmed 1967, released 1970) featured Jack Nicholson,
Bruce Dern, and
Harry Dean Stanton. Dern also starred as a sadistic gang leader in
The Cycle Savages (1970). In 1969, Peter Fonda, Hopper, and Nicholson teamed up on the classic "hippie biker" movie,
Easy Rider, the antithesis of the violent biker-gang genre.
Sonny Barger, founder of the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angels, was a consultant on several films. He and other gang members appeared as extras in
Hells Angels on Wheels and ''Hell's Angels '69
. The Hells Angels appeared as extras playing a gang called the Las Vegas Hotdoggers in the Roger Corman film Naked Angels'' (1969) starring
Michael Greene.
The Born Losers The Born Losers (1967) introduced
Tom Laughlin's character Billy Jack. Unable to get his
Billy Jack script produced, Laughlin wrote and directed
The Born Losers to capitalize on the current biker movie trend (which finally allowed him to make
Billy Jack in 1971). The story was inspired by news reports of the Hells Angels terrorizing a California community. As a cost-saving measure, a stunt scene of a motorcycle crashing into a pond was taken from co-producer AIP's comedy
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966).
The Born Losers is also significant for its social criticism and portrayal of the biker gang as a force of pure, unredeemable evil. Here, for the first time, a lone hero stands up to, and ultimately defeats, the gang. Prior to this, the majority of the films in this genre imitated
The Wild One with a sympathetic gang member (the reluctant leader or a new member) who ultimately rejects the outlaw biker lifestyle. Prime examples are the Fonda character in
The Wild Angels, Jack Nicholson in
Hells Angels on Wheels (1967), and
Joe Namath in
C.C. and Company (1970).
Jack Starrett has the role of a tough-talking police officer. He played essentially the same character in
Hells Angels on Wheels and
Angels from Hell (1968). Starrett was also in ''Hell's Bloody Devils
(1970), and directed Run, Angel, Run (1969) . In Nam's Angels'' (1970) the bikers are portrayed as patriotic heroes sent on a rescue mission to Vietnam.
Novelty biker films A number of novelty films were made featuring all-female biker gangs such as
The Hellcats aka
Biker Babes (1967),
She-Devils on Wheels (1968),
The Mini-Skirt Mob (from AIP) with
Sherry Jackson and
Harry Dean Stanton (1968),
Sisters in Leather (1969) with Pat Barrington, ''
Angels' Wild Women (1972), Cycle Vixens
(1978), and Chrome Angels'' (2009).
The Pink Angels (1971) is a somewhat campy film about a gang of homosexual bikers who head down the coast to attend a drag ball.
Bury Me an Angel (1972) is a revenge story featuring a female biker (and female director). ''
Angels' Wild Women (1972) centers around a group of tough female bikers who dominate men and eventually go a revenge-driven rampage. The story (and original Screaming Angels'' title) was changed after the producers found theaters were no longer interested in traditional biker films. Inspired by the popularity of
Roger Corman's
The Big Doll House (1971), a violent
women in prison film with
Pam Grier, new scenes were added featuring aggressive female bikers and a Pam Grier lookalike was added to the cast. The reworked and retitled film was a box office success. In
Japan, female biker films became popular starting with
Alleycat Rock: Female Boss (a.k.a.
Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss or
Female Juvenile Delinquent Leader: Alleycat Rock or
Wildcat Rock) (1970). This trend was part of the
sukeban (delinquent girl) subgenre of
Toei's "Pinky violence" style of
Pink film. The series continued with
Stray Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo,
Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter,
Stray Cat Rock: Machine Animal and ''Alleycat Rock: Crazy Riders '71
. Another similar series of exploitation films with female bikers includes Delinquent Girl Boss: Ballad of the Yokohama Hoods (1971), Girl Boss: Queen Bee Strikes Again (a.k.a. Girl Boss Blues: Queen Bee’s Counterattack
) (1971), and Girl Boss Guerilla'' (1972).
The 1970s to the present In 1970,
Roger Corman left AIP to form
New World Pictures which released
Angels Die Hard (1970),
Angels Hard as They Come (1971), and
Bury Me an Angel (1971). As the trend began to lose momentum, filmmakers started to create horror hybrids such as
Werewolves on Wheels (1971) and
Blood Freak (1972). The British horror film
Psychomania (1973) involves a biker gang that makes a pact with the devil to obtain immortality. Black motorcycle gangs appeared in a few
blaxploitation films such as
The Black Angels (1970) and
The Black Six (1974). The biker gang ethos also featured strongly in the famed low budget Australian production
Mad Max (1979, dir. George Miller, starring Mel Gibson), with the film spawning the real-life subculture of
survival bikes. By the late 1980s, the once shocking and controversial genre became an object of campy humor in horror-comedies such as
Chopper Chicks in Zombietown (1989),
I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle (1990), and
Biker Zombies (2001).
Beyond the Law (1992) is based on a true story and centers on Dan Saxon (
Charlie Sheen), an undercover cop who infiltrates a group of criminal outlaw bikers.
Larry Ferguson wrote the screenplay after reading the article "Undercover Angel" by
Lawrence Linderman in the July, 1981 issue of Playboy on an undercover agent named Dan Black. 2000 film
Hochelaga, a French-Canadian movie by
Michel Jetté that depicts biker gang culture and activity in
Montréal,
Québec during the
Québec Biker War of the late 90s and early 2000s. 2003 film
Biker Boyz, starring
Laurence Fishburne and
Djimon Hounsou, depicts illegal bike racing gangs, although neither are criminals. 2004 film
Torque, which features
Adam Scott,
Martin Henderson and
Ice Cube, is about a biker who is faced by a rival gang leader for taking his bikes (which carry drugs), and is then framed for the murder of a member of a third gang.
Quentin Tarantino served as executive producer on
Hell Ride (2008) starring Dennis Hopper and Michael Madsen. This is an homage to the motorcycle gang films of the past. It was written and directed by
Larry Bishop, who acted in a number of biker films such as
The Savage Seven (1968). Tarantino is a noted fan of the
Australian biker movie,
Stone (1974).
Sons of Anarchy (2008–2014) is an American
television drama series about a California motorcycle club. The series premiered on September 3, 2008, on
cable network FX. The documentary
Biker Mania (2009) includes a compilation of theater trailers and footage that tracks the history of the genre from the 1950s to the present.
Edward Winterhalder is the subject of a feature-length documentary movie about the outlaw biker lifestyle that is being filmed in Dubai and the US.
Mayans M.C. (2018–2023) is an American television drama series that takes place in the same fictional universe as
Sons of Anarchy and focuses on the Sons' rivals-turned-allies, the Mayans Motorcycle Club.
The Bikeriders (2023) film is inspired by the
photo-book of the same name by
Danny Lyon, depicting the Vandals Motorcycle Club in the 1960s-70s, a fictional version of the
Outlaws Motorcycle Club. ==Cultural references and parodies==