Okay, let's veer away from the pulverizing world of metal for a few minutes and address something way more damaging. Anyone who reads Otep Shamaya's semi-regular posts on this site, or who doesn't live with a blaring iPod on 24-7, knows that the U.S. is speeding towards a critical juncture, and that the 2008 November presidential election may be the most important political contest this country has faced since the days of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, there's no denying that the U.S. is in a state of crisis. We're ensnared in a war that's taking the lives of thousands of Americans and there seems to be no end in sight; we're facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression; we've become the most despised superpower in the world and we're destroying the environment at such a rapid rate we could face the threat of extinction if we can't undo the damage we've done.

Clearly, the country has taken some major f--kin' hits over the last eight years financially, politically and socially. Unemployment is skyrocketing, our banks are collapsing and more and more U.S. interests are being gobbled up by international corporations. Who would have thought six months ago that U.S. institutions like Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG would be either gone or in a state of governmental bailout just two months before the 2008? And things aren't getting better, they're getting worse. Would Barack Obama be able to improve the country? Who the hell knows. But one thing's certain. A vote for John McCain is pretty much a thumbs up to stay the course, and right now we're on a devastating collision course.

The most important thing HeadbangersBlog.com readers can do is get to the polls and vote in November. Okay, enough ranting from us. Click "more" to hear some way more intelligent and entertaining ranting from documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, who has just posted his entire new film "Slacker Uprising" for free to anyone who signs up for a copy. We've included the link to stream or download the flick, which was shot after Moore's sobering 2004 film "Fahrenheit 911" during the run-up to the 2004 election.

For the film, Moore and his crew traveled across America for 42 days, shooting people in 62 cities in an effort to galvanize the youth to vote for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Says Moore, even though George W. Bush won the election, young adults voted in greater numbers than in any election since 18 year olds were given the right to vote, and the youth vote was the only age group that Kerry won.

Now, here's a clip of Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder from the film as well as a preview of the movie, followed by more from Moore:

STATEMENT FROM MICHAEL MOORE:
[This] is the first time ever that a major feature-length film is debuting as a free download on the internet -- legally. I am doing this for two reasons:

1. Next year it will be 20 years since my first film, "Roger & Me," so I'd like to give those of you who've supported my work over the years a thank you gift in the form of a brand new movie; and

2. I hope the release and wide distribution of this new movie will help to bring out millions of young and new voters on November 4th.

What I encountered during the tour and the filming was both inspiring and frightening, so I thought, hey, this might make for a funny and enlightening movie! Each night, thousands would show up to volunteer in the Slacker Army against Bush. This drove local Republicans nuts. In one state they tried to have me arrested. At two colleges, rich donors offered to donate more money to the college if they would ban me from campus. Nearly a half-dozen universities kept the Slacker Uprising tour off their campuses. But there was no stopping this movement. By the time we got to Florida, 16,000 people a night were showing up.

It was clear that young people were the ones who were going to save the day -- just as they are in this year's election.

You can now sign up to stream, download, or burn a DVD of "Slacker Uprising," free of charge. The distribution is being organized by Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films (they're the great people behind "OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" and "WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price").

You have my blanket permission to share the movie with your friends, to set up screenings in your communities or theaters, to show it on your campuses -- all at no charge. I encourage you to rally voters with it, to raise funds for your favorite candidates, to air it on your local cable access channels or web broadcasts. You can also click here to request a free DVD of "Slacker Uprising" for your school or university library.

Thanks again for coming to my movies all these years. It's meant a lot to me. I feel very privileged and blessed, and I am honored to be in this "virtual" community with you as we try to reclaim our beloved country.

Of all the surviving heavy metal icons, none are more authentic or carry more credibility than Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister. For over 40 years, Lemmy has defined the heavy metal lifestyle and music form, adhering to his principles, writing songs gloriously out of step with the times and flipping the bird to all those who who covers their ears. Astonishingly, Kilmister's music not just been iconoclastic, it's been hugely influential, laying the foundation for thrash, death metal and hardcore. And whether he's tearing it up with Motorhead, picking up chicks at the Rainbow or stumbling drunkenly through a dark alley shouting belligerent curses at whoever he steps on, Lemmy remains ever true to himself and his values.

Because of Kilmister's historical, sociological and comical value, directors/producers Greg Olliver and Wes Orshoski decided to film Lemmy: The Movie, a documentary of their hero that's scheduled to surface sometime in 2009. The flick is being shot on a combination of HD video and super 16 mm film and will include tribute interviews with Dave Grohl, Alice Cooper, and Steve Vai and wrestler Triple H as well as abundant video footage of Lemmy doing what he does best.

