Knightriders, 1981.
Written and Directed by George A. Romero.
Starring Ed Harris, Gary Lahti, Tom Savini, Amy Ingersoll, Patricia Tallman, Christine Forrest, Warner Shook, Brother Blue and Cynthia Adler.
SYNOPSIS:
A medieval reenactment troupe find it increasingly difficult to keep their family-like group together, with pressure from local law enforcement, interest from entertainment agents and a growing sense of delusional from their leader.
George A. Romero is a horror legend. Most well-known for popularising combie horrors, Romero also dealt with vampires, schitzophrenia and a crazy monkey. Amongst all his iconic horror films, he also branched out into a more action orientated piece with this oft forgotten entry into Romero’s CV.
Knightriders doesn’t star David Hasselhoff. Let’s get that clear right now! Now wipe those tears away and read on: A medieval re-enactment troupe which performs on motorbikes instead of horses gradually find their close knit group falling apart as their leader, Billy (Ed Harris), loses a grip on reality. Knightriders is a slightly odd film. It’s well made, it looks good, but for a Romero film it’s quite slow moving. You have to stick with this one, even when the plot could do with a good prod forward.
Ed Harris in one of his first major roles is typically intense. Harris is just an intense guy and his characters almost always mirror that. Anyone whose seen some of his behind the scenes rants will know, that Harris takes his work very seriously and won’t settle for second best, from himself or anyone. This is an interesting early role for him. He’s very good here, with a complex character who wants to live by the ideals of King Arthur’s court, but loses grip of the modern realities.
The rest of the cast are good. Tom Savini, special effects maestro, well known for crafting the most gruesome moments in Romero’s best horrors, takes on the role of Billy’s main rival Morgan here. Morgan’s more of a realist and doesn’t have the romanticised view of the group that Billy does. Gary Lahti also gives a good performance as Alan, Billy’s head night.
The stunt work in the film is very well done. There’s a lot of great motor-cycle work, made at a time when the safety laws in film were obviously not as stringent. Some of it seems very close to the edge here, but it makes for some exciting action sequences. This is a change of pace for Romero. There’s no gore, guts, chewed brains or anything.
This might not rank anywhere near Romero’s best work. It’s never-the-less an interesting film that could have benefited from a faster, more concise pace. Ultimately there’s enough strong character work an interesting touches to make this worthwhile, particularly for any Romero completist, whilst Arrow’s Blu-ray treatment is typically brilliant with interviews, commentaries and more. No matter the film, they’ll always give it a great treatment. Overall, Knightriders is worthy of such treatment.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Tom Jolliffe
