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. Read more...

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: Read more...

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.

Click "more" to watch "Metalheads." Read more...

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. Read more...

We're all for surreal, disturbing horror movies. And we're big fans of splattery gore (as any of our Movies For Metalheads columns will attest). But we're wondering if the creators of the new flick "Teeth" (which opened in New York and Los Angeles January 18) might have gone too far. We haven't seen the movie or anything, so we can't judge how, err, tasteful it is, but the plot gives us the willies -- and gives our willie the heebie-jeebies.

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.

No, this isn't a documentary about Rob Zombie or one of his old short films. It's a 15-minute flick written, produced and directed by two New Zealand metal heads, Michael J. Asquith and Ben Stenbeck, which won "Best Short Film" at the 2005 New York City Horror Film Festival and "Best Horror Comedy Short Film" at the 2005 Screamfest LA.

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.

This intense 90-minute documentary was made in 2003 by Australian journalist George Gittes. The flick, which features snippets of Slayer's "Angel of Death" and Drowning Pool's "Bodies," depicts U.S. soldiers discussing the role music -- and especially metal -- plays in psyching them up to march into battle.

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.

Dozens of good zombie movies have been released since the 1968 George Romero classic "Night of the Living Dead." Romero, himself, directed the excellent sequels, "Dawn of the Dead" (1978), "Day of the Dead" (1985) and "Land of the Dead" (2005). Special effects wizard Tom Savini took a stab at a "Night of the Living Dead" remake in 1990. Then, there was Zack Snyder's stark, grisly 2004 revamp of "Dawn of the Dead." Then there are a slew of other directors from Lucio Fulci to Sam Raimi that have taken their own approach to the grisly zombie genre.

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."