‘This Is GWAR’ – Review
In the annuals of rock history, there’s no band beyond compare to GWAR! A pioneering heavy metal rock band of unlimited creativity, artistic edginess and straight-up splatter madness, since 1984 they’ve been delivering on their own unique brand of shock factor and now for the very first time they tell their story in This is GWAR.
The powerful story of the most iconic heavy metal/art collective/monster band in the universe, as told by the humans who have fought to keep it alive for over thirty years. The feature documentary includes interviews with members of GWAR, both past and present, as well as other artists including Weird Al Yankovic, Thomas Lennnon, Alex Winter, Bam Margera, and Ethan Embry, also including never before seen footage of legendary GWAR frontman Dave Brockie.
Director Scott Barber brings to life the infamous story of the making of GWAR in This is GWAR and his is a powerful film of artistic expression and straight-up splatter-madness as he dives into the shock factor rock ‘n roll story of this one of a kind of musical act. Spawned from an entirely different galaxy and throwing muck, blood, gore and heavy metal at audiences since 1984, along with including Beavis and Butt-head as fans, GWAR is a crazy rock band of unfiltered expression and This is GWAR holds nothing back in documenting their rise, tragedy and resilence as an artistic collective.
With unfiltered access to the people who’ve made GWAR happen, Barber holds nothing back in this chaotic documentary that delivers the truth behind GWAR. From their beginnings as misfit artists in Richmond, Virginia in 1984 to the creation of Slave Pit Inc, sellout tours, psycho film productions, brutal falling outs and the catastrophe when the horror just got too real, Barber holds nothing back from his audience, and this is a thrilling and intense documentary experience. While I must admit that GWAR never made it onto my own playlist, I was thoroughly intrigued by this documentary, and this crazy narrative absolutely sucked me in from beginning to end. From the start it’s absolutely nuts, and this band’s resilience to just keep going as an independent production no matter what was thrown at them was utterly inspiring, and their’s is a true story of rock ‘n roll passion.
Clad as blood-thirsty gore monsters from another dimension, GWAR is the cult band to end all cult bands and their eclectic musical stylings and obsession for their fans are at the very heart of this documentary film. What’s truly fascinating about This is GWAR is that Barber is able to capture the essence of the people behind the band and this includes the late Dave Brockie who was the band’s figurehead as the monstrous, yet politically astute and satirical Oderus Urungus and whose untimely death in 2014 had a major impact on the band and its fans. These portraits of these individuals and the at times love/hate relationship that they share for one another is all a contributing factor to the cult success of GWAR, and all of it is present in this documentary work.
This is GWAR frankly will not win any Academy Awards, but it is a passionate, truthful, and above all else, honest portrait of one of shock rock’s most defining cult bands, and long times fans, plus those new to this interdimensional heavy metal band, will be utterly intrigued and drawn into their crazy story.
This is GWAR is currently streaming on Shudder.
Image: Shudder
