It's a shame that Claudia Jennings, Playboy playmate of the year, died at age 29 from a traffic accident, and made a series of low budget, forgettable films. Many of these films still appear on TV from time to time, but not Unholy Rollers, her best film. Another shame. Unholy Rollers is about Claudia joining a roller derby troupe and because of her personality and strikingly good looks, never being accepted into the group. The film is low budget all the way. Probably did well at drive-ins and rural markets, but got swamped by Kansas City Bomber released the same year. I never cared for the roller derby, it's quite stupid, but this "inside story" is quite decent. Just don't expect to find it.
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Jimbo-9613 May 1999
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lewishmmm1 May 2005I love everything about this film, from Roberta Collins (in general) to Claudia's go-go boots to her Avengers tattoo (which she obtains at a 'Tattoo While You Wait' parlor???!?) to the enormous chrome horse which becomes the focal point in any Claudia driving/anywhere near the vicinity of her car scene.
Do have one question for the experts... Is that Princess Livingston (Beyond the Valley Of The Dolls/Mudhoney) shouting in the crowd scenes??? she appears to be uncredited and I can't find any reference to her anywhere but I am convinced...
Great early rock-n-roll soundtrack...surprised Corman forked out for it!
Also notable as Candice Roman's final film...where did she go??
Pray for a DVD reissue, it's great fun, and has a classic girl-gone-crazy ending!
Vale Claudia! -
a_chinn27 December 2017"A locker room look at the toughest broads in the world!" That's the poster tag line for "The Unholy Rollers" and it pretty much sums up what the makers of this film were aiming for, a leering behind-the-scenes action/comedy about roller derby. Claudia Jennings ("Death Sport" "Gator Bait") gets fed up with her job at a cannery after brazen 1970s sexual harassment and decides to join the roller derby. This results in comedy, romance, and ladies in various states of undresss, as you might expect from a Roger Corman produced film of this era. Corman's New World Pictures were having great success with their cycle of women-in-prison films and their nurse and co-ed films, so why not branch out into sports comedy films? And believe it or not, this wasn't the first roller derby film of the time. "Derby" came out the year before and Raquel Well appeared in "Kansas City Bomber" the same year. Roller derby even found it's way into the plot of of Disney's "The Shaggy D.A." so derby was HOT during this time. As for this film, it's a typical Corman raunchy sex comedy and the quality is about what you'd expect, which is it's not terrible, but nothing all that great either. Still, I will say I was entertained and I did enjoy seeing an oddly young Victor Argo as the team trainer. FUN FACT! Martin Scorsese was a supervising editor on this film, the year before "Mean Streets" was released.
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iaido26 October 2000SPOILER ALERT The late 60's and 70's produced many different themes in the exploitation genre, the black detective, the pimp, the biker, the redneck, the car chase, and, very briefly, the roller derby film.
The opening of the film is a roller derby just getting started. The crowd stands up to salute the national anthem, which is turned on a record player by a drunk janitor, and the record is severely warped. Nice opening, you know it has a sense of humor about itself. Plus, in the opening credits we see Martin Scorsese as Supervising Editor (same year as Boxcar Bertha, one year before Mean Streets). So, from the get go, it is an interesting b-movie ride.
Karen Walker is tired of her job at the cat food cannery, and shoves a can of cat food in her sleazeball managers face before she walks out. She goes home and informs her nymphomaniac, topless go-go dancer roommate, who is constantly bonking her boyfriend (kind of a low IQ Jean Paul Belamondo look alike), that she is going to roller derby tryouts. The glamorous roller derby guys consist of the drunk doctor, the promoters, and the detective from King of New York as the coach. As they watch the tryouts, they say things like, "Put the fag on the Demons team. the crowd will hate him." and "That girls (Karen, of course) got showmanship." There are only two teams, the Avengers and the Demons, and Karen makes it on the Avengers. She goes home and poses in her uniform, and it is oddly almost like the Taxi Driver "You talkin' to me?" scene.
