I found this short film in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I remember seeing the image of a character wearing a military cap and smoking a cigarette, and I was intrigued by the title, so I hoped for something good. Basically the film sees a group of homosexual Nazi bikers getting ready for a night out, building their bikes, dressing themselves in leather, and partaking in a cult night out, with pain and pleasure. There is no dialogue in the film, but there are flashes of footage from The Wild One with Marlon Brando and Cecil B. DeMille's religious epic King of Kings with Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus Christ, and the editing moves with the rhythm of the rock and roll soundtrack, including Bobby Vinton – "Blue Velvet", Elvis Presley – "(You're the) Devil in Disguise", Ray Charles – "Hit the Road Jack", The Crystals – "He's a Rebel", and Surfaris – "Wipe Out". Starring Bruce Byron as Scorpio, Johnny Sapienza as Taurus, Frank Carifi as Leo, Bill Dorfman as The Back, John Palone as Pinstripe and Ernie Allo as Joker. It is a very simple film, gay bikers getting ready for a night on the town and masochism, the key themes of the film are the occult, biker subculture, homosexuality, Catholicism, and Nazism, so it is a tasteless film in many ways, but that makes it all the more interesting, a surprisingly watchable short underground experimental film. Very good!
Review of Scorpio Rising
