Lords of Chaos

The title says it all. I find when people say this didn't happen this way or that way, this part isn't true, etc I like to think "how would you know"? The director (Jonas Åkerlund) of the film ran in the same circles at the time. He was in black/viking metal band called Bathory from 1983-1984 era. He knew these guys. So if anyone knows most of what actually happened, Jonas is the guy. Plus, I find if Varg didn't like it & says it's untrue then it's no doubt the opposite .

I was not expecting to like this movie as much as I did. I didn't really know what to expect, to a great extent. I was shocked at how well it was put together. LOC is a very engaging, if compelling film about a bunch of true Norwegian black metal guys who founded the band Mayham, fanatics who cause it too, in little old Oslo. It's very well acted with some disturbing themes. One involving a candid suicide, another involving a random bloody murder, & another horrific murder of betrayal. LOC kills on all levels. Confrontingly violent, well scripted, & very well acted. Jack Kilmer's (Dead) short lived role, is hauntingly brilliant! Rory Culkin's (Oystein) performance is shockingly impressive. And the unhinged Varg, played superbly by Emory Cohen. His acting stuck with me. There were some powerful moments that truly unnerved me. He's a great acting force to be reckoned with. This is an important film with a so tragic, & violent ending. In ill respect, the film is very funny too, & the music is of course well suited.

Overall, it's a well-acted, directed & produced film, & a faithful depiction of the events that transpired. I highly recommend it.

Get something straight up front - this is a movie, not a documentary. It will have errors. Get over it, move on.

As a whole it does well to bring to life the schizo genius/idiocy of the roots of black metal. It is ~90% accurate which makes it leaps ahead of most docu-dramas. To the unwashed, this may seem like a parody of sorts. But the reality is that the main players were a fringe crazy that was beyond parody. Yes, they were all probably like that and the film understates it if anything.

Black metal is a thing. Yes there is a point about the desecration of Asatru shrines. No it does not justify anything. If the film does have a flaw it is in emphasising satanism and odinism - no, their thing predates that. It is otherwise a fine retelling, Don't listen to the _Mayhem_ cultists. This is a good movie.

This works great as a parody. What is presented here has nothing to do with the real events, most characters are straight out of an American teen movie, every character is completely different from the real life version in everything (looks, behavior) and the story is insultingly false. The book was already bad, the movie is about 100 times worse. No band gave the rights to its music, even bands that had no real involvement in the true events that the movie is trying, and failing spectacularly, to portray. I love the few good reviews and the downvoting of the one negative review that says the truth, the movie will bomb either way. If you want to see an American teen movie with romance, sex, American humor and a bit of fake drama then this is for you. If you want to see a serious drama based on tragic events then avoid it like the plague.

Some will like this for what it is, a well done biopic, but one things for sure - the whole Norwegian Black Metal scene will hate this movie, or at least all the true necro grim Black Metal elitists. Having read the book this movie is based on before there was even talk about a movie, I am happy to see it didn't disappoint. I expected no masterpiece that would be lauded as the best musical biopic of the year, but I'm glad it turned out better than expected.

This is not a movie for Metal heads only. If you like controversial figures and want to know about the history of Mayhem and what happened a long time ago to a bunch of kids as well as hear a decent soundtrack, go for it. The actors did a well enough job and it stayed almost entirely true to the book by the same title. If you can't bother to read it, watch it. And, Varg was portrayed probably better than he deserved, but so did everyone. Light a few black candles and let the mayhem begin!

I didn't expect to like it, but it was pretty good! Brutal scenes and seemed to stay true to much of the information I've accrued over the years. Varg hates everything, but this seems to be more of his angle on what happened, which in general terms was that Euronymous was a "poser" and took credit for things that weren't his. Hey, it's a movie not a documentary. Only Varg really knows what happened that night and he's already told the his side of things. It's well made, entertaining, and very brutal at times. Give it an honest go and see what you think.