The Wild Rebels (1967)

Instant Favorite.

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

After spending most of his money and two years of effort working on his stock car, "Rod Tillman" (Steve Alaimo) wipes out at the race track and pretty much loses everything. Terribly disappointed he sells his trailer and essentially becomes a down-and-out drifter. One night he ventures into a bar and meets a small biker gang called "Satan's Angels" who offer him a chance to earn some money by being the getaway driver for a job they have planned. Although he is rather reluctant at first a police detective by the name of "Lt. Dorn" (Walter Philbin) asks him to take the job in order to help the police finally nab these guys. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that it had a decent plot but the execution left much to be desired. I say this because the actions of the bikers were just too reckless and bizarre to be believed and the longer the film played the more unrealistic it got. Even so it wasn't all bad and there is some entertainment value to be had if a person can somehow disregard some of the more ludicrous scenes. Accordingly, I rate it as just slightly below average.

I just caught "Wild Rebels" on one of the "Mystery Science Theatre 3000" archive compilations, and this movie was so bad even the MST3K crew couldn't make it entertaining. There are some MST3K "targets" that were films whose concepts were so dippy they couldn't possibly have been good movies (like "The Green Slime"), and others whose basic premises could have been made into genuinely entertaining films if their filmmakers hadn't bobbled them in the execution. "Wild Rebels" is a film whose basic premise DID make a good movie three years earlier, when Don Siegel directed his remake of "The Killers" at Universal. Both films are about a failed racing driver who's seduced by a femme fatale into driving the getaway car in a robbery masterminded by the woman's boyfriend -- only in "The Killers" the driver was John Cassavetes, the woman was Angie Dickinson and the criminal mastermind (cast wildly but successfully against type in what turned out to be his final film) was Ronald Reagan. Steve Alaimo, Bobbie Byers and Willie Pastrano are quite a comedown! But what REALLY makes "Wild Rebels" an awful movie is the direction by William Grefé (note the accent over the final "e," present in his on-screen credit), which has absolutely no sense of pace whatsoever and seems to let every shot run at least half again as long as it needs to to make its dramatic point. It's only a pity that someone didn't do a mocking commentary on this movie now (in 2009); the comparison between Steve Alaimo's hairdo and Rod Blagojevich's would have been irresistible!

I highly recomend seeing this film if u get the chance. John Vella delivers a fantasic performance. I wish they made more classics such as THE WILD REBELS. The actors worked well together and s. florida is the perfect setting for this movie.

Ah, another movie with motorcycles, hell's angels posse and Steve A-Lame-o as the not-so-cool car driver. This movie does not rely on story but lots of drinking, pot smoking, and lots of moronic acts. Steve's rendition of a dying cat during his "I love what I know" serenade had me vomiting for hours. Bike chick Linda (rrrr) makes out with everyone! Fats did the best acting since he just grunts and makes sounds. I also dare you to try to make out what Banjo is saying. "You messin' wit private stock." This is scriptwriting folks.I liked the ending. What better place to have the climax than a lighthouse! You have to see this to detest it.DIE Jeter, DIE!!!