What is funny, is that the film breaks the fourth wall, in the training sequence, by showing that it is all fake. Rememeber, this was back in the day when professional wrestling was still thought of/pretended to be "real". They are instructed how to hit, take a fall, different ways to scream in pain, and where to stage a fight so the crowd can see clearly. Yet, throughout the rest of the movie, in any competition, it is treated seriously, for real, complete with locker room pep talks, ignoring the fact that previous scenes explain how it is fake.
Karen gets her physical in her underwear and go-go boots. Karen begins to upstage Mickey, the Avengers #1 player. Karen gets humiliated, stripped to her panties, by the other players after the first big game. She tears off with one of the guys (old, Latino, but wearing a USA flag, puffy pirate shirt) and shows her craziness by randomly shooting a pistol off the back of his chopper as they cruise down the street. She gets more popular and looney. Gets the Avengers logo tatooed on her arm. The team gets more jealous of her. Her go-go dancing friend leaves her. Her own team beats, stomps, and whips her with a car antenna one night. She gets crazier and is set up to be replaced. Then we get a finale in witch Karen goes off the deep end, a huge fight ensues, and she skates off into traffic. All in exploitation fun. THE END.
-"Honey, I got balls. I got yours." -
mark.waltz21 June 2023After seeing Claudia Jennings in her first scene getting revenge on her pervert boss who constantly groped her, then destroying a huge pyramid of vegetable cans in a grocery store (before rushing out with a full cart she didn't pay for), I decided that this was a 70's version of a PRC film, that studio the lowest of poverty row factories in Hollywood. While she looks feminine on the surface, there's absolutely nothing lady like about her, a screeching harpy who has no issue of going into her roommate's bedroom while she's having sex to say she's quit her job. Jennings is the 70's equivocal of Iris Adrian, a brassy loudmouth character actress of the 40's (still acting when this was made) who made comic actresses like Patsy Kelly and Kathleen Freeman (who plays Jennings' mother in this) seem subtle. An Iris Adrian lookalike (Maxine Gates) is the foul mouthed coach.
Roller derby was a violent sport, probably even more bloody than hockey, and female roller derby players were known for their ruthlessness, so that adds instant exploitation to the plot, Jennings a trashy version of Ruby Keeler's Peggy Sawyer from "42nd Street" who went out a youngster but came back a star, while Jennings goes out there a poisonous viper and turns into a fire breathing dragon lady whom everyone hates. This has its funny moments, all in bad taste, and while it wasn't ever intended to be art, the taste it leaves is very bitter and gag worthy. I can't imagine this getting much attention outside of drive-in theaters or second string lower class movie houses. Plenty of top topless females to add to the upscale gentility of these fragile debutants. -
JohnSeal24 July 2000Unholy Rollers is AIP cinema verite, a true American film classic that peels the facade away from the cult of sports celebrity. Claudia Jennings is outstanding as the roller queen whose place on the pedestal is about to be taken by the next one in line. She plays the role with utter conviction, and the film's low budget limitations lend added authenticity to its depiction of this seedy American pastime.
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Uriah433 July 2015Fed up with being sexually harassed at work "Karen Walker" (Claudia Jennings) quits her job and auditions for a spot on the local roller derby team. She quickly recognizes that she has found her life's calling but in the process manages to alienate the rest of her team because of her unquenchable desire to steal the spotlight from them. Her unstable mental condition and total lack of discipline certainly don't help either. Now as far as this film is concerned allow me to say that it boasts of three very attractive females in Roberta Collins (as "Jennifer"), Candice Roman (as Karen's sister "Donna") along with the aforementioned Claudia Jennings. Unfortunately, even with this great lineup the film contained some rather dull scenes along with very little cohesion between them which resulted in an overall cheap atmosphere. In comparison with a similar roller derby movie made the same year, "Kansas City Bomber" was clearly the better of the two films as it was much more polished and entertaining. In short, while this movie clearly had plenty of spills it had very few thrills and I give it a point for each of the three ladies mentioned earlier. But no more than that.
