In place of a solid narrative foundation, Knightriders is about this final vestige of hippie culture. Men and women chose to live off the grid and form a community out in the middle of nowhere and live the Arthurian dream. Yes, we have the local sheriff, who wants to put the crew out of business, and the slimy promoter, who wants only profit, but these story elements are truly b-stories. When the main story is over, the last twenty minutes feature the troupe’s full public performance.
The story’s heart comes to keeping the community and its ideals/values intact. The true problem is that the idea of knights on bikes may have been cool forty years ago, but it never caught traction (pun intended). Any chance of it building a fanbase died with this film. In its place are Larpers… knights without bikes.
“Stunt performers are constantly crashing, falling, and flipping off their bikes.”
Knightriders also suffers from the style of filmmaking that is indicative of the late 70s/early 80s, especially from independent movies. It’s hard to describe this acting style, but it feels like the camera just started rolling, the actors were given a loose script, and ACTION! (in true Corman fashion). I suppose because celluloid was so expensive, the orders from accounting were to “get the shot” and move on. As a result, the acting misses a lot of nuance and proper character development that comes with multiple takes.
The film is about peering into the community but it also focuses on the action. We’ve got men (and women) on motorbikes, wearing makeshift armor, and carrying non-sharpened swords, lances, and maces. I’m sure safety was of the utmost importance to the filmmakers, but this production doesn’t feel safe. Leave the weapons out of it. Stunt performers are constantly crashing, falling, and flipping off their bikes. The truly “dangerous” gags are pulled off with ample use of camera trickery…like the runaway bike heading for a baby in a stroller. Like me, any fan of BTS filmmaking and movie “magic” can figure out how each stunt is done.
Knightriders is one of those films I’d show to someone who likes George A. Romero as this is clearly a labor of love. Or, for someone who is a fan of “did they really make a movie about fill-in-the-blank.” I’m glad I found Knightriders, but I would not exactly classify it as a lost treasure of cinema.
"…this film is clearly a labor of love."
