We love our metal here at Metal Injection… but we dig movies too! Welcome to Cinema Fix, a movie guide tailored for the metal faithful. Sit back and relax after a long week of work and/or blast beats and enjoy one of our prestigious film selections. This week's pick is:
Detroit Rock City (1999)
Quick Pitch:
Raunchy teenage fun with tons of rock 'n' roll hi-jinx.
Synopsis:
Four teenage rock fans have to fight for their right to party alongside the hottest band in the world, KISS, at the biggest concert event of their lives. It's 1978, and the lads: Hawk, Lex, Trip and Jam, are card-carrying members of the KISS Army, they even have their own KISS tribute band [Mystery], which naturally puts them at odds with the uptight squares of their suburban Cleveland home. When the gang manage to score tickets to see their favorite band in concert the next night up in Detroit, they embark on an epic, sex drugs and rock and roll fueled adventure of their own. How could they not? Like Paul Stanley said, “You gotta lose your mind in Detroit Rock City.”
Why it’s metal:
Detroit Rock City is a goofball, coming of age comedy that focuses primarily on a group of KISS Army disciples, the type of odd, antisocial adolescents who gravitate toward loud rock music. In other words, it’s a film that’s basically tailor-made for metal heads. Aside from the bitchin’ classic rock soundtrack, loaded with gems from Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, AC/DC and of course…KISS, Detroit Rock City’s raunchy locker room humor is sure to appeal to the “Goddamn Electric” inner sixteen-year-old inside us all. Much like Mr. Anselmo, who put his trust in whiskey and weed and Slayer; Hawk and the boys dabble in shrooms, cheap beer, and the Knights In Satan’s Service respectively. The boys in Detroit Rock City are quite literally, rock 'n' roll warriors, fighting the oppressive forces of the clergy, campus security guards and disco goons at every turn. Edward Furlong may live forever as John Connor from Terminator 2, or as troubled Danny Vinyard from American History X, but his portrayal of Mystery’s de facto leader, Hawk, in Detroit Rock City is perhaps the role he was destined to play. His snarky, world weary delivery lends a certain gravitas, to a stoner road trip movie about girls farting and playing air guitar.
Suggested listening:
The Donnas – “Strutter”
Detroit Rock City has so many good songs to choose from it's ridiculous. The movie features hits from David Bowie, Cheap Trick, Van Halen and ya know, KISS. The soundtrack also features Pantera covering Ted Nugent, Everclear covering Thin Lizzy and our suggested listen of the day, The Donnas doing KISS' "Strutter." The Donnas may not be metal, but the video is fun as hell and Allison Robertson shreds all over this cover and would totally make Ace Frehley proud.
