Rock 'N Roll Nightmare - Farmhouse Rock!

Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare
1987
D: John Fasano
W: Jon Mikl Thor

S: Jon Mikl Thor, Jillian Peri, Frank Dietz
Rated R - Approx 83 Min.
Thunder (II)

Taglines:
 - When you raise Hell ... the Devil must be paid - in full!
 - When The Band Starts To Rock...Heads Start To Roll!

Alternate Titles:
Entrance To Hell (Brazil)
At The Edge of Hell (Spain)
In The Flames of Hell (Greece)
In The Face of Hell (West Germany)
Arch Angel (US Working Title)




"Let's tune our weapons!"
                                   -John Triton

The film displays it's alternate title on the Synapse Disc.

Horror & Rock 'n' Roll have gone together since the 1950's.  It was commonplace to have a rock band perform a song or two in the prerequisite sock hop scene or beach party while radioactive mutant fish men and other horrors from the beyond invaded our cities and towns.

It's no wonder that eventually Rock 'n' Roll would take front and center stage in horror films.  When the 80's hit a new music/horror hybrid movie was born...the Heavy Metal Horror Movie.  Films like Rocktober Blood (one of my all time favorites!) Blood Tracks and Shock 'Em Dead all mixed horror with a brain melting heavy metal score that featured prominently in the films.

What a quaint little farmhouse....

The band arrives!

The band eats dinner!

Today I want to take a look at one of the goofiest (and most endearing) of the heavy metal monster flicks:  Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare!  Jon Mikl Thor stars as Jon Triton.  Triton takes his band up to a farmhouse in rural Canada to rehearse and record.  Unknown to the band, a family was slaughtered by demons in the house before they arrived.  Oh well, at least they've got a swanky new 24-track recording studio in the barn!

Naturally the band's girlfriends are all in tow as well (one just got married and decided that this would be a fantastic honeymoon for his bride!  NOT!) and the group starts to settle into their new digs.  After dinner the band sets up in the barn and unleashes a torrent of 80's metal cheddar at us.  It's gawddamn amazing.

Time to rock out!

Polka dots, eh?  That's not very metal.....

That's one ugly groupie!

Things start to go wrong as one by one people start to vanish around the house and barn.  Demons and weird little cyclops creatures are running around everywhere.  Band members (and girlfriends) start to act strangely.  It takes your standard "slasher" kinda formula.....one by one, people are offed by the demons and while it's noted by others in the house, it doesn't seem to bug them too awful much.  Ridiculous excuses such as "I'm sure it's fine, he probably just took the van into town to get a drink" are thrown around with wild abandon.

As the film draws to it's unbelievably awesomely ridiculous climax, it's down to just Triton and his girlfriend.  I wish I could tell you how this bad monkey ends, but I wouldn't dream of spoiling the amazingly whacked out ending.

True beauty is on the inside....right?

Is that the grandfather from Texas Chainsaw Massacre?

C'mon....they HAD to know what this looks like!

There is something about this film that I just can't help but love.  It almost feels like a band decided to make a Halloween special.....with a a little bit of editing (there's a some nudity) this could have easily aired on network TV some October!

GORE
This isn't overflowing with gore, but we get a few good gags including a topless demon biting into a man's shoulder and tearing away flesh.

T&A
Well, naturally there are going to be some boobs when you're watching a metal horror flick!

MONSTERS
There are all sorts of critters, beasts and demons running around the farmhouse!

I've got three letters:  WTF!

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you love 80's horror and you love cheesy 80's metal, than you owe it to yourself to check out Rock & Roll Nightmare!  There is a sequel that came out in 2005, but I have not watched it yet.  Just because I'm so awesome, I've included a performance from The Tritons below.  Enjoy!