Chillbunnys Coming To Choppertown

Whether you ride solo, with your man, have a rad vehicle or just simply dig the lifestyle, you’re good to party with the Chillbunnys. Created out of pure love of the lifestyle tand community, the bunnys welcome anyone and everyone who is interested in custom culture.

Based in the foothills of the Carolinas, the Chillbunnys came together through one common thread, that thread was Danielle Nigro and her boyfriend Jason Darnell aka “The Chillbilly”. What started off as a joke soon became a fast-growing business, with a clothing line and a community of people interested in the same things. One thing to get clear, this is not a biker group nor is this a van club. This is a community of people that love the lifestyle and culture and support each other while having a good time. Danielle, is what you would call the head bunny, the idea woman, or the cat herder. The group started in NC but now has bunnys from all around the U.S. including Texas, Idaho, Utah, and South Carolina. Chillbunnys merch embodies everything they’re about and appreciate, using artists that are well-established in the culture, to have an even more authentic feel to their shirts and merch. They are also big supporters of not only this community, but other local businesses and brands, using their following to promote and support other rad people and businesses.

The great part about this community is that anyone can be a part of it. If you ride, that’s great! If you ride with your man, killer! If you have a rad van or classic vehicle, we can dig that too. Even if you don’t do any of that, and just appreciate the culture and lifestyle, you can hang with us. The one requirement is you have to know how to chill to be a bunny or a billy. Wanna meet or be a part of the group? Follow the Chillbunnys on instagram at @Chillbunnys to keep up with new merch releases and all the girls. Make sure to come out to all the events they will be at. Choppertown Live in Sarasota, Florida, will be their first event of the year. Check ‘em out on February 19 – 21 at the Sarasota Fairgrounds. They will also be helping out with the Power & Sound Revival on May 22nd, in Julian, North Carolina. Keep your eye out for more events that the Chillbunnys will be attending and hosting.

MEET THE CHILLBUNNYS AT CHOPPERTOWN LIVE THUNDER BY THE BAY! FEBRUARY 19-21

“Look, Charlie! We’ve had enough of your kind of help! Three hundred years of your bull_*_! From now on, we take care of our own!” hisses “Knifer,” black leader of The Choppers, a “diverse” biker gang squatting in Southern California. Knifer’s fed up with being stalked by Lieutenant Harper, a slender, black-clad law officer and member of the “white establishment.”

So sets the rebellious tone of the critically mixed 1970 biker romp The Black Angels, a lesser-known but relevant slice of the vintage “Bikersploition” era. What’s surprising about the film is despite the title’s nod to “Blaxploitation,” the drama/action primarily concerns a lily-white biker gang: the deliciously monikered Satan’s Serpents.

“Chainer” is the leader of Satan’s Serpents and dead-ringer for Peter Fonda. His fate is sealed when he lures Jimmy, a black rival member of The Choppers, into a perilous motorcycle jump that doesn’t end well. Chainer’s forced to confront The Choppers with Jimmy’s grim news that sets off a cleverly clandestine revenge spree.

The Black Angels become a slow-burning showdown between Satan’s Serpents and The Choppers with the coppers led by Harper (The Black Angel), monitoring every move. A mysterious stranger in a Hardee hat called Johnny Reb cycles into the Serpent’s compound: an ancient western ghost town. Reb loads the gang up with LSD and quickly earns their trust – except for one skeptic – “Frenchy,” an upwardly mobile second-in-command figure with a great set of teeth (“choppers” – get it?). Frenchy, hot-tempered and no-nonsense has a line on Reb, but is he simply a free-wheelin’ Confederate with animosity toward colored folk, or does he have a more nefarious purpose?

Amusing subplots of The Black Angels involve the aforementioned Lt. Harper and Chainer’s queer relationship with a masochistic, blonde girlfriend who berates him in order to get slapped, giggling wildly as she’s “punished.” “Do I get a spanking and go to bed with no dinner?” she nudges as she drives her high-heel into Chainer’s foot. He slaps her repeatedly, and she bites him. He calls her a “slumming nympho.” “Nympho maybe, slumming definitely! And I love every minute of it! Just tell me when! When! WHEN!!!” she pants in sizzling sexual exasperation! He then makes love to her in a restaurant while a go-go dancer gyrates.

Flashbacks pepper the story along, garnishing a backstory that explains the origins of Jimmy’s black supremacist hatred toward whitey. Another far more explicit flashback cruelly examines the assault of a young white woman who’s a self-proclaimed racist at the hands of two black men. The blonde, well-endowed Sacramentan is chained up and raped at knifepoint, while spewing racial slurs and spitting at her heartless tormentors.

As a director, Laurence Merrick displays hits of true creativity and at times innovation. The chase scenes, though overlong, are wellexecuted and the roar of the bikes really becomes a character in itself. He incorporates fast-motion and a dizzying multitude of camera angles as the cycles speed by, one wonders how he was able to film this in only fourteen days! The acting is above-average for a B-picture, and it’s amazing how many actors he found who could ride really nice-looking choppers.

Horror fans will note co-star James Whitworth who was “Jupiter” in the late Wes Craven’s 1977 super-shocker The Hills Have Eyes. Whitworth plays Satan’s Serpent “Big Jim,” who early in the picture gets urinated on by smart-aleck Frenchy. Gritty director Laurence Merrick was an acting teacher whose student was the tragic, iconic beauty, Sharon Tate.

The Black Angels is an exploitation film with bizarre relationships to the Charles Manson “Family” cult murders. While The Black Angels was in production in August of 1969, members of “The Family” begged for leftover catered food. There was an obvious fascination, so director Merrick visited the Spahn Ranch, where The Family squatted and shoot 16mm footage of their hedonistic, drug-tinged lifestyle, including interviews. This occurred both before and after the Tate/LaBianca murders. Merrick would later utilize the footage in his 1973 Academy Award-nominated documentary Manson.

Highly recommended for vintage biker movie fans. I encourage all bikers to discover or revisit these great older cult movies. I happened upon this movie on the online subscription service Night Flight Plus. Old-timers may remember Night Flight as a hit counterculture show back in the 1980s and the early days of cable TV. Their online shelves are stocked with luscious drive-in and grindhouse favorites. The Black Angels is also available on DVD from Something Weird (Video).

Andy Lalino-Movie Review