A few people seem to think that the film was shot in the mid 70's but it was definitely shot in the early 1970's - It started in either 71 or 72 as Freedom RIP and then continued sporadically from then on. How do I know? I was in the Northville cemetery in Michigan a couple of times while the filming was taking place as I was then dating one of the filmmakers. I moved to Australia in July 72, so it was definitely before then!If the acting isn't the best, then that's because those guys were not actors; they were actual bikies.

"The Ultimate Biker Flick" … That's what the DVD-cover proudly exclaims, and I more or less tend to agree, although that certainly wasn't my feeling during the first fifteen minutes. The plot introduces the hardcore-to-the-bone Detroit Scorpions. They are what you would call a "nice" biker gang! The Scorpions stop to help elderly folks with flat tires, drive their motorcycles through the car wash, play darts using a Richard Nixon picture and openly smoke weed in their prison cell. They also wear shirts with images of Jesus on them and everyone kisses each other on the lips. Yes, long-bearded men included. Basically The Scorpions are just a bunch of hippies driving motorcycles instead of colorful Volkswagen minivans! I have to admit that, approximately fifteen minutes into the film, I was severely getting worried that this "gem" absolutely wouldn't live up to its reputation or its delightfully morbid title. Fortunately enough – for the sake of cult cinema at least – they pass through a place run by filthy perverted police officers. One of the redneck deputies rapes the daughter of a prominent citizen and puts the blame on the bikers. He's a truly honorable deputy too, by the way, because he himself encourages the father's victim to take the law into his own hands and hunt down the bikers illegally. Now here's a man who deserves to wear a police badge, yeah! When two of the Scorpion bikers are cowardly gunned down outside their clubhouse, the rest of the gang decides to fight back … but against who? "Northville Cemetery Massacre" is truly a delight for tolerant fans of extremely low-budgeted 70's amateur trash! Occasionally during the film, there's a musical narrator who sings about what's going on in the film and the lyrics are highly intellectual, like for example "A friend with weed is a friend, indeed". Furthermore there's the hilarious abuse of exaggeratedly dramatic music, severe synchronization issues, laughable acting and a lot of supportive biker cast members that don't even look tough enough to drive a Vespa. It's also an extremely violent movie, although the violence is not exactly what you would call shocking. There are a lot of bizarre and even downright WTF sequences in "Northville Cemetery Massacre", like the secret meeting between the bikers and an utterly deranged gun collector. The interactions between the hillbilly assailants are too incredible for words, but hey, at least they can aim and shoot a lot better than those sissy bikers! It takes the Scorpions, what … 800 bullets before they finally hit something?!? 90% of the biker gang has been slaughtered before they even have a clue where the shots are coming from! They must be the most worthless gang in history. I bet the real Hell's Angels and Outlaws frequently watch this movie during their club meetings, just to laugh their butts off and to remind themselves how badass they, in fact, really are! In all honesty, this is a really bad film. Similar to "Mad Foxes", but slightly better and less sleazy. But hey, at least it's great fun!

The greatest biker movie ever made! In fact, it's the only biker movie I like. Every other biker movie promises so much and delivers so little. This film gets the job done. Thank God at least one movie made the genre proud. I feel the same about The Mack. Every other movie of the blaxploitation genre just didn't have the bite their bark promised. But The Mack pulled it off. Some great movies were made in the 70's and 80's. Escape from New York, The Thing, Road Warrior, Dawn of the Dead, Squirm, Blues Brothers.

Apparently the 10 or 12 people (worldwide!) who have seen this movie have not yet spoken up enough about it to elevate it to cult classic status. When I first heard about it I mistakenly assumed from the title that it had something to do with zombies or vampires or something like that. Well it doesn't! There are monsters to be sure but the kind we all run the risk of encountering; the narrow minded bigot who hates anyone who differs from his own view of what "normal" should be. This movie deserves to be recognised for many reasons. For one thing the 2 biker gangs in it (The Scorpions and The Road Agents) are real gangs; for another the music was written by Mike Nesmith. Yes, THAT Mike Nesmith, the former Monkey; and for yet another it is one of the most brutally honest independent movies to come out of the 1970's putting those glossy, sugar coated versions of biker life put out by American International to a well deserved shame. (Sorry, Roger.) We are on the side of the bikers from the opening scene when they surround an elderly couple in a car with a flat tire. We are expecting the worst but the bikers change the tire and ride on without even waiting to be thanked! This was filmed in 1976 so the Vietnam War was over and the Hippie Era had crashed dismally but America was still licking its wounded ego over the war they "lost" and returning soldiers came home to a society that made them pariahs. Many fought back against the only enemies they had left, the societal dropouts who had dodged the draft and had been living free and indulging every impulse from mind expanding drugs to free love while they, the alleged "good Americans", had been away fighting a hopeless case. Okay that was the editorial, now back to the review. A redneck sheriff's deputy rapes a local girl who has rejected his romantic advances and puts the blame on a member of a biker gang that is passing through town. This sets off a smalltown war and underscores the intolerance and potential for violence that lurks beneath the shallow veneer of the Norman Rockwellian style smalltown life. The bikers fight back by arming themselves and soon it's rednecks vs. bikers and bullets are flying by the hundreds. The use of explosive squibs is used primarily for shock value but this is the earliest movie I can recall (apart from THE WILD BUNCH, that is) that used them quite so much. Prior to this screen violence had been mostly bloodless until Sam Peckinpah broke new ground with THE WILD BUNCH which left audiences and exhibitors alike gasping.There is a PATTON-inspired speech in front of a giant American flag; there are shootings, knifings, beatings, one exploding helicopter that is the worst special effect in the movie (an obvious miniature) and a powerful ending that . . .oops, almost gave it away. This is a hard movie to find but it is well worth the search. Check it out and then don't be shy about e-mailing me and telling me how you feel about that ending! Trust me, you WILL be talking about it.