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Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare
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| Year: |
1987
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Director: |
John Fasano
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| Stars: |
Jon Mikl Thor, Jillian Peri, Teresa Simpson, Frank Dietz, Liane Abel Dietz, Denise Dicandia, Jim Cirile, David Lane, Gene Kroth, Rusty Hamilton, Carrie Schiffler, Tralle D'Farrell, Lara Daans, Nancy Bush, Jesse D'Angelo, Clara Pater, Chris Finkel
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| Genre: |
Horror, Trash |
| Rating: |
  4 (from 1 vote) |
| Review: |
It seems like another quiet morning in the countryside, and the family living in the old farmhouse are getting ready for the day. Mother calls down her husband and son to the breakfast table, but before they can walk down the stairs there's a loud scream. Father barges into the kitchen but can't see his wife until he notices something in the oven - something that turns out to be a smoking, gurgling corpse! Some time later, and heavy metal band The Tritonz, led by John (Jon Mikl Thor) are headed to the farmhouse, which now has a recording studio installed in the barn. But will the musicians and their girlfriends be a match for the unimaginable evil that lurks there?
The nation of Canada and the music of heavy metal. It's quite the heady combination, I'm sure you'll agree and it was never so potent in the form of Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare, a retitling of Edge of Hell. When I say potent, perhaps risibly ludicrous would be more appropriate, as many who have encountered the film over the years have found it. Made on what can kindly be called a careful budget, scriptwriter, songwriter and star Mr Thor, an imposing musclebound figure with a lion's mane of hair, had fashioned a highly individual vision of the triumph of good over evil, and unlike many metal rockers who paint themselves as the spawn of Satan, he has other ideas.
But before we get to the grand finale where evil receives its just desserts, we have to endure - sorry, enjoy - a heavily padded tale of the characters being picked off one by one by a mysterious force. They have to reach the farmhouse first, of course, and that involves about five minutes of watching their van driving along the highways of Canada; many filmmakers would be pleased with a shot of the van pulling up in front of the location, but not these guys. Once they get inside, the band are not too sure about settling in considering how isolated they are here, but after dinner they are happier, and get down to recording, one of two sequences where The Tritonz (that "z" is very important) perform an all too familiar strain of metal for the era.
At times Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare resembles a horror version of The Muppet Show, as the monsters we glimpse are of the rubber puppet variety. Not that this film makes that much sense, just enough to keep it plodding along to the next scene. There are time-honoured montages of zooming clouds and half moons, along with gratuitous love scenes including one of Mr Thor in the shower with his girlfriend, displaying a bigger chest than she does. But my favourite character has to be the drummer, Stig (Jim Cirile), who has a priceless accent. Is he British? Australian? Whatever, he does a mean Arnold Schwarzenegger impression, exactly the thing to wow the ladies, but when he gets possessed by the demons his accent changes to North American! It's another reason evil must be stopped in all forms, and Mr Thor is the man to do it in a twist that I gurarantee you won't see coming. There are no indications this was supposed to be funny, but it is hilarious, although if you get bored you can always try and spot the product placement - it's immensely subtle.
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| Reviewer: |
Graeme Clark
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