''Motorpsycho'' or ''Motor Psycho'' is a 1965 film by Russ Meyer. Made just before Meyer's better-known '' Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'' (1965), the film explores similar themes of sex and violence, but focuses on a male motorcycle gang, unlike the female gang of

go-go dancers Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at nightclubs or other venues where music is played. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s at the French bar Whisky a Gogo located in Juan-les-Pins. The bar's name was taken ...

featured in ''Faster, Pussycat!''. ''Motorpsycho'' is also notable for containing one of the first portrayals of a disturbed Vietnam veteran character in film.

Plot

The story involves a veterinarian whose wife is raped by a motorcycle gang led by a sadistic Vietnam veteran. After the gang kills an old man, his wife teams up with the veterinarian to hunt down the gang.

Cast

* Haji as Ruby Bonner *

Alex Rocco Alex Rocco (born Alessandro Federico Petricone Jr.; February 29, 1936 – July 18, 2015) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive, gravelly voice, he was often cast as villains, including Moe Greene in ''The Godfather'' (1972) and his Pr ...

as Cory Maddox *Stephen Oliver as Brahmin *Holle K. Winters as Gail Maddox *Joseph Cellini as Dante *Thomas Scott as Slick *

Coleman Francis Coleman Chambers Francis (January 24, 1919 – January 15, 1973) was an American actor, writer, producer and director. He was best known for his film trilogy consisting of ''The Beast of Yucca Flats'' (1961), ''The Skydivers'' (1963) and ''R ...

as Harry Bonner *Sharon Lee as Jessica Fannin *Steve Masters as Frank *Arshalouis Aivazian as Wife *E. E. Meyer as Sheriff *George Costello as Doctor

Production

Russ Meyer was having trouble with the censor board because of his films so decided to make a more action oriented movie. The working title of the film was ''Rio Vengeance''. Haji was a dancer at a nightclub when she heard about auditions for one film. Meyer cast her in one role but liked her so much he promoted her to one of the leads. She later recalled:

Russ worked with a five-man crew, and he took us all into the desert with snakes, lizards, and all kinds of danger. He thought if you were a guy, you could live in a tent out in the desert, but the ladies he treated better. We lived in a trailer. When you shoot in the desert, you come back with dirt in your eyelashes and hair. Our shower was a big barrel with a cork in it, set up on four sticks. You pulled the cork out, got wet, stuck the cork back in, soaped up, pulled the cork back out, rinsed off, and that was it!

Two actors were injured while filming a scene involving motorbikes and wound up in hospital.

Reception

According to Meyer, the film went "through the roof ommercially So I said, `Well, let's do one with three bad girls'." This led to ''

Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! ''Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'' is a 1965 American exploitation film directed by Russ Meyer and co-written by Meyer and Jack Moran. It follows three go-go dancers who embark on a spree of kidnapping and murder in the California desert. The fil ...

''. The '' Los Angeles Times'' said it and ''Faster Pussycat'' "pack as much sex and violence as possible on the screen without bringing in the police. In fact, they're so ludicrously erotic and sadistic they can be taken as parodies of the entire genre of exploitation pictures."Sadism Rampant in Double Bill Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times 11 Mar 1966: c11.

Legacy

Norwegian band

Motorpsycho Motorpsycho may refer to: * Motorpsycho (band), a Norwegian rock band * ''Motorpsycho'' (film), a 1965 film by Russ Meyer * ''Motorpsycho Presents The International Tussler Society'', a 2004 album by The International Tussler Society * "Motorpsych ...

picked their name after watching this movie in a Russ Meyer triple feature. There was already a band named after ''Mudhoney'' and a band named after ''Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'' – the other two films on the triple feature – so they used "Motorpsycho". There are references to ''Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'' in the song "Thunder Kiss '65" by White Zombie. The song also uses the phrase "motorpsycho", a popular pun on the word motorcycle that predates the movie ( Peter Phillips' 1961/62 painting "Motorpsycho/Tiger" being one notable example).

References

External links

* *
''Motorpsycho''
at TCMDB
''Motorpsycho''
at Letterboxd {{Russ Meyer 1965 films Outlaw biker films Films directed by Russ Meyer American rape and revenge films Films with screenplays by Russ Meyer 1960s action films Films scored by Paul Sawtell 1960s English-language films 1960s American films