Whether it's a certifiably awesome concert scene preserved on celluloid, or the sight of some horror-movie hero cleaving through zombies with a speed-metal soundtrack blasting in the background, few things get us pumped as experiencing heavy metal at the movie theater.
True, it's not quite the same as seeing a band in-person at a show, but it's still pretty sick to experience a ripping metal journey while chompin' on a box of popcorn at the cinema. That's what Ghost fans are going to enjoy this summer when the occult-rock juggernaut releases their highly anticipated debut feature film, RITE HERE RITE NOW.
Before Papa and the Ghouls make their big screen debut, though, we asked Revolver readers to weigh in on the greatest metal movie of all time. From corpse-painted comedies, to glammy slashers, to the realest of metal mockumentaries, here's how your votes ranked them.
5. Deathgasm
New Zealand comedy-horror Deathgasm is a lovable splatstick romp in which the titular teen metal band discover an ancient piece of sheet music that can summon occult ghouls. The all-out demonomania makes for a farcical, face-sanding, piss-and-plasma-soaked love letter to Satanic Panic schlock, Kiwi splatter à la Peter Jackson's Bad Taste and Dead Alive, and, of course, heavy fucking metal.
We at Revolver HQ can't wait for the sequel.
4. Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny
Honestly, a lot of metal movies push the plot forward with a mystical tchotchke. In Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, you've got acoustic duo Jack Black and Kyle Gass hunting for the powerful plectrum a wizard forged eons ago, with the goal of strumming their way into becoming the best band in the world.
It's a pseudo-origin tale for the potty-mouthed comedy rockers, part caper film, part sincere salute to rock gods of yore like Ronnie James Dio. It also caps with a sacrilegious rock-off between the D and the Devil (played by a mucho-makeup-wearing, guitar-shredding Dave Grohl).
Good pick, everybody.
3. Trick or Treat
The Eighties were a heyday for metal films merging slasher antics with a sick-as-hell soundtrack. Trick or Treat is possibly the best of the bunch, owing to big-budget special effects, cameos from Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons, and a horns-raising set of original songs from Fastway (a.k.a. Motörhead guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke's hard-glammin' side venture).
Trick or Treat is a ghoulish story where a teen becomes possessed by the murderous thoughts of a dead rock star, Sammi Curr, who invades the kid's stereo through — what else? — the back-masked messages of a rare, unreleased record. It's an era-appropriate goof on PMRC paranoia, while Curr is kind of a quippy, Krueger-esque villain with a hell of a metal yell.
2. Heavy Metal
Revolver readers went super literal with this pick, but fair enough. Based off the surrealistic sci-fi comic magazine of the same name, 1980's animated Heavy Metal movie does indeed rule. A one-way ticket to awesomeness, if you will.
The anthology flick ranges from cyber-punk film noir to prehistoric, pterodactyl-riding fantasy, but everything ties together through the ominous presence of a glowing orb called LocNar. And it's all dashed with a healthy dose of sex, violence, and bangers from the likes of Black Sabbath, Sammy Hagar and Blue Öyster Cult.
Essential on every level.
1. This Is Spinal Tap
You smelled the glove, and you liked it.
This Is Spinal Tap is not just Revolver readers' favorite heavy-metal movie, but one of the most revolutionary comedies of all time. Even if the mockumentary technically starts off with the English group's generically Merseybeat-biting sound, by film's end we're fully invested in the bass-on-bass-on-bass heaviness of Tap's big-bottomed stadium-metal era.
Yes, the absurdity is cranked to 11, but This Is Spinal Tap ultimately works so well because its ruthlessly satirical critique of the music industry is supremely on-point. The bad business decisions. The egos. The onstage gaffes. The crotch-stuffing.
Odds are most bands have had their very own embarrassing Spinal Tap moment at least once in their career — and likelier more.