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downahatch27 August 2017A Roger Corman production from the 70's so you know it's funny, sleazy, plot less and gratuitous but never boring, there's always something happening on screen. Claudia Jennings dominates as Karen Walker, a cat food factory worker who gets cheesed off and becomes a roller derby queen. She gives a tough-as-nails performance, spitting her lines in a manner not unlike the actresses in John Waters' early films. Other stand-outs include Louis Quinn as a cynical promoter and Alan Vint doing a hilarious take on the "roommate's boyfriend" character. It's an obvious attempt to cash in on Kansas City Bomber (apparently started while KCB was still in production) replacing Raquel Welch's vulnerability with Claudia Jennings' unapologetic approach and ladling on plenty of sleaze. So what's not to like?
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mossgrymk8 October 2021Respectfully disagree with the previous reviewer, pmtelefon, who says this film "runs out of gas" in the last half hour. Sorry, but in my opinion it never runs into gas. Scenes that should have an impact...the conflict between Karen and Mickey, Karen's troubled relationship with a male skater, her visit to her mom, her best friend choosing not to live with her, and the final denouement where she cracks up...fail to deliver on any emotional level due to the general lack of acting, writing, and directorial ability. So what we're left with is Claudia Jennings' bod, which is sexy as hell, a well depicted atmosphere of working class raunchiness that is as essential to roller derby as the smell of hot dogs are to baseball and a few laughs. Give it a C.
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(1972) The Unholy Rollers DRAMA
Co-written and directed by Vernon Zimmerman, a roller derby movie released three months later after "Kansas City Bomber" starring Rachel Welch, except "The Unholy Rollers" is an exploitation film executive produced by Roger Cormon. And like all exploitation films, the acting are always secondary as opposed to the action, nudity, the corny tough dialogue and shocking moments. In this one it's the nudity and objective rough scenes how the central character had been treated by others.
At the opening show cases a roller derby competition, showcasing the roaring crowd, with a blonde woman being one of the amongst the spectators. And we then see this same young woman, Karen Walker (Claudia Jennings) back at work chatting with a co-worker about her experience, at a cat food factory, she is then being sexually harassed by her supervisor after pushing for a raise. Because her supervisor made more unwanted physical advances toward her she then rebels and wrecks the canning line before walking out of the factory for good. When she comes home, we then see she lives with a young couple, Donna (Candice Roman) and her boyfriend, Greg (Alan Vint), and she tells them she has just quit her job and wanting do a try out with the derby. And by the time Karen makes it in, she begins to clash or create hostility with fellow teammates, particularly with Mickey (Betty Anne Rees) as she used to be the current front runner of the team called "LA Avengers" who they often battle it out with the San Diego Demons. Besides being involved with an already married man, named Nick (Jay Varela), she begins to let her ego get the better of her pushing her friends as well as love ones aside, who continues to push the envelope.
When it comes to an exploitation movie, I think I liked it as much as the other exploitation movies can be whether it be "Foxy Brown", "Dolemite or "Caged Fury" to name a few where the exploitation themes is supposed to stand out than the acting and production budget, waking this one I was able to watch throughout. Interesting enough is the Martin Scorsese on screen credit where the version I saw says that the movie was edited by him but upon looking at the credits on here, it says he was part of the editing department as supervising editor. -
JasparLamarCrabb28 November 2014Despite the presence of the electrifying Claudia Jennings, director Vernon Zimmerman's roller derby movie is as dull as they come. There's very little wit or even excitement in this film. Jennings is a factory worker who chucks her job and joins the derby circuit. She becomes a star and has to ward off the advances of creepy team-mates (both male and female) and deal with her white trash mother (Kathleen Freeman). There's no more to the plot than that. The editing was supervised by Martin Scorsese and the supporting cast includes Roberta Collins and Alan Vint. Vint brings some empty headed swagger to his role. The music is by bubble gum pop king Bobby Hart. This is one of only a handful of starring roles for Jennings, who died much too young in 1979.
