| Angels Hard as They Come | |
| Director: | Joe Viola |
| Screenplay: | Jonathan Demme Joe Viola |
| Producer: | Jonathan Demme |
| Starring: | Scott Glenn Charles Dierkop James Iglehart Gilda Texter Gary Busey |
| Cinematography: | Stephen M. Katz |
| Music: | Richard Hieronymus |
| Studio: | New World Pictures |
| Distributor: | New World Pictures |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $180,000[1] or $125,000[2] |
| Gross: | $2 million[3] |
Angels Hard as They Come is a 1971 biker film directed by Joe Viola and starring Scott Glenn, Charles Dierkop, Gilda Texter, James Iglehart, and Gary Busey. It was co-written and produced by Jonathan Demme.[4]
Long John, Juicer, and Monk are members of the Angels motorcycle gang. When one of their drug deals is called off, two members of the Dragons motorcycle gang invite them to the ghost town of Lost Cause, where some hippies have started a commune. General, leader of the Dragons, challenges Long John to a race and loses. Long John then meets the hippie Astrid, to whom he is attracted. She says their leaders, Vicki and Henry, are not happy with the Dragons.
That night, several drunk Dragons attempt to gang-rape Astrid. The Angels intervene, and one of the Dragons stabs Astrid to death. The Dragons blame Long John, accusing him of trying to kill General. The next day, the Dragons tie up the Angels and attempt to kill them by riding around them on their motorcycles, swinging chains at them. Long John frees Monk, who escapes. Monk runs out of gas in the desert. Monk is chased by a racist on dune buggy, and eventually steals a camper.
The hippies put drugs into the Dragons' food, and help Long John and Juicer escape. Monk finally reaches the home of Cloud, the drug dealer whom the Angels were to have met at the start of the film. The remainder of the Angels are at Cloud's, and they follow Monk back to Lost Cause. In the morning, General ties Vicki to a pole and threatens to burn her alive if the hippies don't turn over Long John and Juicer. Henry attempts to kill General with a knife. General takes it from him, and realizes the knife belongs to a fellow Dragon, Axe. General now realizes Axe tried to kill him during the rape of Astrid, and kills Axe.
The Angels finally arrive in town, kill all the Dragons, and rescue Long John and Juicer. Everyone leaves town, the bikers going their way and the hippies going another.
Jonathan Demme met Roger Corman while doing publicity on Von Richthofen and Brown. The producer was impressed by publicity material Demme had written and asked if he was interested in writing a motorcycle movie. Demme pitched the idea of a motorcycle version of Rashomon and wrote it with Joe Viola, who directed TV commercials Demme had produced.[2]
The film was very successful with Corman saying it earned rentals of over $700,000 and returning a profit of 46% within the first year.[3]