Customer Reviews

Heavy Metal Parking Lot [VHS]

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is by far the greatest 15 minutes ever compiled onto one tape. When I listen to Judas Priest, I imagine myself cutting class, driving in an El Camino with my friend "Trip," complaining about our parents and teachers. This video turns fantasy into reality. If you ever were a burnout Priest fan, this is for you. If you ever wanted to be a burnout Priest fan, this is for you. If you just like lauging at burnout Priest fans, this is for you. If you simply like to laugh, this is for you. I cannot imagine a single open-minded person not enjoying this beautiful film.

My sister just got me this for Christmas, no doubt because I was an 80's headbanger. This short tape is simply some videotape taken in a parking lot before a Judas Priest concert in 1986 in Maryland. This is so funny because it shows what metal fans were like back then. These fans are particularly redneck, drunk, stoned and scuzzy. Anyone who is or used to like heavy metal in the 80's should get this. I'd like to know what happened to some of these people - my guess is most of them are dead!

I kept reading references to "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" in various places but never could figure out what it was exactly. It got to the point that I was curious enough to just buy the tape without knowing what I was going to get.
For the curious: Heavy Metal Parking Lot was created when some guys lugged Cable Access cameras to a tail-gating party before a Judas Priest concert in Maryland circa 1986. All the cameramen needed to ask the fans was "Who do you like?" and their reaction of screams, hollers, and beer pounding is a spectacle for the ages. The program is about 20 minutes long and it always comes out when I have guests over for a little drinking. (My favorite is the guy who simply says, "PRIEST! Rock n Roll Forever!")
If you think you will like this video. You are wrong. You will love it.
Buy this video if you are interested in any of the following: Hair Metal, Rock n Roll, the 80s, sociology, juvenile delinquincy, beer, weed, what makes Americans loved around the world.

*I just read that a DVD edition is coming out!!!

This is one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen in my entire life. I love heavy metal and Judas Priest as much as the next guy, but you gotta have a sense of humor about it. Every short segment of this "film" had me cracking up. I can't believe how shameless some people would act just to get on camera.

"How did you get a ticket?"
"I got a ticket! I don't know!"

The idea behind this documentary is so simple in it's genius - film a bunch of drunk burnouts in a parking lot before a Judas Priest concert during the height of their popularity. The filmmakers picked the perfect time, maybe by accident, to make this, as Priest had just released Turbo and suddenly had many bonehead fans who were just looking to party. Depending on your point of view, what you'll see in this film is either a sad representation of white trash youth in the mid-80s or a blast of a trip to a more carefree (and careless) time in American culture. I see both. Either way, it's still funny. There's so many great moments stuffed into this little 15 minute miracle. Not a moment is wasted; Heavy Metal Parking Lot cuts right to the highlights.

"What's this for?"
"We're from MTV."
"Bullsh--!"

The DVD itself is great. As funny as this movie is, I'd have felt ripped off paying fifteen dollars for it by itself. Thankfully, the filmmakers tacked on loads of fun goodies. There's three knockoff films, my favorite being Neil Diamond Parking Lot. Man, those folks are almost as nuts at the Priest fans and they're about three times their age. I also really liked the almost hour long segment entitled Heavy Metal Basement. All it basically is is a guy showing off his Priest collection and assorted memorabilia while reminiscing about his fandom. I want this dude's basement.

"What's your name?"
"Graham! You know, like a gram of DOPE?!"

This DVD is very much worth it. You're guaranteed to watch the main feature a million times and the bonus features are splendid. Heavy Metal Parking Lot was a road movie favorite for bands like Nirvana and Sonic Youth, so even if you're not a metalhead, it's still a good laugh. In fact, the more you dislike heavy metal, the more you'll probably like this, so you can't lose.

While this is a fascinating flashback to the mid-80s, its scant 15 minutes provide only the briefest peek, and the then-neophyte filmmakers seem to have lucked into their best footage, rather than actually having created it. Their film (originally shot on video for broadcast on a local cable access channel) captures some terrific archetypes, but never draws out their subjects beyond surface level exclamations. Maybe that's all there was to capture, which would say something in itself, but it's hard to believe there wasn't a story behind each of the heavy metal fans at which the camera was pointed.

The DVD reissue fleshes out the original 15 minutes with many extras, including outtakes from the original shoot, the filmmakers' sequels, Monster Truck Parking Lot and Neil Diamond Parking Lot (neither of whose subjects have the juice of the original), contemporary interviews with several of the original film's metalheads, a tour through a long time metal fan's basement, and a video document of a disastrous screening at a club. The extras, particularly the contemporary interviews and basement tour, provide the heft the original film needs to translate to DVD.

It's easy to see why the original documentary has such ardent fans: it's a one-of-a-kind document that could only have been created on the fly. Traded as a video bootleg or viewed on the Internet, this would be properly framed as an illicit peek at an otherwise unseen subculture. But on DVD its length and depth (or lack of both) are disappointing; still, better 15 minutes of fame than none at all. 3-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

As someone who came of age during the 80's, I can definitely say this is an accurate depiction of metal fans during that time. These kids remind me of the redneck stoners at my high school who used to cut class to get high and listen to bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. Highlights include the infamous "Zebraman" and the various female fans rambling on about how they want to "jump the bones" of Rob Halford (who was still in the closet)and his band mates. This film is hilarious but also impressive in the way it is able to capture a certain place and time (ie) the American metal scene circa 1986.

