Rating: ★★

The History of Metal and Horror is a Documentary that delves into the intersection and intertwined relationship between heavy metal music and horror. Before we begin, I have to state upfront and make the disclaimer that I can’t really call myself a fan of heavy metal by and large.

The film does a passable coverage of the horror genre (by which it is taken to mean the horror film as opposed to horror literature). It is one where the classic period is for some reason represented by the children of horror stars – Sara Karloff and Bela Lugosi Jr and the grandson of Lon Chaney Jr. Most of the early section about the history of horror is disappointingly nothing more than assorted metal stars (and occasional horror icons) giving their opinions on favourite horror films where their input never seems much more in-depth than “that was fucking awesome, man.” This makes The History of Metal and Horror really no different than something like In Search of Darkness; A Journey Into Iconic ‘80s Horror (2019) and sequels.

The documentary moves from its discussion of the horror genre to the ways that horror elements have been incorporated into various metal acts. This section is far more interesting than the scanty efforts to discuss horror and people’s opinions on favourite films. The progenitors of horror-related acts are seen as being Arthur Brown, the theatrical stageshows of Alice Cooper and then Kiss. And that is before things started to become more mainstream and outrageous.

The assorted acts are neither here nor there and dependent on one’s affinity for metal music. However, what is undeniably interesting is the clips we get of various stage acts and videos where we see horror themes being incorporated – Rob Zombie interacting with animatronic robots on stage; Alice Cooper being hung and beheaded; others with elaborate makeup, costuming and assorted grotesqueries, even disembowellings performed on stage.

Given that the film interprets horror as meaning horror films, there is surprisingly little coverage of the spate of 80s metal/horror films such as Hard Rock Zombies (1985), Rock‘n’Roll Nightmare (1987), Hard Rock Nightmare (1988) and Black Roses (1988). Most of the coverage when it comes to film is placed on Trick or Treat (1986) and the ways it reflected Tipper Gore’s campaign for the labelling of lyrical content on albums.

There is some reasonable coverage of horror influenced artwork on album covers, of which it is admitted that Cannibal Corpse is the band that pushes the envelope with their gore laden covers. The documentary briefly touches on films that feature metal songs on the soundtrack. The latter sections discuss the crossovers between metal and horror fandoms, including some conventions that cater to both interests.

The History of Metal and Horror also comes with a weird framework where Alex Rafala is a lone survivor (the last we are told at one point) following some apocalypse. He picks up an assortment of tapes that give the histories of gardening, the US military and proctology, before he settles on two about the history of horror and heavy metal and plays them together where they blend into one fronted by horror actor Michael Berryman. This becomes the framework where the rest of the documentary takes place. It feels an odd artifice – it is not as though a documentary with such a self-explanatory title needed some framework like this. It all arrives at a rather pointless downbeat ending.

The History of Metal and Horror was a directorial debut for Mike Schiff who has a handful of credits elsewhere as a cinematographer and editor, including of several music videos for John Carpenter (who is one of the interviewees here).

Trailer here