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Eegah Guy11 April 2002ROLLERBALL was too pretentious and KANSAS CITY BOMBER was too lightweight. This is the real deal! If you love the lowbrow sport of roller derby or are just a fan of Minnesota-born Claudia Jennings (in her first starring role) then this film is a must-see! Raunchy and violent just like the women-in-prison films that Roger Corman was also pumping out at the time (in fact many of the supporting cast were also appearing in those WIP films). Sure this film has the novelty value of having Martin Scorsese's name in the credits but there's much to enjoy in the film besides looking for his editorial hand with an anarchic non-ending that just seemed perfect.
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morrison-dylan-fan9 January 2016Taking a look at a Shout Factory boxset that a family friend had picked up,I was happy to spot a title with Claudia Jennings,which led to me getting set to put on his skates and catch a glimpse of Jennings for the first time.
The plot:
Leaving her job behind, Karen Walker goes to join a roller-derby team.Displaying a dazzling charisma from her debut match,the manager decides to make Walker the star player.Due to roller-derby being a pre-determined sport,Walker is told that she must talk to her fellow teammates and the rival players about all the moves that she has planned.Enjoying the attention that she is getting from the fans,Walker begins improvising moves and attacks on the track,which leads to the team starting to roll away from Walker.
View on the film:
Rolling across the screen,the gorgeous Claudia Jennings gives a very good performance as Walker,who Jennings crosses a mix of sexy frolics (which gives her the chance to appear naked)with a joyfully rebellious streak,as a wide smile is cast across Jennings face every time she ignores her teammates wishes.Offering Martin Scorsese an early credit as a supervising editor,co-writer/(along with Howard R. Cohen) director Vernon Zimmerman & cinematographer Michael Shea push the viewer into the middle of the matches,as first person tracking shots allow the viewer to feel every roll and shove on the track,as Walker reveals herself to be an unholy roller. -
planktonrules18 September 2021Karen (Claudia Jennings) is an angry, trashy woman who is sick of bosses hitting on her at her job at the cat food factory. After quitting, she answers a call for folks interested in joining a roller derby queen. She makes the team and is very good....but her nastiness and lack of team spirit make her a pariah on the team.
This Roger Corman production is just plain trashy. There is a lot of gratuitous nudity, violence and awful people. In fact, you probably won't like ANYONE in this film. It isn't helped by the nonsensical ending where Karen runs amok...a scene you just have to see to believe. Overall, the film is full of amateurish acting, lots of boobs and is pure cheese. For a better derby film, try the original "Rollerball" or, perhaps, "The Kansas City Bomber". -
azathothpwiggins13 July 2021From the dank sub-sub-basement of athletic entertainment, somewhere beneath 1970's "Big Time Wrestling", came the sweaty phenomenon known as "Roller Derby". Combining elements from wrestling, roller skating, and Australian football, this "sport" barely made a blip on the radar screen of life.
However, it did have its own particular audience, including a 9 year old yours truly, tuning in every Saturday night to watch these raucous rollers' riotous escapades! Especially entertaining were the females of the game, as their violent behavior was quite shocking for the era.
In 1972, ever vigilant for the next $1.98 exploitation vehicle, Producer Roger Corman made THE UNHOLY ROLLERS for the hordes of drive-in devotees.
Starring the unbelievably-hot Claudia Jennings as Karen Walker, ROLLERS excels at recreating the cheeeze-tinged, white trash goodness of actual derby competition.
When Karen quits her job at a cat food factory and tries out for The Avengers RD team, she's accepted immediately. Horrible rock and roll music, nudity, and mayhem ensue.
It's important to keep in mind that this movie is not a Greek tragedy. So, don't go into it looking for anything other than painful dialogue, heinous acting, and general idiocy.
Claudia Jennings fans fear not, for she's in almost every scene!
While nowhere near as exciting as ROLLERBALL, nor as dramatic as THE KANSAS CITY BOMBER, this movie does capture the low-rent spectacle in all of its half-wit glory.