Click "more" to watch a preview of the film and a video of Lemmy trashing a hotel room:

Here's the hysterical, profanity-laden sneak preview at the film's official Web site.

Now check out this vintage footage of Lemmy and ex-Motorhead drummer Phil Taylor trashing a hotel during an interview with a bewildered French TV reporter:

Shot by an opinionated teenage extreme metal fan from Douglasville, Georgia, "Metalheads" attempts to explore the sociology and appeal of heavy metal through documentary-style narrative, and interviews with the kid's friends, classmates and a non-conformist Alexander High School social studies professor who used to be in Army Special Ops.

Throughout the 18-minute flick, Hughes addresses what he sees as real metal (Arsis, Callenish Circle, Kataklysm) and what people mistake for metal (Korn, Sevendust, Limp Bizkit). He also expresses his contempt for "hardcore" (though his example of hardcore is the now defunct metalcore band "I Killed the Prom Queen"; chances are, he's never heard of Minor Threat, Agnostic Front or Murphy's Law).

Still, Hughes, who looks more like a jock than a headbanger, has a lot of heart, and through sheer determination and audacity, he's managed to pay tribute to his favorite music while inadvertently creating a film that's as funny as "Heavy Metal Parking Lot."

Plus, "Metalheads" features some pretty brutal background music, including songs by Dimmu Borgir, Abigail Williams, Slayer, The Human Abstract, Cryptopsy, Nile, Meshuggah and Dark Tranquillity. In all likelihood, none of this stuff was actually cleared before Hughes posted his short film on the Net, but such is the nature of guerilla filmmaking. Give him 15 years and he just might be shooting music videos for Gorgoroth -- providing the band members aren't all dead or in jail.

Click "more" to watch "Metalheads."

]]> http://headbangersblog.mtv.com/2008/05/07/teenage-headbanger-shoots-offbeat-metal-documentary/feed/ 5/7/08 10:35am EST http://headbangersblog.mtv.com/2008/04/11/movies-for-metalheads-the-living-and-the-dead-them-there-will-be-blood-the-mist-mulberry-street-the-deaths-of-ian-stone-the-lost/ http://headbangersblog.mtv.com/2008/04/11/movies-for-metalheads-the-living-and-the-dead-them-there-will-be-blood-the-mist-mulberry-street-the-deaths-of-ian-stone-the-lost/#comments Fri, 11 Apr 2008 22:22:36 +0000 JonW http://headbangersblog.mtv.com/2008/04/11/movies-for-metalheads-the-living-and-the-dead-them-there-will-be-blood-the-mist-mulberry-street-the-deaths-of-ian-stone-the-lost/
British director Simon Rumley’s fourth film "The Living and the Dead" (TLA) isn't your typical horror movie. There are no zombies, ghosts, psychopathic killers or aliens, yet it's more horrific and hard to watch than anything George Romero or Rob Zombie ever conceived.

The film focuses on a family run by bankrupt aristocrat Donald Brocklebank (Roger Lloyd-Pack) whose wife Nancy (Kate Fahy) is dying of cancer and whose twenty-something son James (Leo Bill) is suffering from severe schizophrenia. In the beginning of the movie, Donald makes plans to travel to London to sell his mansion and sort out his finances. Before he goes, he hires a nanny to care for his family in his absence, however he leaves before she arrives -- bad move.

Convinced he can care for his ailing mom, James locks the nanny out and carries out a series of appalling and atrocious acts unaware of the damage he's causing. Impaired by his condition, which is worsened by his inability to take his medication by himself, the boy accidentally tortures his mother, at one point leaving her to crap the bed, at another, force feeding her a pile of pills because, in his warped mind, he thinks if some is good, more must be better. Eventually, James becomes completely unhinged and starts hallucinating and hurting himself. Then, he pulls out a butcher’s knife.

Shot on film for about a million dollars, “The Living and the Dead” is stark, graphic and surreal, bringing to mind elements of “Requiem For a Dream” and “Spider,” while maintaining its own disturbing aesthetic. In short, “The Living and the Dead” reveals the real life terrors of mental illness and the wake of violence and misery that can plague patients unable to cope with their condition. Chilling even without the carnage, nightmarish sequences involving needles, a bathtub and a gravesite will stay with you forever.

Them (Dark Sky) – In this French thriller, a young couple living in the countryside of Bucharest, Romania are plagued by figures that invade their home. Before long they’re surrounded by beings that taunt and terrify, banging on the door, shutting off the power, driving them from the home and chasing them into the dark woods. Fearing for their lives, the couple attempts to fight back with no idea of what they’re up against. What makes the movie so tense and suspenseful is that the audience doesn’t know who the antagonists are either, let alone what they want and what they’re capable of. “Them” begins tamely enough by setting a domestic scene between the two main characters, then spirals into a full hour of chase sequences and torture scenes intended to terrify the characters rather than kill them. But as the pace escalates, the story rapidly spirals out of control.

