1959: A gang of bikers en route to Daytona, Florida who include the surly, disaffected Vance (a smoothly self-assured performance by Willem Dafoe in his film debut) and restless hothead Davis (nicely played by rockabilly icon Robert Gordon) are forced to make an unwanted pit stop in a sleepy Southern hamlet when one biker has engine trouble with his chopper. Complications ensue when Vance becomes involved with tempting teen tramp Telena (a splendidly brassy'n'sassy turn by the cute Marin Kanter), which doesn't go over well with the extremely uptight and intolerant square townspeople.
Written and directed by Kathryn ("Near Dark," "Blue Steel") Bigelow and Monty Montgomery (who later produced "Twin Peaks" and "Wild at Heart"), "The Loveless" sure ain't your average trashy B-biker exploitation action romp. Instead it's something much better and more ambitious: a beautifully brooding, stylish and intriguing existential mood piece that's rich in a pungently evocative atmosphere that exquisitely seethes with barely suppressed menace, violence, despair, ennui, malaise, sexuality and homo-eroticism. Doyle Smith's gorgeously glossy, gleaming cinematography, the uniformly excellent acting, the vivid and meticulous recreation of the 50's, Robert Gordon's fantastic rockabilly score, the cool hepcat slang ("We got the scratch"), the deliberately slow pace, and the strikingly grim and tragic conclusion further strengthen the potent and intoxicating spell this film casts on the viewer, sucking you in with a masterful ease that's truly something to behold. This is the kind of supremely subtle and low-key picture which initially doesn't seem like much as you watch it, but has an uncanny way of sticking with you long after you see it.
Written and directed by Kathryn ("Near Dark," "Blue Steel") Bigelow and Monty Montgomery (who later produced "Twin Peaks" and "Wild at Heart"), "The Loveless" sure ain't your average trashy B-biker exploitation action romp. Instead it's something much better and more ambitious: a beautifully brooding, stylish and intriguing existential mood piece that's rich in a pungently evocative atmosphere that exquisitely seethes with barely suppressed menace, violence, despair, ennui, malaise, sexuality and homo-eroticism. Doyle Smith's gorgeously glossy, gleaming cinematography, the uniformly excellent acting, the vivid and meticulous recreation of the 50's, Robert Gordon's fantastic rockabilly score, the cool hepcat slang ("We got the scratch"), the deliberately slow pace, and the strikingly grim and tragic conclusion further strengthen the potent and intoxicating spell this film casts on the viewer, sucking you in with a masterful ease that's truly something to behold. This is the kind of supremely subtle and low-key picture which initially doesn't seem like much as you watch it, but has an uncanny way of sticking with you long after you see it.