Far from cowed, humiliated and subserviant, Karen gets off the table and proceeds to berate the girl, telling her to take a good look at what a fine body she'll never get her hands on. When Karen bats her off yet again, she gets most of the team to hold her down and rip her clothes off (except for undies) on a pool table, as some kind of initiation rite. When they all go out to a bar, the friction comes to a head between Karen and her female harrasser. There's tensions in the locker room, and one of the female team seems to have a problem with Karen, teasing her about her dress-sense and attitude. It's not an easy group of people to find a place in, though. Kind of like wrestling on wheels! After an appointment with a sleazy doctor who may not be a doctor and just wants to see her naked - he gets as far as her undies - Karen undaunted joins the team. The main gist of the sequence, though, is to show that Roller Derby is more theatre than reality, and that the Rollers need to engage in staged fights to entertain the masses. Something about gaining points by passing your opponents. There's a subsequent training scene that tries to explain what Roller Derby is all about, but I couldn't catch half of it.
After a comical tryout session with all sorts of bumbling goons getting ejected from the session, she impresses the boss, Mister Stern (Louis Quinn), enough with her skating style, and gets a place. On a whim, Karen tries out for a place in the Avengers. Our Karen is an aggressive gal when crossed! When they go to a supermarket later and are snubbed by the girl at the cashier, Karen sends a display of cans all over the shop floor. When Karen comes home she find her stripper room-mate and boyfriend having sex, but she's more concerned with getting a new job. She then smears some of the gunk in the sleazy boss's face. In a rage, she puts the conveyor belt into overdrive and sends cans of muck careening all over the factory. When the obnoxious old floor manager gropes her and tries to put her in her place, Karen's a tough nut and won't take anything from anyone. It's a small relief though, from her mundane job at a cannery. Karen Walker (Claudia) likes watching the local Roller Derby team, the Avengers, beat the hell out of each other and entertain the masses. Are we looking at a classic of the exploitation genre that's a must-see for all you Girls, Guns and Ghoulsers? This virtually plotless film does provide a lot of low-brow entertainment, and certainly anyone with a hint of a Claudia Jennings fetish will have to track it down. The spunk and aggression she conveys here shows quite a talent, and an acting passion beyond merely showing off her admittedly fine body. After watching The Unholy Rollers, I'm convinced star Claudia Jennings could have become quite a screen actress even beyond her youth. As she skates her way to roller stardom, she incurs the wrath of envious team members and the owner of the team.With Roller Derby seemingly undergoing some kind of resurgence in 2007, the time seems apt to take a look at this little epic from producer Roger Corman. Karen proves herself a feisty competitor but refuses to be a team player. She encounters friction from the other skaters - especially Mickey, the current number one star of the team. Karen wants more action out of life and quits her job at the cannery to become a skater in the roller derby.Film Editing by Martin Scorsese (Supervisor), George Trirogoff, Yeu-Bun Yee.Produced by Jack Bohrer, Roger Corman, John Prizer.Starring: Claudia Jennings, Louis Quinn, Betty Anne Rees, Roberta Collins.Production & Distribution by American International Pictures.
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