Apparently emerging from a podcast done by lead writer Mike Schiff, this documentary concerns the parallel lives and interwoven fates of heavy metal music and horror films, making a good case that people who do not buy into society’s nonsense tend to choose a path where power is more desirable than safety and popularity.

It does so through interviews with a number of articulate luminaries (Kirk Hammett, Charliue Benante, Marky Ramone, Scott Ian Rosenberg, Corpsegrinder, Gwar, Dave Mustaine, Alice Cooper) and a industry favorites who make talking look difficult (Phil Anselmo, Dani Filth, Jonathan Davis, Corey Taylor) under which random heavy metal music faintly plays.

The film shows its strength as a documentary by rigorously chronicling all genres and ages of horror. Yes, I think Carnival of Souls belonged in there, but otherwise it touches on sci-fi horror, zombie horror, and original literary horror of the Frankenstein and Dracula varieties. If you wanted a good shopping list to start a collection of horror movies — buy the hardcopy, it will outlast streaming — this film would provide you with that if nothing else.

Its metal history section is a bit weak like most are, there are a few factual errors that crop up, every time Anselmo or Davis spoke I wanted to eat my own feces, and actual death metal, black metal, and grindcore get almost no representation, but it nails the evolution of heavy horror rock into heavy metal and eventually its various forms branching out from Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, and King Diamond.

Will it change your life? Thankfully, no: this documentary does not try to be deep like the Reddit metal poseurs, nor does it try to be everybody’s buddy like the smarmy rockstar stuff. It is stripped-down nerd fodder, going deep into horror films and finding kindred spirits in metal.

If they do another edit, getting rid of the lengthy introduction and interstitial skits might be a good start; these add little and could be condensed to a tenth the time for five times the effect. It would be great to get Varg Vikernes, Trey Azagthoth, Pete Sandoval, Glen Benton, or Fenris in here. But that is a wishlist for a future film. This one works as it is, and is good for a fun evening in with popcorn and blood.

Tags: alice cooper, anthrax, documentary, film, Heavy Metal, horror movies, iron maiden, king diamond, megadeth, metallica, mike schiff, the ramones