Heavy Metal Parking Lot (DVD)
Directed by: John Heyn, Jeff Krulik

Back in May of 1986, filmmakers John Heyn and Jeff Krulik decided to jump in their car and head to the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland for a Judas Priest concert. They certainly weren’t the only ones in attendance, but what set them apart from the thousands of rabid fans who also made the trek to Landover on that faithful day is that they didn’t plan on actually watching the concert. Instead, they brought some video equipment along and set out to document the excessive partying and drunken antics that would take place in the parking lot beforehand.

At the time they must have been interviewing all the rowdy metalheads mainly for their own amusement, but little did they know their footage would go on to become a huge underground hit, a cult classic that managed to spread far and wide primarily through the trading of videotape bootlegs (remember, these were the days before internet we’re talking about!).

Today, Heavy Metal Parking Lot lives on as a hilarious and painfully honest look at an era of outrageous decadence (not to mention horrible fashion sense). And now an independently-released 20th Anniversary Edition finally makes the movie available to a wider audience, in addition to allowing the hardcore fans to put to rest those 10th generation VHS copies that they’ve been watching and rewatching all these years.

The movie is only about 15 minutes long, and yet it manages to capture some iconic moments, the most famous of which is the legendary “Zebraman”, a defiant young man outfitted from head to toe with white and black striped spandex, speaking on the finer points of heavy metal and the shortcomings of other musical genres. I dare anyone to watch this movie and not find some humour in the sheer ridiculousness of it all. Although it may test the patience of some to sit through the grainy footage and raspy sound (even the DVD is pretty low quality) you can’t help but be fascinated by this short slice of life from days gone by. Of course, there are many of us who will see a little bit of ourselves in this film as well.

Admittedly, it may be a bit of a stretch to call Heavy Metal Parking Lot a full blown “documentary”, and those expecting something more in-depth will likely be disappointed. Heyn and Krulik were simply in the right place at the right time, offering a forum for these young heavy metal fanatics to express what is on their minds and/or act like obnoxious drunken goofs. Most were only too happy to oblige. It’s not that they captured moments on camera that any of us couldn’t have experienced for ourselves back in 1986, it’s just that they were the only ones brave enough to go in there and actually film it. Now, years later, the footage is an amazing time capsule that few have access to, in our memories or otherwise. (Although let’s face it, drunk teenagers are always funny — no matter what year they’re from.)

Now normally I would say that the movie itself is not really worth the effort to own on DVD, if not for the plethora of interesting extras included on the disc. Some of these extras really round out the experience and provide added insight, as strange as that may sound. In addition to the directors’ audio commentary, TV interviews, and lost footage from the film, there are retrospective reunions with a few key Parking Lot alumni, including Zebraman himself. It was quite interesting to see some metalheads who have changed with age, and some who clearly haven’t!

As a way of giving even more added value, Heyn and Krulik have also included on the DVD their unofficial sequels, Neil Diamond Parking Lot, Monster Truck Parking Lot, and Harry Potter Parking Lot. These provide some hilarious counterpoints to the original film, substituting calm middle-aged women or bratty young kids in place of unruly headbangers, but shot in a similar style with an equally short running time. The one disappointment was Monster Truck Parking Lot… it sounded promising but ended up being only a minute and a half commercial for an unfinished film.

Bottom line: if you grew up in the 80’s, you owe it to yourself to see Heavy Metal Parking Lot at least once. This movie is a cult classic for good reason, and even if it’s not a work of art it’s still a stunning piece of nostalgia. It’s like a great inside joke that continues to spread, and you’ll want to continue to pass it along and share it with others. Overall, this 20th Anniversary DVD is a nice package and is simply a must have for any true fans of rock and roll and/or heavy metal. — Sean

SCORE: