Northville Cemetery Massacre (1976)

Directors:

William Dear
Thomas L. Dyke

Writers:

William Dear (screenplay) and
Thomas L. Dyke (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

March 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Action | Drama

Tagline:

The day that law and order went beserk...

Plot:

Mayhem starts when a gang of bikers is accused of a sadistic rape in a small town. |

Plot Keywords:

Rape | Small Town | Biker | Shot In The Back | Harley Davidson

Cast

David Hyry	...	Chris
J. Craig Collicut	...	Putnam (as Craig Collicott)
Carson Jackson	...	Deke
Jan Sisk	...	Lynn
Herb Sharples	...	John Tyner
Len Speck	...	Armstrong
Beatrice Endahl	...	Lady in Car
Harry Endahl	...	Man in Car
Brooke Evens	...	Hollywood
Jill Biggers	...	Bride
Ward Clawson	...	First Road Ranger
Richard Davis	...	Second Road Ranger
Buzz Brown	...	Part Time Judge
Audrey Speck	...	Tina
Chuck Whaley	...	Tiny
Terence McGovern	...	Teddy (as Terry McGovern)
Kelly Burke	...	TV Reporter
Fred Rex	...	TV Cameraman
Ed Pieratt	...	Chief
Eric Fisher	...	Rookie
Jackie Harbin	...	Waitress
Virginia Pieratt	...	Nurse
Road Agents Motorcycle Club	...	Rival Club (as Road Agents MC)
Ray Gardener	...	Captain Freedom
Garret Albright	...	Trucker
Howard Reeves	...	Officer Piggins
Don Franklin	...	Officer Fedorko
Charles Pearson	...	First Hearse Driver
William Morrell	...	Second Hearse Driver
Anthony Wyrock	...	Third Hearse Driver
Pat Monks	...	Pilot
Victoria Baue
Nancy Burek
Debbi Dipietro		(as Debbi DiPietro)
Richard Duggan
Don C. Howell
Susan Kingsley
David Klim
Joe Pazzanese
James Tulas
Louis Westfall
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nick Nolte	...	Chris (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
William Dear
Thomas L. Dyke

Writing credits
William Dear		(screenplay) and
Thomas L. Dyke		(screenplay) and
Jim Pappas		(screenplay)
Phil Nyus		(additional dialogue) and
Robert H. Dyke		(additional dialogue) and
James King		(additional dialogue)

Produced by
Marvin Lee Camp	....	associate producer
William Dear	....	producer
Robert H. Dyke	....	executive producer
Thomas L. Dyke	....	producer

Original Music by
Michael Nesmith

Cinematography by
William Dear		(photographed by)
Thomas L. Dyke		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Christa Kindt
Jerry Wellen

Production Management
Bob Fish	....	post-production supervisor
Michael Kowalski	....	production manager (as Mike Kowalski)

Sound Department
Jim Best	....	sound re-recording mixer
Allan Bragg	....	location sound
James King	....	location sound
Joel Moss	....	dubbing mixer
Scott D. Smith	....	sound mixer: additional sound
James G. Stewart	....	dubbing mixer (as Jim Stewart)

Camera and Electrical Department
Bryan Greenberg	....	assistant camera
Robert Handley	....	gaffer (as Bob Handly)
Terry Kelly	....	assistant camera
Jim Wedlake	....	still photographer

Other crew
Victoria Baue	....	continuity
Dennis King	....	production assistant
Robert Skotak	....	production assistant (as Bob Skotack)

Production Companies

• Cannon Films

Distributors

• Cannon Film Distributors (1976) (USA) (theatrical)
• Apex (????) (UK) (VHS)
• Paragon Video Productions (video)
• VCI Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Directors Image

Other Companies

• Allied Film Exchange  special thanks (as Allied Film)
• B & B Productions  sound effects & looping
• Burger Chef Restaurants  special thanks
• Consolidated Film Industries (CFI)  prints
• Glen Glenn Sound Company  sound
• Michigan State Police  special thanks
• Producers Color Service  special thanks
• Scorpions Motorcycle Club of Detroit  special thanks
• Special Recordings Inc.  special thanks
• United Sound  special thanks (as United Sound System)
• Victor Duncan  special thanks

Also Known As:

Runtime:

Norway:82 min (heavily cut) | UK:86 min | USA:83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R (re-rating) | Iceland:16 | West Germany:18 (heavily cut) | Netherlands:16 (cut) | UK:18 | Norway:18 (video) (1980's) (cut version)

Filming Locations:

Jolly Roger Drive-In Theatre, Taylor, Michigan, USA

Company:

Cannon Films

Trivia:

Filmed in 1972, not released until 1976.

Soundtrack:

Lord Please Make Me Happy

This movie should be a cult classic but isn't . . .yet.

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.