Panic Fest 2022: The History of Metal and Horror

If filmmaker Mike Schiff had wanted to prove his thesis that heavy metal and horror films are perpetually intertwined, all he would have to say is that Black Sabbath, the undeniable progenitors of earth-shattering riffage, took their name from a Mario Bava film about an undead witch enacting her revenge across the ages.

Instead, that's just one of a bloody blizzard of facts in The History of Metal and Horror, his debut documentary streaming as part of this year's Panic Fest.

It's not exactly like it's a hard case to make, but if Schiff was an attorney then you'd definitely want him on your team as he assembles an astonishing selection of expert witnesses on the subject. On one side are the filmmakers and onscreen performers, like Sid Haig and Gunnar Hansen, who note how much support they get from the heavy end of the creative bloodbath. On the other, musicians like Sepultura's Paulo Jr., Slipknot's Corey Taylor, and Don Dokken, deep and abiding fans of all things splattertastic. Metal may not have a monopoly on horror, as the very existence of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and every horrorcore rapper proves, but the sheer number of talking heads and overt creative links proves that this unholy union is strong than all.

Yet this isn't simply a love fest. Instead, through a framing mechanism of The Hills Have Eyes star Michael Berryman as the horror host at the end of the world, Schiff lays out the organic connections and constant blurring between the two art forms. It's not just the iconography (where would Iron Maiden be without the ever-evolving form of the shrunken skin and hollow eyes of Eddie? Whither Slayer without Steve Byram's monstrous sleeve art for Reign in Blood?), or the fact that horror films have often used heavy music to emphasize the terror ("We're the dreeeeeaaaammm waaaaaarrrrrioooooooorsss!!!"). True, all that's in there, but where it's most interesting is in looking at the creative intersection, where artists like Alice Cooper, Nivek Ogre from Skinny Puppy, and most recently Swedish Satanic funsters Ghost absorb horror into their performances. After all, aren't King Diamond's stage show and Suspiria both just the bastard stepchildren of Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol?

On the other side of the spectrum is the phenomenon of major name metal heads as superfans, and this is where Schiff's thesis gets most intriguing, with pollinators of shock like filmmaker-turned-musician-turned-filmmaker Rob Zombie. However, it's also where the film hits its biggest pitfall. There's a segment discussing metal/fusion festivals, like Kirk Hammett's Fear FestEvil, and Phil Anselmo's Austin-originated Housecore Horror - both of which wrapped up in 2015. Obviously, such events need including but Schiff makes it feel like they're still going, when even the granddaddy of metal/mutilation fusion fests, New England's Rock and Shock, is out of business.

Fortunately, that's only one segment of Schiff's documentary, which is divided into chapters top and tailed by Berryman's fun (if hokey) host lectures. Schiff is also sensible enough to not try to provide a definitive answer as to why the two are so undoubtedly bonded by blood (it's not just because they appeal to the 13-year-old-boy in all of us, but it's also not not because of that). Boisterous, encyclopedic, and heavy as hell, The History of Metal and Horror may bang the head hardest of those that already headbang, but it also shows that we are many.

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THE HISTORY OF METAL AND HORROR

Streaming as part of Panic Fest 2022. April 28-May 8. panicfilmfest.com