Be sure to remain seated for the smash-bang-boom of the "wild in the streets" finale... -
SnoopyStyle25 December 2017Karen Walker is tired of the grabby pervert supervisor at her crappy cannery job. She quits and joins the roller derby. She clashes with team leader Mickey Martinez.
This is a bit of the exploitation genre. It's cheesy, amateurish, and surprisingly funny at times. There is only so much before it gets boring. The story is nothing special. The acting is strictly amateur hour. Former playmate of the year Claudia Jennings has the prerequisite energy to lead but not much in terms of acting skills. They try for inventive camera work. This is probably better than most exploitation films but that's a slight compliment. -
robfollower29 March 2024A masterpiece of bad taste ! An exaggerated celebration of the roller derby lifestyle. I liked the lowbrow sport of roller derby when I was a youth growing up in the 70's ! I was a very accomplished roller skater in my own right in 1974 -1979 . I had a special blue Roller Rink Jacket from the rink that was embroidered Skate City .
I was also an alpine ski-racer and bigtime skateboarder . My point is that I took my Kryptonics from Boulder Co. Was founded in 1965 and originally manufactured polyurethane products for the mining and computer industry. In the mid-1970s, the company introduced the Kryptonics Star Trac line of wheels that drastically changed the functionality of skateboards. I put my Kryptonics wheels on my roller skates and would jam out of the Skate City in door rink at a local hard core cement skate board park ! My wheels that outperformed the competition. I was an extremely ballsy preteen 😝 These Roller Derby Jam Straps/Skate straps would help with control of fast torque and speed.
Unholy Rollers..... Raunchy , violent , hard, fast, and vulgar ! This is trash cinema at its finest !
"A locker room look at the toughest broads in the world!"
The film's low budget limitations lend added authenticity to its depiction of this seedy American pastime !! Loved it 7.5/10 Karen wants more action out of life and quits her job at the cannery to become a skater in the roller derby. She encounters friction from the other skaters - especially Mickey, the current number one star of the team. Karen proves herself a feisty competitor but refuses to be a team player. As she skates her way to roller stardom, she incurs the wrath of jealous team members and the owner of the team.
FUN FACT! Martin Scorsese was a supervising editor on this film, the year before "Mean Streets" was released.
Roller derby became popular in the 1940s and 1965, and by the 1970s, the International Roller Derby League (IRDL) was at its peak. The IRDL featured regional teams like the Midwest Pioneers and Northeast Braves, and in 1971, over 19,000 people attended a championship game. However, the league ceased operations in 1973, and roller derby eventually became scripted entertainment with predetermined outcomes.
Just Orderd DVD !!! -
pmtelefon22 September 2021The first hour of "The Unholy Rollers" is a lot of fun. I'm a fan of roller derby (flat track). I go see the Long Island Roller Rebels play once a year. (It's not crazy like it is in this movie but it's still a fun night out.) Most of "The Unholy Rollers" is a hoot. It has a pretty story and a ton of nudity. Even though I wasn't really sure what was going on anymore towards the end, I'm still glad I saw it. "The Unholy Rollers" is now my third favorite roller derby movie behind "Whip It" and "Kansas City Bomber". Honorable mention: a dreamy Claudia Jennings' topless speech.
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The late, great, sorely missed Claudia Jennings, the one and only breath-takingly beauteous blonde goddess of deliciously down'n'dirty 70's drive-in cinema, is in typically perky, savvy, sexy and splendidly resilient form as Karen Walker, a feisty, recalcitrant former factory worker who becomes an especially tough, ruthless, fearsome and hugely popular roller derby star, greatly adored by fans and vehemently despised by her fellow roller derby players (said players include members of her own team!). Alas, Karen's time in the spotlight proves to be fleeting, due equally to her soon out-of-control over-sized ego and the loutish blue collar audience's unreliably fickle taste for flash-in-the-pan heroines.