There Will Be Blood (Paramount) – When we first heard this movie title -- long before its release and the ensuing tidal wave of press coverage – we thought it was a torture porn homage to “Saw II” (which used the slogan, "Oh, yes, there will be blood"). Actually, there’s not a ton of blood spilled in this production, but if you can overlook the lack of gore there’s a fine story here about greed, corruption, power, loyalty and family. In a nutshell, "There Will Be Blood" is about a man's quest for power and wealth, and how the more successful he becomes, the more unstable and unhappy it makes him until he finally spins into an abyss of murder and insanity. For slasher fans, there are a few good kills – one dude gets crushed by a piece of an oil drill, another is clubbed to death with a bowling pin and someone else is shot in the head point-blank. Come to think of it, that's about as many brutal, creative deaths as there are in some giallos.

The Mist (Genius) – After directing one of the best movies of the past quarter-century, “The Shawshank Redemption,” which was based on a story by Stephen King, Frank Darabont tackled his second King production, “The Green Mile.” But “The Mist” is his first bona fide King horror story, and he handles it with astonishing skill. The plot involves a fog that washes over a town in Maine and the deadly creepy-crawlies that lurk inside the mist. Surely, there are monsters waiting in there to kill and consume, but there are also monsters trapped inside the store where our protagonist, Thomas Jane (David Drayton) is trying to lead a batch of survivors to safety. Amongst them are a bunch of rednecks that are vying for power and a scary religious zealot named Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Hardon), who tries to convince the crowd that the apocalypse is upon them. Scarier still, she might be right. “The Mist” is an edge-of-your-seat horror story for sure, but it’s also a character study about the way desperate people act in hopeless situations. And, ultimately, that’s what makes it more terrifying than similar stories like “The Fog” and “Right at Your Door.”

Mulberry Street, The Deaths of Ian Stone (Lionsgate) – Two of the better features from this year’s Horrorfest, the former is scarier, the latter is more original and features the sexy and sinister Jaime Murray, who played Lila in the Showtime series “Dexter.” In “Mulberry Street,” New York City rats are infected with a disease that makes them attack people. Those victims gradually turn into zombie rats and scurry around looking for others to kill and eat. The movie works on several levels and keeps the focus on a group of tenants in a broken down apartment complex. These people actually interact with one another in a believable fashion even before the outbreak and the audience cares about the characters before they begin their struggle for survival. “The Deaths of Ian Stone” is a more sci-fi oriented story that’s like a cross between “Groundhog Day” and “Hellraiser.” Ian Stone is a tragic character, who wakes up to find he’s being chased by something mean and deadly. And each time it kills him, he comes back to lead a different life (as a cab driver, college hockey player, junkie, office worker, etc.). Along the way, Stone finds that, not only is he incapable of being killed, but he may have once been the merciless leader of the creatures that keep temporarily snuffing him out. The acting in “The Deaths of Ian Stone” is strong, but what drives the plot is its rapid pace and unpredictability. Score one for director Dario Piana for unraveling a story that’s constantly challenging but never too perplexing and features enough good kill scenes to satisfy the heartiest bloodlust.

The Lost (Anchor Bay)
Based on a novel by Jack Ketchum, “The Lost” is about 19-year-old psychopath Ray Pye (Marc Senter) who kills two young women at a campground just for kicks, and the aftermath of the senseless tragedy. The night of the killings, Pye’s accomplices Jen (Shay Astar) and Tim (Alex Frost) help cover up the crimes, and Pye is never caught. But the local detective, Charlie Schilling (Michael Bowen), is convinced of Ray’s guilt, and, four years after the murders, searches for the smoking gun to put Pye away. The stress of the investigation and Pye's crumbling relationships with Jen and his new girlfriend Katherine Wallace (Robin Sydney) push the nutbag over the edge, driving him to commit acts far more brutal than the campground murders. Packed with tension, drama and explosive action, “The Lost” is a terrifying portrait of poisoned love, sheer insanity and unmitigated revenge.

Basically, the film is a horror/comedy about a girl who discovers she has teeth in her genitals (which plays off the whole Vagina Dentata myth about the female crotch as castration device). Apparently, after suffering through an episode of sexual abuse, she learns to use her hidden chompers to her benefit and seeks revenge against seedy men by emasculating them with her nether regions.

The movie, directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein, features five songs by unsigned Fort Collins, Colorado extreme metal band Immortal Dominion. "The stepbrother [in the movie] is always in his room blasting our music on his stereo, so we are in the movie, like, eight times," said the band on its MySpace.

