Heavy Metal Parking Lot

Jeff Krulik is the king of independent filmmaking in DC. "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" displays all his talent and charms: he actually seems to enjoy learning about and interacting with the subjects of his movies, while also reveling in how bizarre they are. A great way to spend a half hour, and a nice trip down memory lane for those of us unfortunate enough to remember all those hair bands.

Heavy Metal Parking Lot has got to be one of the funniest, and silliest and metalest documentaries I've seen. When a local public access TV crew gets the idea to bring their camera to a Judas Priest parking lot before the concert, they only could have dreamed the type of characters they'd come across. Everyone and their mothers are loaded or high off their asses. Rambling metal-heads have got to be one of the funniest and dare I say, most pathetic (in a good way) sights I've ever seen. And talking about ugly dudes! Phewy! If you're looking to pass a half hour with some silly interviews and drunk retards, definitely watch this lil gem of a film. You also get a couple trailers for other Parking Lot films. One being before the Neil Diamond concert, another at a Monster Truck rally. And you also get some more found footage for the Heavy Metal Parking Lot if you watch till the end. Which you must definitely should! Rock the f@ck on!!

Hair, Profanity, booze, being young and restless... Above and foremost, it was a time when hard rock n' roll was in its prime. Found a copy of it recently hiding in a deck among other music dvds in a "Public" Store and it made me listen to all 1986 records that I have. Hell Of a year for hard rock!!! "Zebraman" rules and without any doubt sums up the vibe of the era. By the way, my first concert was Saxon, May 1986 in Athens. They played a blinding set. Spitfire, a very underestimated Greek hard rock band(still fighting and giving great shows you know),was supporting. Judas Priest's of 1986 show was immortalized in "Priest Live" live LP and video too. It really got me rocking' in the summer of '87 when it was released...

If you honestly think all drunks are the same, you've never really studied human behavior. Yes, at some point, drunken behavior is predictable, but this film isn't merely about that.

Also, keep in mind that context is important for almost everything. The context here is documenting a very un-documented section of American culture in 1986. Yes, this kind of music was all over MTV at the time, but no one really dove in deep enough to the fanbase until Krulik did here. This film is not merely about drinking, partying and watching a cheese rock show. If you think that, you should stick to whatever it is that you feel comfortable watching.

It's also not easy to waltz into this kind of crowd with a video camera (again, in 1986) and be accepted. These "metal heads" are normally prone to kicking the krap outta people. Krulik does this with ease and gets them all hamming it up and posing for the camera as if he were one of them.

This film puts you there, makes you want to have a beer and sink into an aspect of culture you might not know or feel comfortable with. THAT is something!

When I read about this flick, it intrigued me as a heavy metal fan, and as a short and indie film fan.

Unfortunately, it isn't exactly the laugh a minute I expected it to be.

It runs for 18 minutes, a lot of which is "montage" shots. The actual interviews are quite amusing if only for the clothing, hair and language.

Possibly the funniest thing is the people saying "Metallica are the best metal band"... funny because Metallica aren't a metal band any more.

Keep an eye out for a Nigel Tufnel lookalike dressed in a zebra body suit, with a distaste for punk and Madonna.