Those who are old
enough may remember the British TV show "Boon", about a Motorcycle courier firm, which aired on the ITV
network between the mid-80s and early 90s. Well one evening, a bunch of the cast and crew members from the show
got drunk and thought it would be a good idea to make a horror film. The result was "I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle".
The film primarily revolves around motorcycle enthusiast Nick Oddie, or Noddy to his friends (as played by British TV actor Neil Morrisey), who purchases a Norton motorcycle from a second hand dealer. What he doesn't know though is that the previous owner was killed by a rival bike gang during a satanic ritual and the bike is now possessed by his spirit.
Noddy first realises something isn't quite right when he goes to take it out for a spin and finds it will only start up after dark. Then he discovers the bike clearly has a mind all of its own, as it forces him to plough straight through the evil biker gang that we saw at the start of the film and run them off the road. The bike then goes off on its own, and proceeding on murderous rampage. Bumping off members of the gang that killed its former owner, along with anyone else that crosses it.
Realising he's in over his head, he enlists the help of a local priest (played by Star Wars actor Anthony Daniels) to try and exorcise the evil spirits from it. Which proves no easy task, as the bike continues to wreak havoc on the roads, whilst both the police and bike gang come after Noddy as they think he is behind all the mayhem.
Made on a low budget, the film was primarily made up of the cast of "Boon". Most notably Neil Morrisey, who played 'Rocky' in the series, and Michael Elphick, who played Ken Boon, who turns up here as a police inspector along with other cast memebers, who turn up in minor roles. Whilst other cast members, such as Daniel Peacock and Anthony Daniels were friends of the producers.
With a title like "I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle" you just know what you're going to get. The movie is exceptionally silly, but is actually quite good fun. It actually works better viewed as a comedy than a horror, though that's not to say it doesn't have its fair share of gore. There's also hilarious scene where Noddy and his girlfriend are battling the gang of bikers in a medieval themed pub and a truly bizarre dream sequence featuring a talking poo, that's years ahead of South Park.
So if you like horror comedies, then I would definitely recommend this to you.
