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Glory Stompers, The (1968)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

AIP biker film has Black Souls member Chino (Dennis Hopper) beating the pulp out of a Glory Stomper (Jody McCrea) and stealing his girlfriend (Chris Noel). They think the Glory Stomper is dead but he eventually comes seeking revenge. As far as biker flicks goes this one here certainly isn't at the top of the group but it's a decent entry. There are enough plot holes here that you might find yourself laughing when you're not suppose to. One such moment happens early on after they beat up McCrea. For whatever reason they think he's dead but they never check a for a pulse or anything else. This here is why he's able to come after them as they didn't finish the job or even check to see if they did. Another such moment is when Hopper tells everyone that they'll never find the biker's body because they hid it yet all they did was put him and his bike under a tree where everyone could see it. It's that type of goofiness that gives this film its charm as well as other scenes including one where there's a mass orgy of body painting. There's some silly sex scenes thrown in but everyone keeps their clothes on and just rolls around in the dirt. Hopper is at his very best here playing a real nut who is constantly coming up with silly things to say and always threatening someone. McCrea doesn't have his father's acting ability but he's fun enough in the role. I didn't care too much for Noel as I found here way too bland for the character even though she is playing the goodie type. Robert Tessier, with hair, has a pretty good role as the muscle-bound thug and most will remember him from his bald roles in HARD TIMES and THE LONGEST YARD. Casey Kasem and Lindsay Crosby (Bing's daughter) also appear. The movie moves along quickly enough and there's enough charm to make it worth viewing if you're a fan of the genre. There's certainly nothing terrific or ground breaking here but Hopper is a lot of fun and makes it worth checking out.

Chino (Dennis Hopper) is the brutal crazy leader of the biker gang Black Souls. Chino and his boys ambush Darryl (Jody McCrea), leader of rival biker gang Glory Stompers. Unwilling to leave a witness behind, they take Darryl's girlfriend Chris captive. Darryl recovers and follows in pursuit.

This is a biker exploitation flick. It has Dennis Hopper doing crazy. That's about it. The plot is really simple. There isn't anything too memorable. McCrea is nowhere near edgy enough to be a biker gang leader. There is a surprisingly limited amount of cinematic road action. There are limited motorcycle stunts and no car crashes. The most interesting stunt may be running over a guy although I'm not 100% sure that the body isn't a dummy. There is an acrobatic chicken run at the end but it doesn't look as dangerous as it sounds. The story lacks intensity. Chris' romance only works if she's trying to trick the guy. Instead of intensity, the movie replaces it with a biker party. It looks like they had a bunch of extras for a day and threw in plenty of alcohol. This is low budget biker exploitation indie at its most middling. They don't even use Dennis Hopper for his fullest. There is a lot of crazy to play with and he only showcases it a few times. He should be dialed up to 11 for the whole movie.

With the death of Casey Kasem having occurred about a week ago, I decided to check out some of his films on the internet starting with this one-his first live-action appearance playing a character and one he was associate producer on. He plays a member of a motorcycle gang named Mouth and while his beard didn't make it easy to recognize him, his voice was unmistakably his! Dennis Hopper is the leader of this gang who kidnaps a girlfriend (Chris Noel) of a rival gang member left for dead. Jody McCrea-son of legendary star Joel McCrea-is that rival gang member. Another Hollywood son that appears is Lindsay Crosby-offspring of Bing. He eventually killed himself in 1989. This movie was quite cheezy and cringe-inducing, especially whenever Ms. Noel nearly gets raped, but never boring, that's for sure! Oh, and Ms. Noel wasn't the only gorgeous blonde here, get a load of Astrid Warner when she strips to her bikini! As for Kasem, he's quite amusing whenever his familiar voice says such unintelligible lines! So on that note, The Glory Stompers is worth a look.

Excellent riding sequences and plenty of action made this a great movie to watch. You won't see the excessive carnage that I saw in "The Savage Seven" and "The Losers" but this movie has more than enough brutality to qualify it as a violent biker film.

The Glory Stompers starts off by introducing you to the two basic types of bikers. Those who ride for pleasure and those who look for trouble. The Glory Stompers believe in fun and friendship while the Black Souls behave like opportunistic predators.

The plot is rather simple yet engrossing. The Black Souls ambush a lone Glory Stomper, Darryl (Jody McCrea), and leave him for dead. The only witness is the Stomper's girlfriend, Chris (Chris Noel), so the Black Souls decide to silence her and cash in on her misfortune by selling her to some Mexican criminals. When Darryl regains consciousness he sets out alone after the Black Souls.

The Black Souls make up an interesting group of villains. Dennis Hopper is brilliant as Chino the tough and ruthless leader. Chino's lady, Jo Ann (Sondra Gayle), can best be described as a knife-happy psycho. Paul (Jim Reader) seems to be too civilized to ride with the Black Souls until we learn that he is Chino's younger brother and that they have no other family. Magoo (Robert Tessier) is the largest and most sadistic member of this group. Mouth (Casey Kasem) and Monk (Lindsay Crosby) are the comic relief of the Black Souls as they spend most of their time just clowning around together.

While Darryl is following the Black Souls he runs into Smiley (Jock Mahoney) who used to be a vice president of the Glory Stompers. Now older and wiser Smiley becomes Darryl's mentor and joins him on his pursuit of the Black Souls. They are eventually joined by Darryl's best friend and fellow Stomper, Pony (Gary Wood), and Pony's new bride Doreen (Astrid Warner). This posse of Stompers pursues the Black Souls into the desert where the Black Souls are waiting in a ghost town to sell their captive to the Mexican criminals. This sets up the final showdown.

During my teens this film was one of my personal favorites. If you like "Good versus Evil" and "Damsel in Distress" movies, set to a motorcycle theme, then you should find this one entertaining.

On researching this movie I found some interesting trivia about three of the actors who played Black Souls. Casey Kasem was inducted into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1995. Casey was also the voice of "Shaggy" in the Scooby Doo cartoons. Robert Tessier shed his hair and went on to play bald-headed, tough guys most notably in "Hard Times" with Charles Bronson and "The Longest Yard" with Burt Reynolds. Lindsay Crosby's father was none other than the legendary singer/actor Bing Crosby.

By: Ron Forestieri

Rebel motorcycle gangs love to ride, and ride hard, but there are three other facets that they like: (1) drink, (2) party orgy-like, and (3) wreck things. In this film they don't wreck much, but they do the others well. If you want to see them wreck things, see "Devil's Angels" (1968). Produced for the independent American International Pictures (AIP), "The Glory Stompers" followed the success of the " The Wild Angels" (1966). "The Glory Stompers" cost $100,000 to make, but grossed more than thirty times that much. Now that's a successful production!

A rival gang of the Stompers, the Black Souls led by the unbalanced Chino (Dennis Hopper), kidnap blonde Chris (Chris Noel), girlfriend of Darryl (Jody McCrea), leader of the Stompers. Darryl is badly beaten up and left for dead (never mind the silly details), but somehow has amazing recovery powers. It's up to him and two pals, ex-member Smiley (Jock Mahoney) and Pony (Gary Wood) to track down the bad guys and reclaim his chick. Will he succeed? And will Magoo (Robert Tessier) eventually rape Chris; he certainly tries hard?

Note that the gorgeous girl who strips and skinny-dips along the way is the alluring Doreen (Astrid Warner). Kudos rightfully belong the Mario Tossi for his enjoyable cinematography: See the great shots of the motorcyclists on the sand dunes. So there is some value after all.