Deathmaster (1972)

What could’ve been a scathing takedown of both hippie culture and new-age philosophical mumbo-jumbo takes ages to get going. Aside from a mesmerizing, wordless opening, it moves along at a snail’s pace. 

The forever-blazed hippies seem non-plussed when Robert Quarry’s mysterious spiritual leader literally disappears into thin air: “Man, that cat’s something else.” A lone biker dude has a much better idea than lounging about: “I’m going into town for some steak and whiskey!”

A little kung fu, a lot of blabbering later, the fangs finally come out and a bit of plot ensues, but it’s all far too dated and hokey to be taken seriously. This, despite having a surprisingly bleak and very tragic ending that nearly buys back much of the lost goodwill.