A big fan of Eddie Kidd's stunt riding, I waited over 25 years to see this film and finally I have.

Well? Its awful, frankly, which is a shame. Too obviously made as a vehicle for Eddie Kidd to get into acting. A bit of a none starter as he clearly couldn't (Sorry Ed, but nice try!). Not even the great Irene Handl can save it, and as for the other British character actors, I can't work out if they were playing below par to make Eddie look good.

Its not even a porn film for bike and car nuts since any hot vehicle action is limited to a few custom cars at the beginning of the film.

The finale motorcycle jump over the Blackwater estuary in Essex was done for real, but the lacklustre filming does not do it justice. It actually does not look that scary. The reality of the jump is quite different, shame they only had a couple of cameras to capture it.

Any plus points. Yeah, there are a few in that it was filmed near my home when I was a kid back in 1978/9 and I can remember the excitement it caused; Its probably the only time Leysdown and the local chalet parks will ever hit the big screen! I also remember they used local Teddy Boys as extra's and there is a quite well put together sequence showing them jiving. Cool on a stick.

Also, the slightly surreal opening titles showed some promise by marrying music to the bike whizzing around countless grey chalets on an overcast day. 

The soundtrack is actually quite eclectic with some British bands that were only starting to happen at the time. 

If you can find a copy of the tie in paperback, get that as it is a surprisingly well written, amusing novel that fleshes out the characters in the way they should have been in the film. It does describe what living out on the Thames estuary marshes was like in the days before the internet and cheap travel.

My copy of the paperback was published as 'Heavy Metal' but the title of the film changed due to the cartoon of the same name coming out in the same year.

I've given it 5 out of 10 as a GOOD idea VERY BADLY done.

Author: (nifoc2005) from United Kingdom