Described by its creator, James Hughes, as an "amateur film examining perceptions of teenage metal fans," "Metalheads" is a wonderfully raw, no-budget, sloppily edited example of do-it-yourself filmmaking that's unintentionally hysterical and undeniably sincere.

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.

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