The Glory Stompers (1968)

Director: Anthony M Lanza

Starring: Dennis Hopper, Jody McCrea, Jock Mahoney, Chris Noel, Casey Kasem (?!?!)

More info: IMDB

Tagline: It's the 'BLACK SOULS' vs. the 'STOMPERS' ...in the deadliest cycle-gang war ever waged!

Plot: Chino is the tough leader of a motorcycle gang who starts off a war when he abducts and mistreats the leader of the enemy biker gang, Darryl, and his girlfriend Chris. Things get violent when Darryl comes back for revenge.

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

#35 on Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)


This is your standard biker flick but the difference is Dennis Hopper is the heavy as Chino, the leader of the Black Souls biker gang. His group is tough. They come across Darryl and his gang, the Glory Stompers, who are the exact opposite. Image a gang of Paul Lynde impersonators but with clean jean jackets, no shirts and no funny. That's these guys. They're about as macho as Nathan Lane dressed as the Marlboro Man yet they're supposed to be hard badasses. Stupid Hollywood. They pulled that shit back in the 80s when street thugs were dressed in costumes left over from some failed Broadway show.

It's the "Black Souls"...

vs. "The Stompers!"


Anyway, this picture needed more Hopper throughout. It could have used some more fighting and ANY nudity would have been welcome. It's less than an hour and a half but much of it seems to be spent on traveling and nonsense that doesn't help move the story along. Oh, the story? The Black Souls beat Darryl down and leave him for dead. They take his girl and, rather than kill her, they're going to sell her in Mexico. ROAD TRIP! That's it except for Darryl isn't dead and he's hot on the trail for revenge.

I love body painting (seriously). It's time for a sustained comeback.

It needs to be said, the music is hideous and feels more at home in a lighthearted 70s TV show like DIVORCE, AMERICAN STYLE. The main theme is about as manly as a box of Tampax. There weren't any music credits given for the song but IMDB shows the music was by David Allen and Mike Curb!!! This had to have been a low point for both.

For a biker theme song it's awfully gay, isn't it? It's about as threatening as a kitten wearing a Nazi SS uniform.

That's Kasem with the top hat, if you can believe it.
He was also associate producer on this thing.

Again, need more Hopper. He was a total gas but he seems to be missing a lot. My guess is he was hopped up on booze and acid and they just decided to do other shit that day for filming. One cool aspect of this average biker flick is that it feels like a western. That it's got lots of western landscape doesn't hurt this vibe. The bottom line is it's not good enough to recommend but then it's not that bad that you won't be reaching for a straight razor to end it all. Needs more Hopper.