NORTHVILLE CEMETERY MASSACRE (1974) Directed by William Dear/Thomas L. Dyke
VCI Entertainment DVD
THE FILM
Biker Snobs, rejoice.
A few years ago, I was on one of my many VHS treasure hunts. A red brick Mom 'n' Pop in Wisconsin proved to be a "2 for $3!" utopia. There, sandwiched between Night Warning and The Outing, was another star-covered Paragon small box. You know the ones. The film was The Northville Cemetery Massacre. Drooling on my sweet tooth for any film with the word "massacre" in the title, I snatched it up. Would it satisfy like Hospital Massacre did? Or, dare I say, even Drive-In Massacre?! Upon arriving home, I checked the books.
Goddamn it. The Northville Cemetery Massacre was a biker movie. Any mention of Fonda, Corman, and/or motorcycles made my feet ache. On the shelf it went.
That summer, it was hot in Chicago. Really hot. I wanted to compliment the sizzle. I reached for The Northville Cemetery Massacre. The next week, it was Savage Abduction. The week after that, Werewolves On Wheels. What was happening to me? Pre-Northville, I was a plain old snob, too good for macho motorcycle tedium. Post-Northville, a new cognizance had overwhelmed me. I was, officially, a Biker Snob. Still bored by class, but newly mad for the gutter, I owed it all to my friends in Northville.
Arriving at the tail-end of the 1960s biker surge, Northville Cemetery Massacre remains a touchstone in regional biker exploitation. It's a hard hitter; ambivalent, yet touched with sneering anger. Weaving a gut-wrenching story of sexual assault, bad cops, and good bikers, the film's value grows from three simple components: realism, photography, and violence. The casting of Detroit's Scorpions, a real-life biker club, compliments the urgent, creative camera work. We see what their eyes see. Neon signs. Ominous barns. Misty faces. Skewed images that pop and fizz in the span of seconds. And it's all fresh. Orchestrated streams of gory squibs float freely and escalate, climaxing together with the expectedly gruesome Cemetery Massacre. These are the things which pull you in and keep you watching; the eerie mood is both immediate and long lasting.
It can be said that the little things always matter. Northville's sloppy post-dubbing, outmoded leftist politics, and borderline comic relief might turn off those with strict standards. Thankfully, mine are pretty loose. With ex-Monkee Mike Nesmith's Americana soundtrack as my witness, the film serves another purpose, one that embraces even the smallest of inconsistencies. What Ray Dennis Steckler's The Thrill Killers did for wide-eyed mid-60s pop culture, Northville does for the chafed mid-70s. It's not only a time capsule, like nearly every other biker film ever produced, but also an absorbing rhapsody of raw, budget-deficient filmmaking. It's the real thing.
Much to my dismay, Northville Cemetery Massacre was not a traditional horror film. However, when I finally watched that tape, my stance on an entire sub-genre was altered. The effect still stands.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
A real knock-out. Presented in its original 1.37:1 shooting ratio, this is basically the Paragon VHS with bells on. Jump cuts, dirt, and inconsistencies are still lovingly intact, but the mildew has been removed. The picture shines with a renewed crispness, leaping colors, and a level of detailed grit 'n' grain that can't be beat. The “Director’s Cut” presented here runs three minutes longer than the VHS, but I didn’t notice in glaring differences. Thankfully, the mono sound was left as is; a thick, scruffy wall of Nesmith jams and on-set ambiance. Optional Spanish subtitles are also included.
EXTRAS
Starting out, we've got two still galleries; one, an enormous 15 minute collection of behind the scenes snaps (narrated for the first few minutes by co-director Thomas Dyke) and the second, a six minute run through of VHS covers and lobby cards. Thorough bios for Thomas Dyke, co-director William Dear, and The Scorpions are included. We also get a few VCI trailers for The Windsplitter (an early 1970s biker relic) and two hysterical shot on video sci-fi junkers in the form of The Killing Device and Murder Rap. Spot the Casio SK-1!
And then there are commentaries. Sporting a whopping three full-length tracks (!), the results are both fascinating and overwhelming. First up is director Thomas Dyke, who approaches the track as if he's reading a dramatic essay. The information is plentiful, but comes with frequent blank spaces and lots of on-screen descriptions. It's a little dry. Next, director William Dear relates much and overlaps only a bit, delivering his nearly non-stop discussion with an easy, off-the-cuff feel. This half of the directing team leans more toward minute details, which makes for a fulfilling listen. Finally, VCI has tapped the entire Scorpions biker club to lend their thoughts ("Warning: This Commentary Contains Adult Language"). I expected a rowdy mess, but got a touching, frequently humorous sit-down with a group of real people. No pretense. Kind of like the film itself. For fans of Northville, and eccentric American culture in general, the gruff Scorpions do not disappoint. They lived it and that's how the commentary plays out; "That guy was a smug asshole!" Excellent.
Naturally, you'll want to split all of this up, but the effort involved (and flood of information) is quite stunning.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Again: Biker Snobs, rejoice! Distinct and sincere, Northville Cemetery Massacre is the most impressive low budget biker movie I've ever seen. The DVD retains the film's raw charm while offering up a world of new information. Buy a copy and thoroughly enjoy.
— Joseph A. Ziemba, 11.22.06 | 
Don't Go In The Barn
Zing!
Pig's eye view
At the cemetery
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