The Glory Stompers (1967)

Really Surprised!

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

I've always held Dennis Hopper in high regard as an actor but he must have literally been starving to take part in this picture. As Chino, the leader of the Black Souls biker gang, Hopper consistently goes over the top to the point of embarrassment, as demonstrated when he reacts to his brother Paul's (Jim Reader) death in the latter part of the story. It's actually quite hilarious if you get to see it.And knock me over with a feather, but I couldn't get over the idea of Casey Kasem as the mouth behind The Mouth, another Black Soul with maniacal tendencies. He mostly tag-teams with a character called Bones who isn't identified on the credits list, so at least that actor's name doesn't suffer the indignity of being identified with this flick. Actually, it got a little difficult to pinpoint the movie's genre at one point when the outlaw bikers rode into a love fest including hippies and flower children with a body painting in progress.Then knock me over double when one of my childhood fave's rides into view, good old Range Rider/Wild Bill Hickok himself, Jock Mahoney as a former Glory Stomper. The picture utilizes him to at least offer a semblance of normalcy to the proceedings when he advises Stomper Darryl (Jody McCrae) to leave the group and become a 'citizen'. But gee, if girlfriend Chris (Chris Noel) couldn't convince him, I don't know how Smiley would have. Just not in the cards.What makes the picture even more surreal if you watch for them, are the numerous continuity lapses between scenes when Darryl's facial bruises go away and reappear again, the same with Magoo's (Robert Tessier) right eye and the discoloration on Chris's forehead that's evident when she reunites with Darryl but is gone as soon as they kiss. At least the tear on her shirt remained intact for the entire picture, someone was paying attention to that one.Well I guess if you go for this stuff there's a lot here to keep one entertained. I can watch just about anything once, so at least now I can say I saw a Dennis Hopper motorcycle gang flick. A heck of a way to go though with a knife to the neck by a girlfriend's erratic knife throw. That was almost as gross as Clean Cut brother Paul spit-cleaning Chris's bloody lip. Eeeuuwwwww!

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.

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.

The Glory Stompers is vintage AIP fare, which isn't to say necessarily it's one of the best from the company. But it is an example of what a hardcore genre biker flick from the period was like (sans a few of the extra hippies that dipped in and out of some of the others), with a straight laced biker's girl getting kidnapped by Chico (a usually crazed and drugged up Dennis Hopper, somehow turning in a good performance) and his gang the Black Souls. The girl keeps on trying to escape, and as well gets tortured sexually here and there, while Darryl, her beau, is still on the trail of the gang with an ex-Black Souls member (or is it the Glory Stompers, I keep forgetting, who cares exactly).It's a lot of rowdy fun for a late night, and there's even an exuberance to some of the scenes where the director Anthony M. Lanza and his cameraman go in like it's half a documentary on the proceedings. The budget was probably so low this was the only way to do it, to get right up into the action like gangbusters and gather what they could to move on. There's at times some tension created too, like when Chris (played by Chris Noel) uses as her bait the one sympathetic biker who seems like a genuine OK dude - not a good idea if there's a crowbar nearby (music cues)! The Glory Stompers is unmistakably dated, but in the context it was made it's no bad shakes when compared to something atrocious like the Hellcats. This is some quality, near "classic" trash, the kind you rub off with your arm to reveal some sharp elbow grease amid some hard rocking, conventional times with the boys from AIP.