Drop Dead Rock
Drop Dead Rock DVD (directed by Adam Dubin; MVD Visual)
There are cult movies and then there are CULT movies, and this one is the most cult of them all in my little world. I’ve been waiting a long, long time for a quality DVD release of this film, and MVD Visual has delivered the goods, complete with a nice selection of bonus features that includes music videos and a cool ‘making-of’ featurette. Drop Dead Rock is the brainchild of Adam Dubin (other credits include videos for Metallica, The Stoned, and others), and features brilliantly over-the-top performances from two of my personal new wave favorites, Adam Ant and Debbie Harry, along with a mostly unknown cast. The basic plot involves an aging British shock-rocker (on his way down, of course) and an up-and-coming band willing to do anything—ANYTHING—to make it. This film’s got it all: a killer soundtrack featuring two of my man Kory Clarke’s bands (Warrior Soul and Space Age Playboys) plus L.E.S. Stitches and more; cameos from Clarke himself, as well as Joey Ramone, Tom Araya and Jeff Hanneman of Slayer, and Tommy Victor of Prong; gratuitous nudity; gun battles; slapstick chase scenes; kidnapping; drugs; death; gender-bending wackiness; acting so bad that it’s good; you name it! Clearly not for everyone, Drop Dead Rock is damn near the perfect film for those who ‘get’ it. If MM had a rating system, I’d throw down a 10 out of 10 here. The Impaler
