Run, Angel, Run!

This was the first film directed by 70s action and blaxploitation movie legend Jack Starrett (Slaughter, Cleopatra Jones, Race With the Devil) and despite a minuscule budget and a 13 day shooting schedule, it manages to hold up fairly well today, thanks in large part to its sharp cinematography and innovative editing. Starrett made clever use of split screen compositions to energize the action, and the often rapid-fire editing keeps things moving along briskly. Run Angel Run was also the first starring role for Big Bill Smith, and the one that made him a 70s action movie icon. As Angel, fugitive biker, Smith's chiseled features, macho mustache and bulging biceps get a lot of screen time. In fact, at times I found myself wondering why Smith was running from his gang - he looks like he could punch out every biker in California single-handed, then bench press their hogs. Anyway, the essentials of the movie - lone biker on the run, menacing bike gang giving chase, fast action on the road and lots of fights - made Run Angel Run a surprise hit and one of the few true classics of the short-lived biker genre, alongside Easy Rider, Angels Die Hard, and The Born Losers. Finally out on DVD from Media Blasters, the folks responsible for the Tokyo Shock DVD label, Run Angel Run features introductory commentary by Joe Bob Briggs and a title song by Tammy Wynette.