Top 5 Metal Moments in Movies
Heavy music and film have always had close ties: Black Sabbath got their name from an old Boris Karloff creeper. Since then, cinema has provided endless inspiration in metal for everything from intros to lyrics to entire concept albums. This is mostly a one-way street; movies are much more prominent in metal than vice versa. But every once in a while filmmakers embrace their inner horn-thrower and match a great scene with a great song. Here are some favorites.
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Manhunter — Iron Butterfly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6cVuJiREPE
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Some might argue that Iron Butterfly isn’t really “metal,” but it’s hard to argue the brilliance and timing of this scene. Manhunter, the first movie featuring Hannibal Lecter, is overshadowed by Silence of the Lambs but is an incredible film in its own right. There is an undercurrent of high tension running through its narrative, and it all culminates in the coda of “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” (at 4:24), literally the “breaking point” of the movie’s arc.
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Gummo — Sleep
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Gummo had huge potential but ended up being a disheveled, oddball mess. Ostensibly it’s about kids in a tornado-ravaged Ohio town sniffing glue and killing cats, but it’s really director Harmony Korine attempting to be an “auteur” and failing miserably. I say it had potential because this scene — two delinquents seeking out trouble, set to Sleep’s crushingly heavy “Dragonaut” — promised so much more than the film delivered. Bathory and Burzum are in there too, but it’s practically a waste.
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Gremlins 2 — Slayer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbEHcMI-ynA
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This is the first time I ever heard Slayer. I didn’t quite know what it was yet — I was a 9 year-old at a sleepover — but it was scary music that excited me. Gremlins 2 is a little more frantic and messy than the original, but you can say the same thing about thrash metal. Revisiting this movie makes me even more thankful I grew up in a pre-CGI era.
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Aqua Teen Hunger Force — Mastodon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRVt1clJjgw
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If you don’t watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force, skip the full-length Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters. It’s mostly inside jokes for fans of the show. Its finest moment, however, is not even part of the movie. Mastodon lent their talents to a metal upgrade of the “Let’s Go Out To The Lobby” jingle, playing an evil band of snacks warning audiences about the dangers of movie piracy and bringing your kids to the theater. I still laugh when I watch this.
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Zombieland — Metallica
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE4Zj9s48XQ
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I was pleasantly surprised at how good Zombieland was, and it started right at the beginning with this title sequence. Honestly, there is no going wrong with slo-mo zombie attacks set to the sound of glory days Hetfield & co. The fraternity rush/”Master Of Puppets” scene in Old School comes close, but “For Whom the Bell Tolls” is just a bit more appropriate for what’s happening on the screen.
What are your favorite metal moments in movies?
