Das Northville Massaker

While driving around and making a nuisance of themselves in Michigan a motorcycle club called "the Spirits" turn off onto some private property and have a small wedding. Afterwards they proceed to have a party during which a young man and woman from the town go to a nearby barn to make out. They are unaware that the police have chased their comrades out and when they are discovered in the barn by two cops the young man by the name of "Chris" (David Hyry) is beaten unconscious and the woman named "Lynn" (Jan Sisk) is raped. Afraid to tell anybody who did it the deputy manages to convince a couple of the townsmen that it was the motorcycle club and then convinces them to take the law into their own hands. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that this was a fairly interesting "biker film" which used a legitimate motorcycle club known as "the Scorpions" to augment the cast. Although they certainly did a decent enough job it was quite evident that this was a low-budget film and the movie suffers because of it. Even so, it's not a bad movie by any means and I rate it as about average.

I too was fortunate enough to view the screening of this film the other night in Hollywood at the monthly Grindhouse screening. Lots of hippies, bikers and shootings in slo-mo with blood packs spurting a la Peckinpah. Apparently this movie is quite a rare little number. Shot in Detroit in 1974 and 75, released to drive-ins in 1976, and as such I believe we can state definitively that this film marks the very end of the classic "biker film" cycle (no pun intended) started 10 years earlier with "The Wild Angels" starring Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra and Bruce Dern.

One very important fact not mentioned by any of the other commenter's, and confirmed by Mr. Dear, was the fact that the music for this was scored by the great Michael Nesmith. I am a fan of his time in the Monkees as well as his great "solo" records released throughout the 1970's. If you've heard Nez's work from this period, you will certainly recognize his distinctive sound in the music here. I believe most (but not all) of this music was recorded especially for this film, and as such would be a treat to hear for any Nesmith admirers.

How to describe his style? Cole Porter on the Prairie could be one shorthand meme, but that does a disservice to his elegant yet down home music. He combines western cowboy songs, country-rock, blues, Caribbean Pop and lilting, wistful melodies in a unique fashion. Some of the musical themes are what you would expect in a picture like this: some hammering blues-rock and some country truckin' songs. One of the songs was sung by Garland Frady. Nesmith released some LP's by him on his Pacific Arts record label which he operated at that time.

Director William Dear worked further with Nesmith after this. He directed Time Rider, produced by Nesmith, and directed several of Michael's music videos in the 1980's. Dear had a funny line: he looked up Nesmith during an appearance at McCabe's Guitar Shop (local music store and live music venue in Santa Monica) He showed the movie to Nesmith, who said, "This movie is terrible!" "I know, you wanna score it?" "Okay."

Some wise company like Blue Underround or Synapse should contact Mr. Dear and arrange a DVD release of this toot suite! And plenty of bonus materials and a commentary track? Yes please!

UPDATE 10/18/2006: THEY HEARD ME!

Northville Cemetery Massacre is now out on DVD, with THREE commentary tracks and other bonus material! Thank you VCI Entertainment! I'm ordering one right now!

I saw The Northville Cemetery Massacre along with Satan's Sadists as part of the monthly Grindhouse dbl feature in Hollywood at the New Beverly Cinema. The director, William Dear, humbly introduced the film and shared some amusing antidotes. Hopefully I am remembering them correctly.

The title of the movie was supposed to be Freedom R.I.P. As was the case with many genre films of the 70's, distributors changed the title without informing the film makers. The print that we saw had the title Wheels Of Death.

The film which was only supposed to take a few weeks to shoot actually wound up taking several years. They would run out of funds and when they had more funds would resume filming. This explains a few continuity issues.

Due to budget limitations, the blanks used in the guns were for revolvers/rifles/ shotguns. No automatic weapons. This explains why the arms dealer only gives the bikers the firearms that he does. The biker firing a fully automatic assault rifle is firing live rounds.

Nick Nolte does a voice-over for one of the characters.

Apparently the 10 or 12 people (worldwide!) who have seen this movie have not yet spoken up enough about it to elevate it to cult classic status. When I first heard about it I mistakenly assumed from the title that it had something to do with zombies or vampires or something like that. Well it doesn't! There are monsters to be sure but the kind we all run the risk of encountering; the narrow minded bigot who hates anyone who differs from his own view of what "normal" should be. This movie deserves to be recognised for many reasons. For one thing the 2 biker gangs in it (The Scorpions and The Road Agents) are real gangs; for another the music was written by Mike Nesmith. Yes, THAT Mike Nesmith, the former Monkey; and for yet another it is one of the most brutally honest independent movies to come out of the 1970's putting those glossy, sugar coated versions of biker life put out by American International to a well deserved shame. (Sorry, Roger.) We are on the side of the bikers from the opening scene when they surround an elderly couple in a car with a flat tire. We are expecting the worst but the bikers change the tire and ride on without even waiting to be thanked! This was filmed in 1976 so the Vietnam War was over and the Hippie Era had crashed dismally but America was still licking its wounded ego over the war they "lost" and returning soldiers came home to a society that made them pariahs. Many fought back against the only enemies they had left, the societal dropouts who had dodged the draft and had been living free and indulging every impulse from mind expanding drugs to free love while they, the alleged "good Americans", had been away fighting a hopeless case.

Okay that was the editorial, now back to the review. A redneck sheriff's deputy rapes a local girl who has rejected his romantic advances and puts the blame on a member of a biker gang that is passing through town. This sets off a smalltown war and underscores the intolerance and potential for violence that lurks beneath the shallow veneer of the Norman Rockwellian style smalltown life. The bikers fight back by arming themselves and soon it's rednecks vs. bikers and bullets are flying by the hundreds. The use of explosive squibs is used primarily for shock value but this is the earliest movie I can recall (apart from THE WILD BUNCH, that is) that used them quite so much. Prior to this screen violence had been mostly bloodless until Sam Peckinpah broke new ground with THE WILD BUNCH which left audiences and exhibitors alike gasping.

There is a PATTON-inspired speech in front of a giant American flag; there are shootings, knifings, beatings, one exploding helicopter that is the worst special effect in the movie (an obvious miniature) and a powerful ending that . . .oops, almost gave it away. This is a hard movie to find but it is well worth the search. Check it out and then don't be shy about e-mailing me and telling me how you feel about that ending! Trust me, you WILL be talking about it.

Any movie with an underground bunker built like a World War 2 submarine, has to be seen to be believed. With a periscope coming up in the gun merchants front yard through a Madonna lawn ornament, this is just so cool. The film is built around real bikers, which gives "The Northville Cemetery Massacre" a unique feeling of authenticity. Slow motion blood squibs abound, the biker music soundtrack is totally appropriate, and the acting, while crude, only lends to the film's reality feeling. If you are into "biker films" like "Born Losers", or "The Glory Stompers", this is a must see. If it sounds like I am pounding the table for "The Northville Cemetery Massacre", I am indeed. MERK.