QT helps Hell Ride

Even without his own movie attached, Quentin Tarantino’s name alone definitely carries some weight — you probably wouldn’t see movies like HERO and IRON MONKEY making it to theaters otherwise, and having it emblazoned all over advertisements probably didn’t hurt the success of HOSTEL.

Now QT is using his nomenclature and applicable clout to assist Rat Packer offspring Larry Bishop, a former “grindhouse” movie star himself (and strip club owner in Tarantino’s KILL BILL). Bishop’s HELL RIDE, a low-budget “blood and sex-soaked tale of motorcycle revenge and retribution”, will come preceded with “Quentin Tarantino presents” (which you have to assume now holds more value than, say, Wes Craven or John Carpenter).

In addition to writing, directing and co-producing, Bishop will star as a biker named Pistolero, “who along with his brother The Gent and Comanche, hit the road to avenge the death of Pistolero’s old lady Cherokee Kisum by the 666ers, a rival motorcycle gang.” Which almost sounds more grindhouse than GRINDHOUSE (Bishop starred in several biker movies in the late ’60s and early ’70s, including THE SAVAGE SEVEN, ANGEL UNCHAINED and CHROME AND HOT LEATHER).

The project has been in the works for a couple of years but will now finally rev its engines in April. Michael Madsen was originally set to co-star as The Gent, but it’s unknown if he can fit it into his current schedule of straight-to-video garbage.