J.J. Weston (Bruce Dern) belongs to a biker gang that includes a man named Bunny (Jack Nicholson). He runs into an old college buddy named Paul (Cameron Mitchell). Paul is living with Karen (Diane Ladd) who's pregnant with his baby. The biker gang get Paul and Karen alone on a beach. They beat up Paul (for no reason) and propose to marry Karen to Bunny. J.J. wants to stop this...but how? Boring and stupid biker flick. A terrible script really sinks this one. The biker gang acts and sounds like no biker gang I ever heard of. The dialogue is stilted and the basic plot is just so stupid it's mind-boggling. The part where J.J. starts a "marriage" between Karen and Bunny is just beyond belief. This is only of interest for the cast. It has a pre-stardom Nicholson (wearing the most annoying striped pants I've ever seen) and a very young Dern and Ladd (who I believe were married at the time). Their acting is great but it can't help the horrendous script. A curio at best.

A quick once over and The Rebel Rousers seems nothing more than a good guy versus evil biker gang midnight movie. But,look closer and you see a story about the conflict of conforming to the norms of society or rebelling against them. The star of the film is a heavy-set Cameron Mitchell who plays a middle-class businessman in a stormy romance with Diane Ladd. Mitchell meets a former high-school buddy played by an intense Bruce Dern(kind of weird pairing here as Mitchell is 18 years older than Dern in real life)the leader of a gang of misfit bikers. Both men seem both happy and sad to see each other. It's as if each man is jealous of the other's lifestyle. Yet, neither one is happy. A rugged looking Jack Nicholson is Bunny, a psycho member of the Rebels. It's clear even here, that Nicholson is a star in the making. There is not one moment when you feel he is "acting" his part. The main focus of the film is Nicholson's attempt to rape Ladd, with both Mitchell and Dern preventing it. Ladd's character represents the family values of the 1950's and Nicholson's Bunny is symbolic of the devil-may-care 1960's lifestyle that may destroy it. If you like movies with a "meaning' The Rebel Rousers is for you.

This film was in the cult section at the local video store, and I've come to find that "cult" films are often one of two things. They are either masterpieces which are over-the-top/bizarre/cryptic/left-of-center and can be watched again and again, or they are very lame films with little-to-no redeeming qualities which have gained a cult following because people get a kick out of unintentionally bad films. This film falls into the latter category. I can't imagine anyone would think this was actually a decent film. Everything about it is lame. The best (best meaning worst in this case) part of the film was when one of the men escaped from the biker gang, got a car, and drove into town to the police station. When he comes into the police station, he's out-of-breath and fatigued. Wasn't he just driving? He's worn out from driving? This film is awful.1/10

Ahh, bad biker flicks. Bad biker chicks in underwear. Bad Jack Nicholson before he got any respect. Bruce Dern is the star of this piece, and he's an actor in search of a plot. His wife (in real life) Diane Ladd, has a thankless role as a damsel in distress, at the mercy of a juvenile motorcycle gang. Cameron Mitchell is no help. Jack Nicholson leers and trys to look menacing. And I believe Harry Dean Stanton plays the comic hipster biker in the 1940's be-bop suit. But I could be mistaken. The best scene is when Nicholson and Dern are arguing, and Dern tells him to quit grinning....how either one of them kept a straight face during the proceedings is beyond me.