Hated: GG Allin & the Murder Junkies

Todd Phillips directed this documentary about the infamous punk rock singer, GG Allin. GG Allin was infamous for giving concert goers more than they bargained for in his shows. People who were unfortunate enough to go to one of his shows were usually treated to a music set piece for about 20 to 45 minutes, and then all hell would break lose and GG Allin would then go around attacking audience members, raping women, defecating on stage and then throwing, mutilating himself with weird and sharp objects, and stripping naked and putting all sorts of different things into his anus. There would usually be semi-close riots and chaos, with a lot of people leaving within seconds, and the shows would end in a mess of blood and feces, with GG Allin usually getting arrested. GG Allin had a concert one day that GG Allin had threatened to kill himself on stage during. On the actual day of the concert, GG Allin ended up almost getting arrested by the cops when a riot broke out at the concert, the wide spread confusion was put aside by GG Allin, who ran naked through the streets of New York at twilight. He took shelter at a friend's apartment and overdosed on heroin. He died, and was buried in Littleton, New Hampshire, which is around 80 miles away from my house. This concert has been generously recorded and transfered to this DVD as a bonus feature. This documentary mostly explores the last tour that he was involved with with his then ban, The Murder Junkies, but the documentary also is about some of his friends and his excesses that usually came with his musical numbers. His concerts are truly a sight to behold. These concerts consist of a true form of chaos that people usually only imagine when listening to songs. What amazes me about GG Allin is that he was able to channel this chaos from his music into a reality. With his acts of mutilation, anal penetration, feces throwing, and his random outbursts of violence, GG Allin has been able to transfer all the insufferable confusions that we have as teenagers, and express them into totally outrageous facades and events. This documentary is not only able to show us these quirks, including one deeply memorable sequence that occurs on his birthday which has also been "generously" included on this documentary, but it is able to give us a kind of music icon that could probably never be translated into a modern day mainstream punk rock band. What the film also is able to give us at the same time is a question that all fan boys of punk rock should ask themselves. Is this what punk rock has come to? Where is the talent? Where is the musical genius that speaks to us? This film is able to show us that all of our expectations of rock and punk rock can be sworn on in new music that will never have half the guts that GG Allin had. I highly recommend this amazing and well crafted documentary, if that means anything to you...

Is the GG Allin seen on-screen in this doco the "real" GG Allin? Frankly, THAT remains to be seen because GG on camera is a different GG to the guy who appeared occasionally at LA's Mondo-Video-A-Go-Go and shot the breeze with The Colonel, the store's proprietor.

The GG essayed on film by Todd Phillips is a force of angry nature, a punk with no discernible talent for music but a blazing talent for notoriety, anarchy and illegality.

What a true warts-and-all docu this is. Its jagged, freewheeling style perfectly mirrors the personal style of its fascinating subject. GG isn't likable in a standard way, but he's a damn courageous nutbag and intensely interesting for the angst he peddles.

Interviews with Deano (the naked drummer), brother Merle (with his Hitler moustache) and ex-members of GG's band, The Murder Junkies, are priceless. Also of bottomless merit is a wild clip where GG gets wasted, heads to a party and pays some skank to urinate into his mouth.

The concert footage is gold, and so is one live performance where a mean-spirited GG (is there any other kind?) slashes himself up and begs a female fan to finish the job. For her efforts, the fan cops a beating.

An interview with GG's old school principal, a vague ex-Hippie, is unforgettable.

One of the best rock docos going and entertaining from beginning to end.

Director Phillips, who also did the disturbing SCREWED, now directs Hollywood forgettables such as ROAD TRIP and OLD SCHOOL.

GG Allin was truly something else. The man had no musical talent whatsoever, yet had probably one of the most loyal fan bases in rock music. This is despite the fact that he beat up, assaulted, and even raped audience members during concerts he gave...and more often than not ended up in jail because of it. His concerts were more of a war zone, filled with bodily fluid, violence, and musical assault. As a "fan", or more an observer of GG's music, I was quick to pick up this documentary about the man, and I must admit, I was thourougly impressed with it. It contains what probably are some of the most disturbing and utterly disgusting images I have ever seen. GG was known for performing shows naked, and defecating on stage...then rubbing the result all over himself. I can bet that most people would have a hard time watching a video of this event...which is shown here...and would find it hard to even imagine seeing GG in concert live. GG was also somewhat remembered as the guy who said he would commit suicide onstage for rock, only to die of a heroin overdose.

Overall, this film was a no holds barred look at the life of this infamous rock 'n' roll "legend", and one that was actually quite revealing into the how and whys of his life through interviews with him, friends, family, and fans. There is quite a few disturbing and absolutely disgusting images, including moments from live shows, as well as a scene a fan talks about with a camera there to document it. This particular scene is just beyond description...and as not to spoil it should you attempt to watch this film, I refuse to comment further.

GG was definitely one of the outlaws and revolutionaries in the rock and roll industry, paving the way for such artists as Marilyn Manson and others doing nasty things on stage and this documentary is worth it to see just what created this rock and roll myth and the "legend" behind it. Recommended, but be prepared for a lot of nastiness going in.

Although he passed away in a typical rock star way (heroin overdose) in 1993, nothing else in GG's life could ever be considered typical. Yes, it is true that GG Allin makes Marilyn Manson look like a Sunday school teacher, but to focus on that is missing the point of this movie. As a fan of rock music, I can understand exactly where GG is coming from when he says that there is a great void in rock music today, that there is no soul behind the stars of the music industry. Where is the senseless destruction? Where is the violence? Where is the hyper-obscene sexuality that once offended legions of conservative suburbanites in the 1950's and 60's? Feeling that since he is the only one with the guts to do anything about it, GG took it upon himself to single-handedly compensate for all the boring cookie-cutter rock stars that anxiously collect royalty checks and live in $10 million mansions. GG willingly suffered to be a martyr for rock music, frequently going so far that once, warrants were out for his arrest in at least seven states at the same time! One scene that particularly hit me was this: GG is shown walking out of a court room after being handed down one of the many prison sentences he received in his life. As he walks by the camera, he exclaims triumphantly, "They're trying to destroy rock and roll but they CAN'T DO IT!" It is strange for me to admit that as a touching statement, especially when said by a man who is repeatedly shown sprawled out naked on stage, smothered in his own blood, urine, and feces, but at the same time, you wonder-- does anyone else out there in that nameless faceless monolith of rock give a damn about what they're doing enough to sacrifice their life for the name of it?

This movie is not for casual patrons of rock-- only a true lover of it will be able to transcend the gruesome, appetite-suppressing, often vomit-inducing qualities of the film. Endlessly fascinating, pathetic, disgusting, tragic, and perplexing, Hated is one the greatest rock documentaries ever made.

GG Allin was easily one of the most unpleasant and untalented individuals in the annals of rock music. He was crude, violent and utterly insane. Seeing him live was more like seeing a side-show Geek than going to a show. He hurled feces, he assaulted the audience, he was usually beaten up or arrested before the show even started... yet, there will always be a certain part of me that will miss him.

GG was a force, a wild ride rather than an individual. He demonstrated a total lack of empathy for other human beings and I believe people who say that he probably would have been a serial killer if he had not become an 'artist.'

However, regardless of an of this, Todd Phillips documentary on the man is utterly brilliant. It passes no judgment on the man or his music, but documents a phenomenon. Phillips looks at GG with unflinching honesty and does not try to sugarcoat the reality of the disturbed individual who lashed out at the world around him.

If you have any interest in documentaries and how they SHOULD be done, look no farther than Hated, which is an honest and serious look at the psychopathology of one lone outsider.