moonspinner55 Five teenage boys--four from bad homes and the fifth a rich kid with an absentee mother--are wanted by a police lieutenant on car thief detail for stripping non-working autos left by the side of the road. The kids are fast and efficient at their work, using a poultry truck as a cover for slipping passed the cops, making their capture a headache for the authorities. Amateur juvie outing from low-rent producer Arch Hall and featuring the film debut of his son, Arch Hall, Jr. Not poorly-made exactly, though with spiritless performances and enervated pacing. The camp dialogue and pop songs almost make it tolerable. *1/2 from ****

Woodyanders Five delinquent adolescents known collectively as "the Choppers" terrorize the countryside by stripping cars left by the side of the road with ruthless efficiency. The laughably clueless local yokel cops bumble, fumble and stumble around in fruitless circles until the discovery of a lone chicken feather at a crime site (!) steers them in the right direction.Tautly directed by Leigh Jason, crisply shot in gorgeous black and white, further graced by hip slangy lingo ("square johns" for decent law-abiding citizens, "bandits" for the fuzz), groovy music (highly unlikely and sublimely geeky flash-in-the-pan wannabe teen scream idol Arch Hall, Jr. belts out a couple of endearingly goofy songs), solid acting, continuity errors aplenty, and snappy pacing, this funky little item sizes up as a good deal of trim, no-frills, mean'n'lean early 60's JD crime movie fun. Yummy blonde "Playboy" Playmate Marianne Gaba (Miss September '59) looks quite delectable in her tight sweater and form-fitting skirt. Rotund veteran sleaze film character actor Bruno Ve Sota has one of his best-ever roles as Moose, a greedy, grubby, no-count, cigar-chewing junkyard owner who fences stolen automobile parts on the side. Scrawny chopper Rex Holman also portrayed a member of the lethal highway gang in "Panic in Year Zero." Arch Hall, Sr., who both wrote and produced this picture, pops up in a sizable supporting part as a smooth-voiced radio reporter and does marvelously mellifluous vocal work on the film's nifty trailer. Moreover, this flick scores bonus points for depicting the choppers as toxic products of messed-up families: Musclehead Torch has a pathetic drunk for a dad, Holman was raised by an aunt and uncle after his original parents dumped him when he was just a baby, and cocky ringleader Hall, Jr. is a spoiled rotten rich brat who's hungry for kicks. Those fine folks at Something Weird Video offer this baby on a terrific DVD double bill with the equally excellent and entertaining Arch Hall, Jr. rock'n'roll star vehicle "Wild Guitar." Can you dig it, daddy-o? I sure can -- and certainly did.

CLEO-8 For a movie that rhymes "Monkeys in my Hatband" with "I can do a handstand" for the lead character's big song, this movie was pretty good.It's a movie with a moral that if parents don't look out for their kids they will start stealing car parts and shoot a bunch of cops. Does anybody know what he meant by "Monkeys in my hatband"?I don't get it. Perhaps watching this movie on the roof of a supermarket in center city Philadelphia made it a bit more entertaining.I hope that Arch Hall Jr. is one day recognized as the genius he is.

fartnik A delicious little JD film about kids who strip cars for parts. Yes, our youth has gone wild! But what's up with that song Arch Hall Jr. sings? "Monkeys in my hat band. I can do a hand stand" Poetic genius.Would you believe that a life of stealing parts off cars can lead to a violent death? Lives are thrown by the way side in a climatic shoot out in the junk yard. And who's to blame? The parents.