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Metal: A headbanger's journey - Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Tom Araya, Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, Jessica Joy Wise

Threat advisory: Severe - Severe risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

The film that will take you into the heart of the beast.

Sam Dunn is a 30-year-old anthropologist. He's also a lifelong metal fan. After years of studying diverse cultures, Sam turns his academic eye a little closer to home and embarks on an epic journey into the heart of heavy metal. His mission: to figure out why metal music is consistently stereotyped, dismissed and condemned, even while the tribe that loves it stubbornly holds its ground - spreading the word, keeping the faith, and adopting styles and attitudes that go way beyond the music.

Sam visits heavy metal landmarks as far flung as LA's Sunset Strip, the dirty streets of Birmingham, and the dark forests of Norway. Along the way, the two sides of Sam Dunn - curious anthropologist and rabid fan - collide, as Sam explores metal's obsession with sex, religion, violence and death, meets his heroes, and discovers some things about the culture that even he can't defend. Part social document, part celebration of a misunderstood art form, this documentary is the first of its kind: a chance for metal fans to speak out and a window into a culture that's far more complex than it seems.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film music heavy metal Los Angeles Birmingham Norway anthropology fan rock violence sex death skull

Persons of interest

Tom Araya .... Himself
Alice Cooper .... Himself
Bruce Dickinson .... Himself
Ronnie James Dio .... Himself
Angela Gossow .... Herself
Tony Iommi .... Himself
Kerry King .... Himself
Chuck Klosterman .... Himself
Geddy Lee .... Himself
Lemmy .... Himself
Tom Morello .... Himself
Vince Neil .... Himself
James "Munky" Shaffer .... Himself
Dee Snider .... Himself
Rob Zombie .... Himself
Sam Dunn .... Screenwriter
Scot McFadyen .... Screenwriter
Jessica Joy Wise .... Screenwriter
Sam Dunn .... Director
Scot McFadyen .... Director
Jessica Joy Wise .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Metal: A headbanger's journey official movie site
Metal: A headbanger's journey film production notes
Metal: A headbanger's journey QuickTime movie trailers:

Small * Medium * Large

Awards and film festivals:

Bergen International Film Festival 2005: Screening
Brisbane International Film Festival 2006: Screening
Copenhagen International Film Festival 2005: Screening
Festival Du Nouveau Cinema De Montreal 2005: Screening
Melbourne International Film Festival 2006: Backbeat
Stockholm International Film Festival 2005: Screening
Toronto International Film Festival 2005: Official Selection

See also Metallica: Some kind of monster
Studios and distributors:

Icon Film Distribution

Intelligence analyst

Secret Agent Acid Thunder

Theatrical report

Fantastic. Metal: A headbanger's journey is The Shit™. I can say shit now because it's ok to say shit on the radio and tv, so I don't think it's going to have much impact on things if we say shit in print and online media... shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit

I cannot stress enough, how much I enjoyed this doco. Even though I may be considered to be a two-pronged biased entity on the subject, the content was amazing. It was detailed and relevant, it backed up everything the director/narrator (Sam Dunn) was talking about and had previously suggested. I found it most interesting that he was an anthropologist. Actually I think that most of the people during the screening thought the same, and no matter how they tried to twist the idea around, his study on the, "culture of heavy metal" is just as qualified and legitimate as his study of the "plight of Guatemalan refugees".

The synopsis says it all, where does the stereo-typing, stigmatisation and condemnation of Heavy Metal come from? Really? What factual information do people base their opinions on? This documentary investigates that and comes up with some very interesting pros and cons for both sides.

I would like to say thanks to Mr Dunn for his highly intellectual production and also thank him for the interviews he had with Dee Snider, Rob Zombie, Cannibal Corpse and Voivod - whose name I'm still unable to pronounce, damn the French - because there were times when I went "Wow!" or I was laughing so hard that I was snorting. I wasn't the only one either.