In 1986, young music fans and filmmakers John Heyn and Jeff Krulik headed out to the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland where Judas Priest would be performing. It was during the Turbo tour and the opener would be Dokken. Armed with cameras and a bunch of on the spot questions they would hit the parking lot of the arena and talk to the fans that were tailgating before the show. Thus was born the cult classic Heavy Metal Parking Lot. It's 1986 so the hair was big on both the girls and the guys and spandex was everywhere, once again on both the girls and the guys. It's pretty amusing to hear the fans thoughts about Metal music and both Priest and Dokken, and if you grew up on this music around this time then there is a chance that you will watch this and shudder as you think "oh god this was so me". Some of the fans in attendance are rip-roaring drunk and hence give some of the best commentary as they lecture about the ills of crap music against that of Priest. One young man in complete zebra-skinned attire says that this stuff can go straight to the moon since Metal was in charge or something of that nature. There are also folks who break into air guitar in mid conversation and use their friends as the guitar as well and a whole lot of beer chugging. One part I enjoyed was the young lady who loved Rob Halford so much that she proclaims proudly how she would jump his bones (alas, if she only knew). I don't think these guys knew the success they would find in tapping into that mindset on that day that they filmed and this was probably just done for some fun and to see what would come of it. The original film itself is only 15 minutes in length but the glory of DVD now offers you the chance to original film straight through and then a chance to watch it once again with the filmmaker's comments. It makes enjoying what you just saw all the more fun as they muse on the day as if it were only last week and not twenty one years ago. The film had some tremendous impact and was referenced in the Metal documentary Metal" A Headbanger's Journey as well. Thinking back on the year they did this made me remember all the shows I used to go to. Since I'm guilty of being silly with friends in the parking lot during shows of the past, as I watched this I felt a sigh of relief that they were in Maryland and not New York. God only knows what my friends and I would have been like if we saw a camera and a chance for instant "celebrity".
There are a ton of bonus features with some being better than others. They do a similar thing during the Neil Diamond show and its pretty much akin to interviews with ones Parents. Still, these people love their Neil Diamond. There is one at a Monster Truck Rally and a Harry Potter book signing. The first one I felt was a waste of time while the second showed the guys aiming for a cuteness factor. There are also a couple of videos from bands and skits that revolved around the film. Reunions with people who appeared in the film and outtakes really make this a chock full of stuff DVD. There is also some Judas Priest footage but this is not from the show they visited but instead from the VHS that presented the Screaming For Vengeance tour back in 1982. Overall this is a lot of fun to watch so if you have fifteen minutes to spare then sit down for this one. If you like the main feature then stay for the rest of the stuff. Congrats guys on being one of the true examples of "fifteen minutes of fame".
Added: May 6th 2007 Reviewer:Ken Pierce Score: Related Link:More information Hits: 2081 Language: english
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In 1986, young music fans and filmmakers John Heyn and Jeff Krulik headed out to the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland where Judas Priest would be performing. It was during the Turbo tour and the opener would be Dokken. Armed with cameras and a bunch of on the spot questions they would hit the parking lot of the arena and talk to the fans that were tailgating before the show. Thus was born the cult classic Heavy Metal Parking Lot. It's 1986 so the hair was big on both the girls and the guys and spandex was everywhere, once again on both the girls and the guys. It's pretty amusing to hear the fans thoughts about Metal music and both Priest and Dokken, and if you grew up on this music around this time then there is a chance that you will watch this and shudder as you think "oh god this was so me". Some of the fans in attendance are rip-roaring drunk and hence give some of the best commentary as they lecture about the ills of crap music against that of Priest. One young man in complete zebra-skinned attire says that this stuff can go straight to the moon since Metal was in charge or something of that nature. There are also folks who break into air guitar in mid conversation and use their friends as the guitar as well and a whole lot of beer chugging. One part I enjoyed was the young lady who loved Rob Halford so much that she proclaims proudly how she would jump his bones (alas, if she only knew). I don't think these guys knew the success they would find in tapping into that mindset on that day that they filmed and this was probably just done for some fun and to see what would come of it. The original film itself is only 15 minutes in length but the glory of DVD now offers you the chance to original film straight through and then a chance to watch it once again with the filmmaker's comments. It makes enjoying what you just saw all the more fun as they muse on the day as if it were only last week and not twenty one years ago. The film had some tremendous impact and was referenced in the Metal documentary Metal" A Headbanger's Journey as well. Thinking back on the year they did this made me remember all the shows I used to go to. Since I'm guilty of being silly with friends in the parking lot during shows of the past, as I watched this I felt a sigh of relief that they were in Maryland and not New York. God only knows what my friends and I would have been like if we saw a camera and a chance for instant "celebrity".
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