Director: Jason Lei Howden
Year: 2015
Country: New Zealand/USA
Alternate Titles: Heavy Metal Apocalypse
Genre: Demon Possession, Horror/Comedy
Plot:
After moving to a quiet small-town, a metal-loving teen and his new bandmates inadvertently release a series of Satanic demons after taking a passage from a tome on devil-worshipping to use in their lyrics and must use their arcane knowledge of the black arts from the music to stop them.
Review:
This was nothing short of an absolute blast. Among the many numerous enjoyable qualities with this one is the just utter love and respect given to the metal genre throughout here. Not only does it get a lot of the behavioral qualities and characteristics about the fans down completely, but it manages to get the genres' different quirks and eccentricities pretty consistent as well with the use of arcane lore and different symbolisms involved with the genre that gets mentioned not only in the dialog but so many other areas of the film. Since that ties into how the demons are released with the song and their plan to finally reverse the whole process which all comes from the music itself, there's a plenty of heavy metal fun to be had within here.
As well, there's also the really enjoyable comedy to be found which is nearly gut-busting not only in their interactions with each other but also the general situation that's being unleashed here. From brief little interludes that feature plenty of laughs, such as the henchmen being forced to repeat a killing on a body in order to offer a kill on a tarp instead of splattering on a carpet, to their snarky comments to each other, the comedy within this one is incredibly funny and hilarious. Likewise, the truly enjoyable moment where the corpsepaint-bedecked kid and the bright cheerleader-style normal girl are sitting on a park-bench in the middle of the day eating ice-cream together discussing the genre creates an utterly memorable image as well as being genuinely hilarious as this one segment creates plenty of genuine emotional resonance as well as utterly hilarious moments between the two..
Still, the fact that as a true horror film this one provides plenty to like here with the fun and enjoyable tale here with the demon infestation slowly taking over the town and providing this with plenty of ferocious action throughout here with the townspeople slowly coming into the realization of what's happening. The brief spurts showing the crazed demons in the town makes for some stellar moments here, and with high-energy sequences here from the battle with the possessed parents using their secret sex-toys to the dismemberments of the townspeople out in the street while fleeing to safety all giving this one great make-up work on the demons, tons of ingenuity with their homemade weapons and a smattering of bloody gore there are plenty of reasons to love this one. The lone downfall is that the relationships within the band don't seem realistic, but it's a minor inconsequential quibble.
The cast here is just another engaging aspect to be had with the film. The lead Brodie, Milo Cawthorne, is one of the most likable and worthwhile leads in the genre, being sweet, endearing and relatable despite the obsessiveness with heavy metal that might put some off. Echoing every stereotypical setup for metal-heads being a bullied, put-upon loser who sticks to himself and doesn't stand up for himself until the end as his courage finally lets him save the day. Kimberly Crossman as Medina is absolutely stellar as the hot girl who gets caught up in the madness as she slowly gets won over by metal and performs quite a believable turn going from the sweet girl to the full-throttle demon-hunter she becomes, becoming one of the shining moments in the film. The delinquent best friend Zakk, played by James Blake, gives another great turn as the rockstar wannabe who cares only about metal or getting laid. He has a nice slight turn into being likable but otherwise, he serves the film well with some great lines and relatable qualities despite being such a doof. The rest of the cast is quite fun and does what they can.
Overview:*****/5
There's barely anything wrong with this one, as it has so much to like that it has something for everyone involved in the genre. This is handily recommended to any fan of the genre or those who can appreciate the soundtrack attributes here, while those that don't are the only ones who won't like this one.
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