Sunday, January 24, 2010

Heavy Metal Parking Lot (1986)

Shot in the parking lot before a Judas Priest concert in Landover, MD in 1986, the film perfectly captures hanging out before going to a rocknroll show during this time period. There's lots of feathered hair and ridiculous comments from the high school aged crowd who are mostly drunk or stoned.

Those who will appreciate it the most are the people who went to concerts during the 80s and remember seeing people like this or were people like this.

There are also extras on the dvd, which includes current footage of some of the kids they interviewed back in 1986. All but one are excited about having been part of the documentary, and some of them are still heavily into music. Surprisingly the most extreme transformation is the kid known as zebraman who seems very uncomfortable and embarrassed that the filmmakers have tracked him down.

The dvd also contains Neil Diamond Parking Lot, which was shot years later at the same venue, clips from Monster Truck Parking Lot, and Harry Potter Parking Lot, which is actually kids on the sidewalk outside a bookstore waiting to get an autograph from J.K. Rowling. I didn't really care for any of these as I didn't find they had the same charm as Heavy Metal Parking Lot. Then again, I went to heavy metal concerts in the 1980s and have never been into any of the other things.

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