An authentically grubby'n'grungy grind-house slice-of-rowdy-lowlife character study centering on a terrifically trashy sports phenomenon that was immensely faddish in the early 70's, "Unholy Rollers" sure hits the righteously roughhouse dirtball spot, thanks to Claudia's raw charisma, commanding screen presence and undeniable smoking hot pulchritude. Vernon Zimmerman's fast, spiffy direction, working from a funny, nicely eventful and suitably lowbrow script by veteran schlock movie scribe Howard Cohen (who also wrote such choice cheese as "Deathstalker" and "Space Raiders" for Roger Corman), keeps the picture hopping along at a quick, breezy clip, capturing the funky working class milieu in affectionately vivid detail while still delivering satisfyingly ample amounts of sex, nudity, violence (the dynamic roller derby sequences seriously smoke, going all out with dirty body checks, illegal kicks and punches, volatile umpire and manager brawls, and a truly wild'n'raucous anything-goes gut-busting riot ending -- y'know, the whole gnarly nine yards, baby), and raunchy humor. The top-rate B-movie cast includes luscious blonde 70's exploitation flick perennial Roberta Collins as nasty rival Jennifer, the adorable Candice Roman of "The Big Bird Cage" as Claudia's endearingly ditsy stripper best friend Donna, "Macon County Line" 's Alan Vint as Donna's dim-bulb beau Greg, Jerry Lewis film regular Kathleen Freeman as Claudia's gruff, hard-nosed trailer park white-trash mother, and tough guy character actor Vic Argo in a really amusing bit as Vinnie the trainer. Executive produced by Roger Corman, with sharp, fluid editing by Martin Scorsese and a nifty, jazzy, junky score by Bobby Hart, "Unholy Rollers" makes the grade with flying gaudy colors as a simply super serving of wonderfully wacky'n'tacky 70's exploitation sleaze at its most sensationally snappy and exuberant. -
How can anyone not like this super cheap, corny, down-market effort riding on the success of Raquel Welch's big studio "Kansas City Bomber"? But this is the raw, real deal. Playmate and B movie queen Claudia Jennings is a young working-class girl with ambitions of fame and fortune as a roller derby queen. To do so she must fight to the top, both figuratively and literally, desperately looking for love along the way. Of course, all of her competition is equally attractive. Louis Quinn is amusing as their manager, obsessed with "Showmanship" above all. Kathleen Freeman (Mother Superior in "Blues Brothers") plays Miss Jennings' mom, briefly and beautifully, and Alan Limt (Macon County Line) is her girlfriend's boyfriend. Lots of mirth and mayhem on the rink from a rogues' gallery freakshow of secondary characters . No SAG paid extras here, all the audience are honest to goodness real life rabid derby fans. The poster says "A Locker Room Look at the Toughest Broads in the World" Damn straight!
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From executive producer Roger Corman comes this energetic ode to the lively and exploitative sport of roller derby, focusing on one team, the L.A. Avengers, and their newest acquisition, a former cannery employee named Karen Walker (70's drive-in picture goddess Claudia Jennings). Karen quickly becomes a fan favourite with her moves and picks up some endorsement deals in the bargain. But not everybody is rooting for Karen. She finds a rival in the bitchy Mickey (Betty Anne Rees, "Sugar Hill"), and her reign as queen of the roller derby circuit is eventually challenged by up and comer Beverly Brayton (Charlene Jones).
Jennings makes the most of her vibrant role (and yes, she shows us some of the goods); her performance is exuberant and engaging. The supporting cast is packed with some familiar faces and is likewise entertaining to watch: Candice Roman ("The Big Bird Cage") as Karens' best friend Donna, Alan Vint ("Macon County Line") as Donnas' boyfriend Greg, Roberta Collins ("Death Race 2000") as Karens' teammate Jennifer, Louis Quinn ('77 Sunset Strip') as team owner Mr. Stern, Joe E. Tata ('Beverly Hills, 90210') as Sterns' son-in-law Marshall, Jerry Lewis foil Kathleen Freeman in a cameo as Karens' mother, John Steadman ("The Longest Yard" '74) as a guard, Dan Seymour ("Key Largo") as a used car dealer, Victor Argo ("Bad Lieutenant") as the trainer, Hunter von Leer ("Halloween II" '81) as a thief, and Rick Hurst ('The Dukes of Hazzard') as a mover.
