Knightriders – George A Romero (Arrow)

Cutting straight to the chase, Knighriders is a gem of a film and a wonderful movie that finally deserves its DVD UK and worldwide Blu-ray release courtesy of Arrow. Directed by George A Romero in 1981 it followed on from seminal zombie supermarket flick Dawn Of The Dead (1978) and not only featured many of the cast and crew of this opus but also others who had featured in Martin (1976) and who would go on to appear in Day Of The Dead (1985). Half the fun of watching this is looking out for the players who you may well recognise from these more widely available splatter epics. There is the unmistakable Ken Foree (Peter from Dawn)for instance and Martin Amplas (the lead for Martin) and also look out for Joseph Pilato (Commander Rhodes from Day) wearing an outfit the army would have court martialed his arse for  but still, in a brief cameo, with a massive chip on his shoulder. They keep on coming thick and fast and others who were around were more than willing to get involved and help out Romero after the success and legendary status of Dawn; yep that is Stephen King as a beer guzzling slob of a redneck hick.

Anyway I am getting slightly ahead of myself here. This is no splatter epic in fact that is little in the way of gore in this 15 certificated movie but don’t let that worry you in the slightest the story more than makes up for that. If I had a gun to my head and was asked to compare this to something else I would have a difficult task BUT if you fancy imagining very roughly a cross between Easy Rider and Excalibur you may after scratching your head be in the right sort of ballpark. The film is set in the present time when it was made and features a troupe of entertainers travelling around and performing their own Renaissance Fairs across America. This involved setting up duels with each other but on motorbikes instead of horses and using a wide array of (supposedly non-lethal) weapons such as jousting lances, maces, axes and swords giving it a more than authentic feel for the watching spectators. Camelot is however a state of mind for lead character Ed Harris who plays King Billy in his first real main role and he is driven by a code that not only sees him as King of the gathering but also governs their every action. This includes not giving bribes for the corrupt lawmen roaming around like they are in the Wild West demanding their pound of flesh. It also means that every action has to be authentic to the point that it is seriously splitting the ranks within the group of performers, entertainers, mechanics, craftsmen and traders who are all part of the team.

Biggest opposition comes from the man who would be king, Tom Savini who gets the chance to do much more than make up here. No doubt spurred on by his acting in the likes of Maniac and Dawn he really does get a strong part here and plays it with panache as challenger to the Knightriders kingdom and the crown and a man who sees beyond the small fairs that the troupe are playing to and the big lights and money which would be far beyond the code they believe in. Money makes the world go round and he is willing to let this mantra break the code, or is he? The film is incredibly character driven and has some great people in it. Many are represented by their Arthurian counterparts, Ken Foree for instance could only be Little John. One intriguing part is Merlin the medicine man played by storyteller and Pastor Brother Blue, a person whose own life is was no doubt as colourful as his part. We should also mention Savini‘s(Morgan’s) would be unsuspecting queen Angie played by Christine Forrest. The grease monkey mechanic who puts up with lots from Morgan was actually discovered by Romero when they met on the set his melodramatic Season Of The Witch, she may have been Savini’s squeeze on camera but she married Romero on the on the last day of the shoot.

In a way this is a romance film, an action film, a road movie, a melodrama but essentially it is best looked on as a bona-fide cult movie. After being literally blown away by Dawn on home video, a point of my life that pretty much set me up with a fascination of all things walking dead it was obvious that I had to see everything else imaginable from the director.  Luckily Knightriders was finally found in the video shop on Warner Home Video and was hired then bought as soon as I could get my hands on it, then upgraded to the Anchor Bay Region 1 DVD that this crystal clean version surpasses keeping the film alive for new generations. Honestly watching this again last night it was every bit as enthralling as it was on a first magical viewing and every one of the ten or so times I have come back to it over the years.

To say it is packed with emotion would be an understatement and more to the point it really has not aged at all. Romero has done an excellent job keeping the sub-plots engaging and the narrative flowing. Again his voice is very much contentious and socially observant on the times. As he risked a certain amount of wrath by making the lead of Night Of The Living Dead black again he pushes boundaries here having a homosexual sub-plot amidst the story and as for the corruption in small town America I am sure this probably ruffled some feathers too. There is a fair amount of comedy to lighten the mood as well and this is on a par to Dawn Of The Dead provided by invading bikers who think they are every good as bit as the carnival performers. No custard pies are needed here however as tools of the trade are utilised with painfully eye watering slapstick excess. The soundtrack also gets a big thumbs up, provided courtesy of the producer Richard Rubensteins brother Donald. The main theme of the film flows with a medieval romanticism about it that is hard to shift by the end of the feature. He also engages with his own gorgeous folk ballad played by himself in the film at one of its most poignant moments.

Drama and tension comes from all angles and despite the running time of 142 minutes it never gets boring in the slightest and delivers a denouement that I sincerely doubt many will see coming.

Enjoying the feature so much I saved the looking back interviews with Ed Harris, Tom Savini and Patricia Tallman until the next night and was reminded that my mentioning John Boorman’s blockbusting Excalibur was a more than valid point. Both Harris and Savini mention the movie that was made and released around the same time as Knightriders taking the focus from their feature a bit but no doubt also giving a sort of corresponding interest in it. For Harris it was obviously the start of a career that has gone on to much bigger roles and he looks back at the film he made over three decades ago fondly. Savini reminds that he is theatre trained and had a lot of acting experience at the time and how much he relished his part. Tallman who plays Julie as her very first part in the film tells us of the fascination that she had with the stunt people on the set which led her on to taking up that as a career as well as acting. Full circle as far as she and Savini are concerned saw her taking on the part of Barbara in his reboot of Night Of The Living Dead. The film also has a commentary track with Romero, Savini, Amplas and Christina Forrest nee Romero and of course again has some striking reversible artwork courtesy of Arrow.

If you missed this first time around or want to look back on it this really is an essential purchase and I cannot recommend it enough. So get your motor running, pour some mead and truly trip back to yesteryear and enjoy Knightriders in hi-def glory, you won’t regret it at all!

Phew not one mention of David bloody Hasselhoff either!

http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk

 Pete Woods