Before purchasing customers should be aware that the doucumentary itself is only a mere 16 minutes long. What fills out the rest of the DVD is other similar short docs, such as "Neil Diamond Parking Lot" and "Harry Potter Sidewalk", outtakes, updates on the Priest fans as adults, and a lengthy segment where a dedicated metalhead shows off his massive record collection. None of this is quite as funny or entertaining as the original documentary. But most of it is worth a look.

It is amazing that the makers of the film were able to fill a DVD with extras for a 20 minute film, but it is very entertaining.

The film itself is classic and shows the stupidity of youth. But the extras really add a more complete experience. Favorites include:

-"Neil Diamond Parking Lot" is a perfect juxtaposition of the battiness of age VS. the stupidity of youth, just silly interviews with old folks at a Neil Diamond concert.

-The follow-up segment with the "Stars" of Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a satisfying experience as well. The disbelief and transformation of "Zebra-Man" is the best part.

-"Harry Potter Parking Lot" shows the modern day hysteria and the Naivete of childhood VS. the stupidity of youth VS. the battiness of age.

A fun DVD overall.

The concept of Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a simple one; it's basically two filmmakers filming just a bunch of kids in a parking lot before a Judas Priest concert (with Dokken as the opening act). HMPL is barely 17 minutes but it has a small cult following among metalheads and gives a very good look at what the metal culture was like in 1986. It's fun to see the looks again, the shirts, hair and so on; it's a time capsule really. To some people this movie would be totally insignificant and maybe it is but it's just a fun short movie, there's not much more to it. I suppose you have to watch HMPL to truly understand it. The short movie has many memorable "characters" like Zebra Man, the "I'd jump his bones" girl, Graham "Gram" of dope, the guy who looks like Steve Perry who does a memorable version of "Livin' After Midnight" and so on. You know you miss them! Maybe you were even with them?

The film itself is only 17 minutes long but this DVD has over 2 hours of extras! I'm not sure I wanted or needed to see Neil Diamond and Harry Potter versions of the parking lot theme but it's cool to have extras. I think the best extra of the DVD is the sort of "Where Are They Now?" section with Zebra man and others. Sometimes it's scary to think of what some of these teenagers in HMPL became. I see a lot of criticism by individuals claiming that the people in this shot film are low-lives, saying they're pathetic and all sorts of things. But the truth is we all knew someone at one point who was like the teenagers here, some people see themselves or people they knew as one of teenagers in the movie. It's like a trip back in time, like other reviewers mentioned Heavy Metal Parking Lot is very much like a time capsule from 1986. Has it really been that long since 1986? Watching this makes one wonder...

I quite like Heavy Metal Parking Lot, it's a funny, crude and most important of all honest look at some of these teenagers in a parking lot at a Judas Priest concert. People change and I'm positive that at least SOME of them have changed. However, we still have the footage, the image of who they were at that time and point of their lives. This film displays youth, innocence a carefree time of their lives. I must explain my rating now. See, Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a good, funny and all but it's only 17 minutes long and some of these extras are not too great to be honest. I like the short movie, it's nice to own if you're interested but this is not worth 5 stars you know? That's why I'm *only* giving it 3/5 stars, it's simply not a 5/5 product in my opinion as enjoyable as it is. If you're interested you should definitely check it out, it's an experience and I'm sure you'll have a good laugh watching this, just don't expect too much.

Put it in the time capsule! Show it in the Smithsonian! Play it at your next soiree and get ALL tore up!

This twenty-minute epic is one of the GREAT capturings of the human condition, ever.

Watch HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT and remember when DUMB was confined to the fringe (and the parking lot), before it took over American culture entirely.

An accidental masterpiece.

Cheers.

My wife and I "came of age" in the late-1980s, so we looked forward to a trip down memory lane with the documentary Heavy Metal Parking Lot. The 17-minute film brought back the awful fashions, beat-up cars, and loud music. Also, Heavy Metal Parking Lot makes the point that much of the theater at a concert occurs offstage. While we both enjoyed this movie, it deserves just three stars.

The premise is simple - in May 1986 two filmmakers went to the parking lot of the Cap Center in suburban-Washington D.C. Once there, they interviewed people who were partying before attending a Judas Priest concert. The film works as nostalgia, but the attendees' comments are predictable - "Priest rules!"

The DVD version of Heavy Metal Parking Lot has 2 1/2 hours of boring "extras." Milking the "parking lot" concept for all it was worth, the filmmakers later made "parking lot" films with fans of Neil Diamond, monster trucks, and Harry Potter. The only decent extra shows the filmmakers in 2003 tracking down four participants in the original film to see what became of them.

I'd recommend this film to anyone who grew up in the 80s or who loves rock music. It's fun for a diversion, just don't get your hopes up too high.