Vernon Zimmerman ("Fade to Black" '80) made his fictional feature film directing debut here, working from a screenplay by Howard R. Cohen ("Saturday the 14th"), and gives the viewer an eyeful of the go-for-broke crazy atmosphere of the sport. The action is often breathless, and the pacing very effective. Particularly impressive are the editing (supervised by a young Martin Scorsese) the costumes (by Cornelia McNamara), and the camera-work (by Scott Lloyd-Davies and Arthur R. Botham). Kendall Schmidt ("Neon Maniacs") composed the score. The colourful characters such as Angie Striker (Maxine Gates) and Horace McKay (John Mitchell) add to the fun. The final act is quite rousing as the spectators get into the act, and in the end there is a message about how people can't remain on top of the world forever.
Must viewing for any Claudia Jennings fan.
Eight out of 10. -
sonya9002828 December 2008Unholy Rollers is an action-packed drama, spotlighting the sport of Roller Derby. When this film was released in 1972, Roller Derby was at the zenith of it's popularity with the public.
Be forewarned, this definitely doesn't qualify as a P.C. movie, by any means. Like most B movies from the 70s, it's chocked full of stereotypical characters; lecherous male chauvinist pigs, dumb blond women, a lust-crazed lesbian, negligent store clerks, etc.
The film has B movie queen Claudia Jennings in the starring role, as Karen Walker. Karen is a gorgeous, buxom young woman, working at a dull job in a cat food cannery. For fun, Karen loves going to see her favorite local Roller Derby team, the LA Avengers.
Meanwhile, Karen gets tired of fending-off the unwanted sexual harassment, of her sleazy supervisor. Fed-up, she throws a can of cat food in his face, then quits in disgust. Without any other job prospects lined-up, Karen decides to try out for the LA Avengers team.
Karen makes the team, then reports to the team doctor, for her physical. The doctor turns-out to be mainly interested in ogling Karen's bod, after she strips-down to her undies for the physical. The doc gives Karen a clean bill-of-health. She then gets her Avenger uniform, and reports to the rink for her first game.
Karen gets off to a rip-roaring start, during her first game as an Avenger. She displays lots of colorful showmanship. The team Owner, Mr. Stern, likes Karen's skating style. In the locker room after the game though, Karen's teammates caution her to skate according to the team rules.
The Avenger's star skater, Mickey Martinez, gleefully teases Karen about her skirt that she wears. Mickey eggs-on the others, including the team's coach, to join in. Karen takes offense. But she's told by another teammate, Jennifer, not to take it seriously. Jennifer then invites Karen to join the rest of the team, for drinks at a local seedy bar. Wanting to be accepted by the others, Karen goes along.
Once at the bar, Karen is approached by Mickey again. Mickey is the lesbian character, and she makes amorous advances towards Karen. Karen gets belligerent with Mickey, telling Mickey to get lost. Feeling insulted, Mickey wants to 'teach Karen a lesson'. So, Mickey and some of the other Avengers, pin Karen to a pool table, tearing off all of her clothes. Naked and furious, Karen gives them all a brutal tongue-lashing. Especially Mickey, who she vows to get even with.
With vengeance, and a thirst for fame driving her, Karen quickly rises to the top of the Avengers team roster. Karen even beats Mickey's scoring record, eclipsing Mickey to become the Avenger's new number one skater. But fame and glory go to Karen's head. She refuses to be a team player, or follow orders by the team's Owner. Soon, Karen is headed for a fall. And she learns the hard way that, star or not, she's as expendable as any other skater in the league.
This film is jam-packed with lots of flashy skating footage, ribald humor, violent fights on the track, and an overall sense of raunchy debauchery. The bitter rivalry between Karen and Mickey, is the meatiest plot-line in the film. There's just not much else about the movie, that holds the viewer's interest.
