The Glory Stompers is what I love about old movie making, especially bikie films. This is one which has probably gone under the radar to a lot of bikie fans, but it's one I urge to see, although of course it's no masterpiece, or not really even good. But it's what I call, "Something worth it's watch". But I am I hard, when it comes to judging bikie films, which doesn't help more, when coming out of the late sixties and seventies. This is a movie, legendary Hopper did before Easy Rider. I was quite impressed by how well this movie came off. After seeing Chrome And Hot Leather (what a waste of viewer's time-don't remind me) and Werewolves On Wheels, I mean really, this bikie film was refreshing. Hopper, plays Chino, the lead of this badarse motorcycle group, you've guessed it, The Glory Stompers, preferably known as The Stompers, who clash with a much friendlier and more chilled out motorcycle gang, The Outlaws. When two lovers of the outlaws are a having a private moment, following this beef, the boyfriend is beaten up, and thought to be dead, while the girlfriend is snatched, and on her way to soon be sold a a sex slave, once the Stompers cross the borders. It doesn't take much to work out the outcome or, the situations that pop up in between, if seeing other bikie movies, with Hopper's lady getting jealous of course, and the snatched outlaw is quite delicious, while playing Hopper's younger brother against Hopper. Featuring a kick arse title song, the film retains a good above average quality about it, and if those other two dire bikie movies don't cut it for ya. May'be give this one a go, you might be surprised. Robert Tessier as a Magoo, a dirty, crass, and repugnant sort, and a member of the Stompers.

So bad...it's bad. Dennis Hopper and his biker goon gang beat rival biker Jody McCrae to a pulp and kidnap his "old lady." McCrae recovers (very quickly despite sustaining what had to be traumatic brain injuries) to seek revenge. This is a hopelessly bad biker flick with Hopper nearly intelligible as the leader. The direction by Tony Lanza is even worse than his later junk (THE INCREDIBLE 2-HEADED TRANSPLANT). Insane close-ups of arms, breasts, bra straps, et al. As the leading lady (McCrae's "old lady"), Chris Noel is pretty, but shows no acting talent whatsoever. McCrae ("Bonehead" in the BEACH PARTY films) is laughably bad. Hopper made this dog in between QUEEN OF BLOOD and THE TRIP. Jock Mahoney plays somebody named Smiley and a nearly unrecognizable Casey Kasem plays Mouth, fitting since he went on to become famous as a radio star.

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.

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