Sociedade Violenta

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.

"Darryl" (Jody McCrea) is a member of the motorcycle gang called the Glory Stompers. One day while walking with his girlfriend "Chris" (Chris Noel) he is severely beaten up by five members of a rival gang called the Black Souls. Believing that they killed him and not wanting any witnesses, the leader named "Chino" (Dennis Hopper) decides to forcibly take Chris with them to Mexico where she is to be sold into prostitution. What Chino doesn't know is that Darryl's wounds weren't nearly as critical as he initially thought and upon gaining consciousness Darryl is determined to catch up to the Black Souls and get Chris back one way or the other. Anyway, so much for the rather standard plot. As far as the overall movie was concerned, I will just say that it was okay as far as biker films go. Naturally, Dennis Hopper performed in his usual energetic manner which helped add a little life into some of the slower scenes. Likewise, Chris Noel--and to a lesser extent Astrid Warner (as "Doreen")--definitely added some nice scenery along the way as well. In any case, although I doubt anybody would consider this film to be that great, it wasn't that bad either and as a result I have rated it accordingly. Average.

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.

''The Glory Stompers'' is hardly a classic-even in the ''Biker'' genre, but it's a decent, entertaining little flick from AIP. Dennis Hopper stars as a member of the ''Black Souls'' motorcycle gang, who beat up rival ''Glory Stompers'' member Jody McCrea,leave him for dead, and kidnaps his girl, Chris Noel. He and his gang (who include ''Born Losers'' alumni Robert Tessier, Edwin Cook and Paul Prokop) plan to sell Chris to a Mexican flesh peddler somewhere south of the border. However, McCrea(once he recovers) joins up with ex-Stomper Jock Mahoney and sets out to rescue her. Complicating matters is Hopper's psycho ''Momma'' (Saundra Gayle, a LONG way from ''The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm'') who can't wait to dispose of Chris. And so it goes.The Widescreen photography is very good. The acting is decent all around. Hopper, despite his limited vocabulary (he says ''man'' in almost every sentence) is OK until the climax, when he screams, shakes, whimpers, whines, froths at the mouth and seems to be auditioning for a summer stock tour of ''Hamlet''. And, when all else fails, they toss in a ''Love-In'' along with a brief fight between a couple of tough looking'' Biker Chicks''. The soundtrack, which features, among others, ''The Arrows'' who were a Biker Film staple by now, is good, if somewhat overdone.Mike Curb, former Lt Governor and Motorcycle Music specialist, (The Wild Angels'' ''Devil's Angels'' etc) produced and wrote most of the music-even adding a song called ''Black Souls'' for future ''America's Top 40'' DJ Casey Kasem, who is seen in a bit part as one of the ''Souls''. Fortunately, this one didn't make it into the film's final cut, though, in all probability, it was just intended to help fill up the quickie tie-in soundtrack album.However, the title song ''The Stompers Ride'' did-though it was just a recycled version of Curb's ''Wild Angels Theme''. In fact, much of the music in the AIP biker films was used more than once for their other exploitation titles. Nevertheless, the Sidewalk Recording from the movie is now a highly prized collectors item, which goes for big $$$ whenever it surfaces on EBAY. Ironic, considering that back in the early ''70's, these and other Sidewalk/Tower exploitation soundtracks could be found in discount and drug stores for as little as (Gulp!) three for $1.00. MGM and Twentieth-Century-Fox have just released a nice DVD of this title. The print shows it's age from time to time, but it's in Anamorphic Widescreen with nice color and a sharp image.(the Widescreen process used was probably ''Panavision'', but here it's called ''Colorscope''). and the sound quality is also very good. As a ''Limited Edition'' DVD-R, there are no extras, but it's still nice to have an ''Official'' release at last. Incidentally, of AIP'S many Cycle Sagas, only two others were made in the ''Scope''process -''The Wild Angels'' and it's follow-up ''Devil's Angels''.All of them should have been filmed this way, because, like this one, most of the others feature a lot of footage with the Bikers zooming up and down the highway. And that sort of thing was ideal for the format. Catch a ride with the Stompers and hang on!.

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.