The title bunch are a particularly odious motorcycle gang in this, producer / director Al Adamsons' contribution to the then popular cycle of biker films. Adamson does tend to take a lot of flak for his somewhat less than slick low budget productions, but this is actually one of his better efforts. It benefits from a very enjoyable gathering of B movie regulars, both new (at the time) and old. Russ Tamblyn stars as cheerful psycho Anchor, leader of this gang. Anchor and company terrorize the customers at a diner / service station, and end up pursuing some of them into the remote California wilderness. This movie lets you know right off the bat just how depraved its antagonists are, as they help themselves to an unwilling woman and then send her, her boyfriend, and their car over the edge of a cliff. When they happen upon a group of college age gals out in the desert, they drug them and have their way with them. They just can't get their comeuppance soon enough. Also among the cast are Scott Brady as weary cop Charlie, Kent Taylor as the diner proprietor Lew, Regina Carrol (Adamsons' real life partner) as biker mama Gina, Jacqueline Cole as comely waitress Tracy, Gary Kent as nice guy former soldier Johnny, and John 'Bud' Cardos, Robert Dix, Greydon Clark (who himself became a director years later), William Bonner, and Bobby Clark as the gang. Carrols' slutty dance number inside the diner rates as a highlight, as do the fight sequences between Tamblyn & Cardos and Kent & Cardos. The soundtrack is quite good, with Harley Hatcher composing both the songs and the score. The prolific Gary Graver serves as both the editor and cinematographer (assisted in the latter capacity by an uncredited Vilmos Zsigmond). The makeup artist is a young Susan Arnold (daughter of the great sci-fi director Jack Arnold), who went on to great success as a casting director and, eventually, a producer. But it's really Tamblyns' scenery devouring performance that makes this worth seeing; he even came up with a monologue on his own. As far as biker films go, this definitely has to be one of the trashiest ones ever made, and it's nothing if not amusing for its entire 87 minute running time. It's rough, crude, and suitably rousing, and the sleaze just oozes off of the screen. Seven out of 10.

Coming from a huge fan of the trashy, 1970s, low-budget, motorcycle gang, genre, my comment may be slightly biased. Being a fan of the wonderful Al Adamson might be too much as well. However, as far as sleazy 70s biker flics go, "Satan's Sadists" is indeed one of the better ones. Russ Tamblyn outdoes himself as the whacked out, sadistic leader of the group. His performance is truly fun to watch and he plays the villainous role to the max. The soundtrack is also tons of fun with some memorable "acid" tunes that should have you saying "Wow man!" every 20 minutes or so.It's a pretty violent entry to the biker genre, but few of them are really "sugary-sweet". "Sadists" however, is maybe a bit above the rest with some real nastiness committed by the title group. For something a little less shocking, "Easy Rider" would be a better choice or even "Hell's Angels On Wheels".Fans of schlock director Al Adamson have to see/own this one. It's a biker "classic" and deserves high ranking in biker film "Top Tens" right alongside "Northville Cemetery Massacre", "The Glory Stompers" and "The Savage Seven". Enjoy!

There are several things this picture cannot overcome with its very low budget: the pacing is very slow at points, photography is almost amateurish in places (blown up from 16mm, I think), there's filler - too many shots of motorcycle riders moving on the freeway, and lousy dialog/acting. But, there's enough entertainment value for 3 stars from me. The credits song, 'I Was Born Mean...' is just super. Then you have star Tamblyn, the biker leader, overacting or subverting his persona, depending on how you look at it. He makes this weird speech a third of the way in (famous to people familiar with the flic) about how peaceful hippies are persecuted by cops; this is how he justifies his murderous actions (yes, I do this for the hippies, since they're too peaceful to do it). Scott Brady is a cop on vacation and the object of Tamblyn's antagonism. It doesn't explain why Tamblyn kills 3 young women later - what do they have to do with it? He giggles like a madman as even his own fellow biker (Cardos) rebels against such pointless murder.Is Tamblyn just playing a joke on the audience? Here I am, he seems to be implying, once a nice boy in Hollywood movies. Look at me doing all this crazy stuff! I am one crazy dude. The 2nd half of the pic is all in the bleak desert, with the various surviving characters running about. There are no other police or establishment figures intruding; it's mentioned in the beginning how desolate the area is, that you can go 200 miles(!) without seeing another person. Greydon Clark is amusing as another biker who lives to get stoned on acid or LSD; his goal is to go on a one-way trip. And this was Regina Carrol's first big role, as a biker momma. Some of her dialog, as mentioned, is atrociously dated and poorly delivered besides; pining for Tamblyn, she asks another biker, "doesn't he know I dig him?" So what were they all rebelling against, these lowlife bikers? It's anyone's guess. Like in other such pictures, they just looked bored with everything and spewed moronic rationales out of their dirty little mouths - but the filmmakers put them there. Next was "Dracula vs.Frankenstein" - a reworked biker tale.

** ACH, CAPTAIN, DA SPOILERS!! ** In spite of what another comment advised, I do prefer Adamson's cheesy horror pics to his action films. There's more fun stuff to look at.However, as a biker film fan, I had to check out this joint. Not much really happens in this film, plotwise. It's pretty much bikers come to town, bikers menace and kill nice people, and everyone battles to the death until the only ones left standing are our hero and heroine, walking into the sunset.This was all filmed in the desert around Palm Springs (Adamson's home until his untimely passing), and frankly, the scenery is very boring and hard to look at. A good bulk of the early film takes place in a lonely roadside cafe. That setting at least gives the bad guys a semi-interesting location and some chance to pick up objects and hit people with them.The last half of the movie involves our hero (ex-Marine from Vietnam)and heroine (plucky local waitress who wants a husband) running around these barren rocky desert canyons that all look the same, ducking into caves trying to avoid "Anchor" the head psycho biker (Russ Tamblyn) and his murderous cohorts. (Isn't this the same place where EEGAH lived?) About the only interesting twist is Regina Carrol's "Thelma and Louise" impression.I guess you could look at this as some sort of allegory for the nation and its torments during the heinous late 1960's, bla, bla, bla, but I don't think so. It's just an excuse for good old action and violence. But how is the action and violence? Good enough. If you're just looking for a sick twisted wild ride into sociopathic torment, this film will satisfy. But it's no lost classic or anything. It's not even the best biker film.