The Peace Killers

1971

Action / Crime / Drama

7
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 38%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 38%
IMDb Rating 5.4/10 10 456 456

motorcycle gang

Director

Douglas Schwartz Photo
Douglas Schwartz

Top cast

Albert Popwell Photo
Albert Popwell as Blackjack
Jess Walton Photo
Jess Walton as Kristen
Gary Morgan Photo
Gary Morgan as Gadget
Michael Ontkean Photo
Michael Ontkean as Jeff
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
793.01 MB
1280*692
English 2.0
NR
us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 26 min
Seeds 1
1.44 GB
1920*1038
English 2.0
NR
us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 26 min
Seeds 1

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Sturgeon54 6 / 10

All of the Excesses of the Late '60s / Early '70s in One Movie!

WOW, is all I can say after watching this - amazingly in both a good and bad way. Expecting a simple clichéd biker movie, instead I discovered a movie that somehow manages to encapsulate every major theme from early '70s filmmaking, from the counter-cultural bikers of "Easy Rider" to Southern California commune hippiedom, blaxploitation, and even the ultra-violent vigilante-ism of Sam Peckinpah ("Straw Dogs"), "Death Wish," "Last House on the Left," "Switchblade Sisters," and "Billy Jack." So much crammed into one movie, Quentin Tarantino must have seen this at some point and been at least somewhat inspired in his own style of multi-themed filmmaking.By no means a great film, and really not a good one either, I still found myself glued to this amazing cultural artifact. I'm really surprised that this movie has basically been forgotten, having never been released on DVD; amateur B-movie connoisseurs and midnight movie-houses would eat this one up if they got their hands on it. The director, Douglas Schwartz (this was his first feature film) would soon go on to make the excellent forgotten film "Your Three Minutes Are Up" starring Beau Bridges, and "Baywatch" many years later. The tone of these two movies ("Your Three Minutes..." was a light comedy with serious undertones) could not be more different, yet in both of them Schwartz displays a near-brilliant ability to evoke the socio-cultural milieu of Southern California in the early-'70s (even early Baywatch episodes carry some of this skill in his feel for settings.) If you are in the least bit turned off by violence, I recommend not watching this, as there is blood, mutilation, rape, and plenty of general nastiness. On the other hand, if you can laugh along with the irony of "serious-themed" pictures like this one and "Billy Jack" (released the same year) portraying "pacifism through the barrel of a gun," then you should have yourself some trashy drive-in good times.
Reviewed by JohnSeal 5 / 10

Hog heaven

What more could you ask for in a biker flick? The Peace Killers features hairy hippies, Jesus freaks, pot smoking pill popping baddies, gratuitous psychobabble, a fuzztone driven score...everything adds up to one of the best (and least known) entries in this entertaining genre. Directed by future Baywatch creator Doug Schwartz, the film features an attractive lead in fresh-faced Jess Walton, who plays ex-motorcycle mama Kristy. She's being pursued by her former paramour Rebel (Clint Ritchie, who looks like a gone to seed James Brolin), a biker with a HUGE stars and bars flag flying from the back of his hog. This is a very violent film--the pencil skewering scene is unpleasant, and a rape sequence early on quite nasty--but a well made one, with good location photography by the director. (Incidentally, I think the Topanga gas station in this film is the same one utilized in Ray Dennis Steckler's The Thrill Killers--but I may be mistaken.) Add in some great folk-pop numbers from singer Ruthann Friedman and an unforgettable crucifixion scene, and you have a real winner! Side note: future Terrence Mallick cinematographer and husband of Sissy Spacek, Jack Fisk, was the gaffer on this film.
Reviewed by Uriah43 5 / 10

Violent Bikers versus Peaceful Hippies

The film begins with an attractive young woman named "Kristen" (Jess Walton) walking into a small convenience store along the highway with her brother "Jeff" (Michael Ontkean). After buying some groceries Jeff notices a couple of bikers ride up and immediately realizes that they are from a motorcycle gang known as "Death Row" which Kristen ran away from months before. Realizing the danger she is in he advises to sneak out the side door so that he can pick her up in their van and drive off before they recognize her. Unfortunately, it doesn't work and the bikers then go to inform their leader "Rebel" (Clint Richie) that she is in the area. From that point on he makes it a priority to find her for the sole purpose of having her gang raped as a lesson to others who desert Death Row. Meanwhile, Kristen and Jeff return to their hippy commune and inform their charismatic leader "Alex" (Paul Prokop) of the danger only to be told that if the bikers show up he will resolve the situation by reasoning with them. Now rather than revealing any more I will just say that this was an okay biker film which makes up for its low-budget limitations by providing enough suspense to keep things interesting. Admittedly, some of the stereotypes were a bit exaggerated but all things considered I thought it was a solid picture for the most part and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.
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