Claudia Jennings performance as Karen Walker, is brilliant. Claudia had a wholesome, all-American cheerleader kind of beauty. Yet she manages to make the violent, ruffian qualities of Karen Walker completely believable.
Betty Anne Rees, was the perfect choice to play Karen's nemesis, Mickey Martinez. Betty was born with the face of a villain. It has lots of severe, razor-sharp angles, and looks like an abscessed tooth feels-painfully evil.
Unholy rollers is wild roller-coaster ride, through the rough-and-tumble world of 70s Roller Derby. It's destined to go down in history, as one of the biggest cult B movies, of all time. It's a must-see, for any 70s B movie fan. -
BandSAboutMovies9 April 2018There was a time that roller derby was one of the most popular sports on UHF TV, vying with pro wrestling for ratings and attendance. And much like its cousins in the squared circle, it had predetermined finishes and storylines. Don't blame me for breaking kayfabe - Unholy Rollers does this right off the bat, explaining how everything has to go according to the game plan and how fights and falls really work!
Karen (Claudia Jennings, Truck Stop Women, 'Gator Bait) wants a better life than working in a canning factory, but has no idea how to do so until she discovers the glamourous and oh so dangerous world of roller derby (there was a rival film that followed a similar storyline, Kansas City Bomber starring Racquel Welch).
Unlike any other rags to riches story you've ever watched, Karen might be the hero, but she's a horrible person. She uses and abuses everyone in her way. And the fact that she becomes a star by going against the script goes to her head, leading to her never listening to anyone.
Along the way, Karen battles her team's star, Mickey Martinez (Betty Anne Rees, Sugar Hill), a tough, muscular lesbian who comes on to her. This leads to the entire team stripping Karen in a bar and her having an affair with the team captain, Nick. That affair starts with her riding on his motorcycle, shooting his gun at LA landmarks and then kicking his ass on the track and then getting ass on said track.
And the ending! Karen knows she's on the way out, so she flips out on everyone. Her opponents, her team, the audience, cars in the parking lot and even raises her fist to the police as the credits roll.
This is a grimy, tough little movie with plenty of fun to be had. Roberta Collins (Death Race 2000, Eaten Alive) is in it and so is Joe E. Tata (Nat from the Beverly Hills, 90210 Peach Pit). It's directed by Vernon Zimmerman, who also wrote Teen Witch and directed Fade to Black. And its editor? Martin Scorsese! -
VerhoHo12 October 1998This is actually a good film. I recommend it for any fans of b-movies/exploitation, or for those who (like myself) remember watching the female roller fights on TV in the 70's and 80's. The plot of this film is very similar to SHOWGIRLS, with an antagonistic, unlikable main character. Believe it or not, the film was edited by the future director of RAGING BULL...
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Wizard-828 October 2003This was an attempt by American-International Pictures to cash in on the publicity for the highly publicized KANSAS CITY BOMBER, also released in 1972. Actually, it's more like Roger Corman's attempt to do so, because while A.I.P. footed the bill, it was a Corman show all the way (even though he had already started his own movie company/distribution outfit, New World Pictures, two years earlier.) In fact, it has the same look and sparse production values as New World movies of the earlier '70s, making you wonder if A.I.P. gave Corman little to spend, or if Corman pocketed a lot of the budget.
Whatever the case, the end result is pretty boring to sit though, despite the showcased sport (roller derby) and the presence of B movie queen Claudia Jennings. The first few minutes aren't bad, promising an energetic and wacky look at the behind-the-scenes of roller derby, but then the movie suddenly takes a turn to the deadly serious. Sure, there are catfights, nudity, and clobberings on the roller ring, but there's no feeling of fun to it all. Actually, much of the movie focuses on boring bickering and chattering between the characters. To make matters worse, the print of the movie currently playing on cable eliminates the original music score and substitutes bland muzak that results in the viewing experience becoming more of a slog to get through.