One of John Gibson’s bizarre creations for Jon-Mikel Thor’s ROCK ‘N’ ROLL NIGHTMARE.
ROCK ’N’ ROLL NIGHTMARE
aka THE EDGE OF HELL 1987, Synapse Films, DD-5.1 & 2.0/MA/LB/16:9/+, $24.95, 83m 5s, DVD-0 By Shane M. Dallmann
Following his turn as an un- dead avenger stalking Adam West in ZOMBIE NIGHTMARE (1986), rocker Jon-Mikl Thor reteamed with director John Fasano for a tale conceived as ARC ANGEL and filmed as THE EDGE OF HELL before being retitled for US home video. Thor wrote, produced and stars as “John Triton,” who escorts his band to an abandoned farm- house for an extended recording session. Unfortunately, the loca- tion (the film was shot in Canada) is haunted by demons who pro- ceed to pick the rockers off (in between bouts of sex and music) one by one, paving the way for a final confrontation between the forces of Good and Evil. In their engaging audio commentary, Thor and Fasano
(commendably) never pretend that their ambitious but tightly budgeted production turned out better than it did. They explain why the film begins with nearly 10 full minutes of “driving” filler, remind the viewer more than once that nudity is on the way (said disrobing provided by the reluctant main cast who had to make good on a promise to the distributor when the actresses hired as “groupies” for such a pur- pose refused to follow through) and relate many interesting details of the hellishly cold shoot and its aftermath. Occasionally effective monster makeups and armatures clash with silly-looking cyclopean hand puppets (named “Gibsons” for their creator John Gibson) throughout, and while Thor tries his best to look and sound the part, the sight of the bare- chested, metal-studded rocker fending off a barrage of blue rub- ber squids lobbed at him by the “payoff” demon somehow fails to provide an awe-inspiring finale. On the other hand, those in it
strictly for the music will not be disappointed—the anthemic “We Live To Rock” (written for the film) is a crowd-pleaser, and the soundtrack boasts plenty more Thor music (not actually per- formed by the on-screen players). Shortcomings be damned, the film did attract the attention of a new generation of Thor fans (as demonstrated by the Thor bio supplement REVELATIONS OF A ROCK ’N’ ROLL WARRIOR), and they should be more than pleased with Synapse’s DVD, which provides a new Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround soundtrack to go with the origi- nal 2.0 mix and a 16:9 enhanced letterboxed transfer (1.78:1). Thor himself appears briefly to provide both an intro and a sendoff to the film (which actu- ally bears the EDGE OF HELL title here), and the package is gener- ously rounded off with behind- the-scenes footage, a look at the creation of the “child wolf” makeup designed by director Fasano, and music videos for “We Live to Rock” and “Energy.”
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