Northville Cemetery Massacre Directed By William Dear Starring Carson Jackson (1976).
This is one of the last ditch efforts in the Biker-sploitation genre that manages to bring the grit and grime missing from most Peter Fonda/Bruce Dern pseudo-angst ridden psychedelic Roger Corman outings. And best of all, the bikers are the innocent ones wrapped in a small town authoritarian conspiracy.
According to K. Randall Ball's book Terry The Tramp: Times of a One Percenter, The Scorpions motto was "Family plus Job plus club equals brotherhood". I guess that could mean they had a tough work ethic or Brotherhood could be code for Aryan, who actually knows! These were bikers that liked to cause havoc, but kept the criminal element in check, otherwise why would they agree to play themselves in a film, other then to showcase how bad ass their motorcycle club was. They sort of reminded me of the breed of bikers that raised Rocky Dennis, not the ones that stomped out guts and caused race riots at Altamont.
According to K. Randall Ball's book Terry The Tramp: Times of a One Percenter, The Scorpions motto was "Family plus Job plus club equals brotherhood". I guess that could mean they had a tough work ethic or Brotherhood could be code for Aryan, who actually knows! These were bikers that liked to cause havoc, but kept the criminal element in check, otherwise why would they agree to play themselves in a film, other then to showcase how bad ass their motorcycle club was. They sort of reminded me of the breed of bikers that raised Rocky Dennis, not the ones that stomped out guts and caused race riots at Altamont.
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| Can't lose with the stuff we use! |
Northville comes off like a no budget, more realistic version of "Sons of Anarchy". Chris (played by David Hyry), an inbred looking bleach blonde, red faced doper Nam vet, hitches a ride with The Spirits (played by the real detroit gang The Scorpions). Cops fuck with these Denim greasers every chance they get, but they're able to stay one step ahead of the law, because they have all kinds of friends in low places. The film quality has the charm of Manos The Hands Of Fate crossbred with the bikers and rednecks from Dawn Of The Dead.
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| Nixon, there's never gonna be a worse president right? |
Mike Nesmith of The Monkees fame does the catchy soundtrack and sings goofy songs about "a friend with weed in a friend indeed" and the Semi-Truck Man! The Monkees would never touch that kind of edgy material!
What makes NVCM so enjoyable is its documentary quality, heavily loaded squibs and decent acting. William Dear and Thomas Dyke do an excellent job of showcasing the bikers and they come off very natural. Everything goes from peaceful to ugly after two cops pull out a shotgun and rape Chris' girlfriend.
Although The Spirits do have a secret weapon to battle the pigs, a mad scientist with a secluded bunker out in the suburbs who supplies them with their arsenal. He does a hammy Patton impression championing the 2nd Amendment and looks like contract serial killer Richard Kuklinski.
Their hideout is a must see moment, giant swastikas are everywhere among the tepid beer and Miracle Whip sandwiches! Chris was dubbed by Nick Nolte and the leader of the Spirits looks like Sam The Sham.
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| I still can't get that damn wagon together |
The cops, parents and the media seem to all single out these "Nazi loving" peaceful hippies.
My favorite part is when Mr. Armstrong (Len Speck) the ecologist says he enjoys hunting these biker losers not for sport but out of "necessity to thin the herd".
Putnam (Craig Collicott), the cop that raped Chris' girlfriend shoots Lemon, one of the bikers at point blank range for no reason, just because he has a seething rage for anyone in denim with long hair. Later on there's the guaranteed massacre at Lemon's funeral with cops in helicopters.
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| Die Hippie Scumbag |
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| Diarrhea guaranteed! |
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| R.I.P. How did he know beforehand? |
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