Plot: Trace (Gary Watkins) is a hard ass loner in the wastelands, but he still has a soft spot for his sister, Arlie (Lynda Wiesmeier). She is a beautiful young woman with a good heart, but she has terrible taste in men. Trace lets her make her own decisions, but does check in on her from time to time. The two cross paths at a fighting arena, where Arlie’s new boyfriend is a competitor and the stakes are quite high, as if he loses, Arlie loses her beloved car. When the other fighter cheats, Trace has to step in and all hell breaks loose and a chase soon follows. Trace separates from his sister’s car to split up the pursuers, but her car is hunted down. She is stripped and tied to the hood of a car, while her boyfriend is humiliated and dragged behind a car. Trace is unable to arrive in time, but he isn’t about to let the thugs keep his sister as a prisoner. If he is to rescue her however, he will need to assemble some friends, but even with a hand selected squad of skilled warriors, can he take down the powerful clan?

Entertainment Value: This is another post apocalyptic adventure from Roger Corman and Cirio Santiago, a fun Mad Max rip off that always entertains. The premise is simple, as a man has to rescue his sister and to that, he has to find some allies and conquer an entire clan of wasteland punks. This opens up all the kind of action you want from this kind of flick, with car chases, shoot outs, fist fights, and of course, a topless woman bound to the hood of a car. Now this is a low budget take on the post nuke genre, so the action isn’t as polished or well staged, but I love these Corman wasteland pictures, they just have such a raw, dusty texture. The cast is fine, with seedy thugs, tough guys, and bad ass chicks. While the guys still rule the roost here, it was nice to see some strong female characters as well. Wiesmeier is just eye candy, dragged topless from scene to scene, but variety is the spice of life, right? Watkins is no nonsense kind of lead, no frills but an effective hard case lead. A lot of extras in Wheels of Fire and I appreciated how colorful many of the supporting characters were, from trashy rapists to underground goblins to a kick ass midget. If you’re a fan of post apocalyptic cinema or cult films in general, Wheels of Fire should be in your collection.

As I said, Wiesmeier is topless in just about all of her scenes, so her impressive rack is showcased well here. A romantic romp in the sand also reveals another woman’s jugs, but Wiesmeier steals the show. After all, it is tough to compete with scenes where she is strapped to a car’s hood with her breasts exposed. This is the kind of scene that makes us appreciate these kind of movies, wild and crazy shit. So not a wealth of nudity, but what is here is top shelf, to be sure. Not much blood, just an old guy taking a katana to the face and a dude dragged behind a car. A lot of action though, so this one never feels slow or talky in the least. The dialogue is solid, with a lot of tough guy talk and sleazy henchman lines. While I did like the writing, I wasn’t hit with many great, home run style lines, so not a lot of quotable moments. But Arlie’s backtalk to her captors was a highlight, as she has so much spunk in those moments. On the craziness scale, we have a wild midget, a hero who kind of looks like Joe Namath, and a topless woman used as a hood ornament, which is pretty epic. Not the wildest of these Corman/Santiago post nuke flicks, but it has some moments of wildness.

Nudity: 2/10

Blood: 1/10

Dialogue: 2/10

Overall Insanity: 2/10

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