KNIGHTRIDERS

A raucous, tenderhearted, defiantly eccentric look at the pressures faced by artists and other outsiders, George Romero’s KNIGHTRIDERS stars a young Ed Harris as the leader of a group of LARPing modern knights who ride motorcycles instead of horses. Written and directed by Romero, it was released just three years after the biggest success of his career, 1978’s DAWN OF THE DEAD, and was a commercial as well as critical bomb. But the world was wrong! KNIGHTRIDERS is one of Romero’s greatest films and it bears his fascination with turning small communities into microcosms of America at large. Tackling such issues as masculine role-playing, women’s rights, queerness, police ethics, and the pressure placed on creative people to join a corrupt and reactionary system that they have no choice but to depend on for their livelihood - and it’s all anchored by a staggering amount of insane motorcycle stunts. Camelot is a state of mind.