Tripping off his dial while stirring trouble at an environmental rally, ‘Grave Diggers’ outlaw bikie club member, Toad (Hugh Keays-Byrne), inadvertently spots a hitman, Ballini (Lex Mitchell), assassinating activist Dr Townes (Deryck Barnes).

First published in the August 2026 issue of Street Machine

Worried that he’ll be identified – but having only seen the back of Toad’s Grave Diggers jacket – Ballini starts to wipe out random club members to hedge his bets on silencing the bikie witness – conveniently using methods that allow for great stunt opportunities, too.

As the number of bikie murders increase, Diggers president Undertaker (Sandy Harbutt, who also directed and co-wrote the film) profoundly exclaims at the first member funeral, “Whoever got you is gonna get got too.”

Undertaker and the gang are approached by an undercover cop, Stone (Ken Shorter), to join their ranks in the hope of solving the crimes before more lives are lost. After Stone foils another murder attempt, the gang take him on board and ingratiate him into the bikie lifestyle. With a club jacket and fresh ear piercing in play, Stone begins to investigate behind the scenes, all the while learning more about the members’ personalities and the camaraderie and hows and whys of ‘club’ life. 

There are, of course, some generally loose units amongst them, such as the Satan-loving ‘Dr Death’ (Vincent Gil, aka ‘The Nightrider’ from Mad Max), and my personal favourite, ‘Stinkfinger’ (James H Bowles). However, the draw of ex-model Vanessa (Rebecca Gilling) has Stone questioning his own life choices and relationship with his snooty girlfriend Amanda (Helen Morse).

After a red herring run-in with a rival bikie gang, the ‘Black Hawks’, brings Stone no closer to solving the case, Ballini, pressured by his high-end corporate bosses to tie up this loose end, chooses to draw out the gang members instead and end it once and for all.

With extra thugs in tow, Ballini lays a trap at a local cemetery, but does he have the might to overpower the Grave Diggers on their own hallowed turf?

VERDICT: 4/5

Following its 1974 release, Stone quickly became a cult classic, making a star of the Kawasaki Z900 motorcycle and paving the way for many films of the Ozploitation era. It’d been three decades since I’d seen the flick, and this time around I had a better appreciation for its brilliantly simple storyline, the sights and sounds of the road race between Stone and Midnight (Bindi Williams), and the early work of its young Aussie actors, many of whom went on play some of our most iconic film and television characters.

BREAKDOWN

VEHICLES:

• Multiple Kawasaki Z900s
• Norton Commando 750
• Harley-Davidson 45 custom chopper
• 1971 Ducati 750 GT
• Triumph Bonneville T120
• 1966 Mercedes-Benz 250 SE
• 1973 Holden HQ Kingswood
• 1968 Holden HK ute
• 1969 Datsun Homer van
• 1972 Holden LJ Torana
• 1969 Valiant VF Safari wagon

STARS:

• Sandy Harbutt
• Ken Shorter
• Hugh Keays-Byrne
• Vincent Gil
• Rebecca Gilling
• Helen Morse
• Lex Mitchell
• Bindi Williams
• Garry McDonald
• Roger Ward
• Bill Hunter
• Deryck Barnes
• James H Bowles

DIRECTOR: Sandy Harbutt 

ACTION: Awesome tyre-smoking, wheel-standing street racing in suburbia, plus a good amount of bike-related stunt action

PLOT: An undercover cop joins an outlaw bikie gang to investigate who is killing off their members

AVAILABLE: Blu-ray; DVD; ABC iview; YouTube; Amazon Prime; Apple TV; Google Play

COOL FLICK FACT: 
Four-hundred real bikers and their motorcycles were used as extras to bolster the highway funeral procession at the beginning of the film.