

The entire troupe gathers at Billy's funeral to say farewell to its fallen king. Immediately afterwards he is struck by an oncoming truck. While riding again, Billy, weak and hallucinatory from loss of blood from his injury, has a vision of riding an actual horse. Linet finds love with Alan.īilly leaves the troupe, accompanied by the silent eagle-crested knight, and returns to thrash the crooked cop. Angie, the troupe's mechanic, is then crowned queen by Morgan, after he realizes she is the woman he loves. Morgan is victorious, and is crowned king by Billy. Billy announces his retirement and sets forth the rules: all knights compete, and any man knocked off his motorcycle is out. However, after seeing rowdy drunken behavior in his friends, Morgan and his riders return to Billy's fair to challenge for the crown. Alan finds Morgan and helps him realize that there can only be one king and he sees about signing with Bontempi. Meanwhile, Morgan's riders succumb to infighting. Alan takes a confused and hurt Julie home to her parents. While Alan is soul searching, he realizes Julie is using him as an escape and that he really desires Billy's Queen Linet. Alan's girlfriend, Julie, has run away from home to escape her alcoholic and abusive father and her weak-willed mother. Troupe member Pippin comes to terms with his homosexuality and finds love with Punch. Billy and the remainder of the troupe settle at the fairground to await the dissidents' return. Billy's loyal supporter Alan also departs with his new girlfriend Julie and friend Bors to try to sort out his emotions. Morgan and several other riders leave the troupe to follow Bontempi. Billy defeats the Indian but aggravates his injury later commissioning the Indian as a knight in his troupe. Billy faces an Indian rider with a black eagle crest on his breast plate, the black bird of his dreams. Things come to a head after Morgan, leader of the dissident faction who believes he should be king, wins the day's tournament and a fight breaks out between the troupe and rowdy members of the crowd. His sense of betrayal is heightened when his queen, Linet, admits that her feelings for him may not be the reason she remains with the troupe. Tensions are exacerbated by Billy's constantly pushing himself despite being injured and the arrival of a promoter named Bontempi, who wants to represent the troupe.Īfter Billy spends a night in jail watching a member of his troupe beaten because Billy has refused a payoff to a corrupt local cop, Billy returns to the fairground where the troupe is next to perform and is shocked that some members want to join with the promoter. Billy is also plagued by a recurring dream of a black bird. However, the constant pressure of balancing those ideals against the modern day realities and financial pressures of running the organization are beginning to strain the group.

"King William", as he styles himself, tries to lead the troupe according to his Arthurian ideals.

Plot īilly leads a traveling troupe that jousts on motorcycles. The film represents a change of pace for Romero, known primarily for his horror films it is a personal drama about a traveling renaissance fair troupe. It was filmed entirely on location in the Pittsburgh metro area, including Fawn Township and Natrona during the summer of 1980. Romero and starring Ed Harris, Gary Lahti, Tom Savini, Amy Ingersoll, Patricia Tallman, and Christine Forrest. Knightriders is a 1981 American drama film written and directed by George A.
