Rating: ***
Director: Penelope Spheeris
Cast: Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Mustaine, Alice Cooper
A depressing and unflinching look at heavy metal music, its fans, its enemies, and its creators. Any fan of the genre will be disgusted by the vapid emptiness and sheer stupidity of the people that are interviewed, and outraged by the enemies of metal who clearly don't understand what music is all about. Tipper Gore of the PMRC shows up to delicately present her case, and she's not nearly as offensive as some of the other whacked-out nut-case anti-metal organizations that are featured. Rikki Rachtman appears as the sleazy manager of "The Cat House" (please just shut up!) and Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P. is a disgusting drunkard floating in a swimming pool with a bottle of Jack Daniels. Ozzy Osbourne just generally embarrasses himself as he's trying to talk and fix breakfast at the same time while wearing a bathrobe. The only shining moment comes at the end of the film, when Dave Mustaine of Megadeth comes on and intelligently defends heavy metal culture, the music, and its fans. Otherwise, I just felt embarrassed for myself and my kind.