Heavy Metal Movie Review

“Louder and nastier than ever!” proclaims the vid box of this midnight movie staple, long unavailable on video until Columbia Home Video rereleased it in June 1996, THX digitally mastered, and with three extra minutes of never-before-seen footage. It's a collection of animated tales loosely derived from the “adult comics” mag of the same name. The stories are all vaguely connected by the presence of a malevolent green globe that somehow represents Ultimate Evil. Best of the tales is “Den”: in a fluke happening a teenage boy finds his mind transferred across space and time to the body of a mighty warrior. The man-child Den is thrust into an ages-old fight between religious cults, rescues bare-breasted babes, and has a general, all-around good time. The animation is in some cases impressive, and there's a plethora of metal music on the soundtrack (featuring such bands as Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Cheap Trick, Devo, Grand Funk Railroad, Journey, Nazareth, and others), but depending on your tolerance for T&A and forced drug humor, it might begin to wear a little thin after a while. SCTV regulars John Candy and Eugene Levy provided some of the voices. Based on original art and stories by Richard Corben, Angus McKie, Dan O'Bannon, Thomas Warkentin, and Berni Wrightson.

1981 (R) 90m/C CA Rodger Bumpass, Jackie Burroughs; D: Gerald Potterton; W: Dan Goldberg, Len Baum; M: Elmer Bernstein; V: John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Don Francks. VHS, LV COL