Now, we're all for metal bands getting more play in Hollywood, but we'd love to be a fly on the wall a year from now, when one of the members' aunts asks, "Oh, what movie was your band in," and the dude has to say, "'Teeth,' you know, the one about the girl with the sharp teeth in her hoo-ha."

Well, it beats being in "Scary Movie XXVI"... maybe.

The humorous horror story features three headbangers trapped in a stopped car during what seems to be the End of Days. As a flock of lumbering flesh-eating zombies gather around the vehicle, the three survivors kill time by talking about evil icons of metal, namedropping Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica and Motorhead. One of the highlights comes when one of the dudes mentions Kiss, and his friend snaps back, "F--- man, Kiss aren't evil. They're gay."

Soon, however, dread overtakes chuckles and the headbangers realize there's no escape from zombie horrdes. Shot on a zero budget, this 2004 feature is riveting thanks to an adept blend of terror, comedy and surprisingly strong acting.

And the song by Metal Skull (a.k.a. Crumb) ain't bad either. According to their Web site, Asquith and Stenbeck are currently working on a full-length movie and a TV show. We can't wait.

But "Soundtrack to War" is more than a soldier's playlist. Many of the military men interviewed discuss the horrors of war, their reservations about fighting and their desire to get home. The movie also includes revealing interview footage with the members of Iraqi metal band Acrassicuada, who explain what it's like to be a controversial metal band fearing for its life in a war torn nation.

But there's something about the original "Night of the Living Dead," even after all these years, that makes our skin crawl. With no budget and no special effects, Romero created a stylized, original and still-frightening film that triumphed because of the strong storyline, creative cinematography and and a well-picked cast. See for yourself, and Happy Halloween.

How many thrash fans know that before Overkill became a contending New York thrash band, the members donned face paint and goth eyeliner and lead singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth wore a vampire cape onstage? Or that the group's early dungeon stage set was composed largely of supermarket milk crates? And while everyone knows Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett was originally in Exodus, not as many headbangers are aware that Anthrax ex-guitarist Dan Spitz started out in Overkill.

These are just a few of the factoids revealed in the hour-long film "Born in the Basement," which came out May 12. The movie tells the story of Overkill founder Rat Skates, who started as drummer in the punk band Lubric---s and gradually transformed the project into Overkill, one of the hardest working thrash bands of the early '80s.

"Born in the Basement" isn't really a documentary about Overkill. It's a story about ambition, perseverance and creativity -- a tale about fighting the odds and flipping the bird to the forces of adversity in order to pursue a dream. And it's a reality check for anyone who thought being in a signed rock band was an invitation to lifelong rock stardom.

The film was written and narrated by Skates, and in the process of telling his personal story, he reveals how thrash metal emerged from the resentment of suburbia, the attitude of punk and a love for the new wave of British heavy metal. But the coolest parts of the film illustrate how Skates publicized the band through DIY marketing: silk screening all the band's t-shirts by hand, stamping its logo on guitar picks, drumsticks and tollbooths and photocopying everything from flyers to cassette inserts to make Overkill seem as professional and put together as possible even though the band nearly always broke.

Interestingly, the story ends with Skates deciding to leave the group he loved in 1987 because, even though Overkill were touring the world and had been signed to a major label, the members were being given a mere $15 per diem to eat and receiving no royalties or merch income.

Rather than relate the story with resentment or hostility, Skates simply tells it like it was, revealing all of the highs and lows of life in an active thrash band. And he does so with a sense of humor and a great fondness for the past.

In addition to the insightful commentary, "Born in the Basement" features previously unseen footage of the Lubric---s and early Overkill as well as music and photos from Skates' archives.

A preview for the film can be found here.

Now check out the band's only video with Skates on drums, "In Union We Stand":

Every time big Norwegian black metal bands release new albums, people start re-examining the history of the extreme music form, which is chock full of savage and evil exploits, including church burning, suicide and murder.

While the roots of the movement can be traced back to the English band Venom and the Swedish outfit Bathory, it was Mayhem that ignited the torch of black metal in Norway and led the anti-religious crusade until frontman, Euronymous (pictured above) was murdered in 1993 by Varg Vikernes, the leader of another band, Burzum.

The Norwegian documentary "Satan Rides the Media" by Torstein Grude aired in early 1999 and recounts the bizarre, violent scene with rare interviews with Vikernes, other musicians, journalists, and members of the clergy.

The 51-minute long film is in Norwegian with English subtitles.

Before tearing into new releases by Mayhem, Dimmu Borgir and Marduk, get some perspective on the blasphemy. And if you're craving more knowledge, pick up a copy of the book "Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground."