Deathgasm [2015]

November 8, 2021

While there are quite a few movies about metalheads in general, few of them are as entertaining and authentic as Deathgasm. This little gem captured the spirit of the metal just like another great movie Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny. However, most of these movies are commercial and don’t deal with “real” or should I say tr00 metalheads. Luckily, I’ve evolved enough not to call them posers or yell “death to false metal”. In 2018 we got two movies that are about all the right stuff but Lords of Chaos and Heavy Trip are heavily flawed and dare I say just bad movies. That’s not the case with the movie we’re going to be talking about today, Deathgasm.

Deathgasm is a funny, gory, and quite sturdy little horror-comedy. The first thing you should know about is that it’s coming from New Zealand. This makes the whole movie even more adorable as we will not be talking about metal but “meeetal”. Or even better: deeeath to false meeetal! Secondly, if you’re not a fan of metal music, you might think the movie is kind of lame. I say might because it’s just as likely you’re going to love it. And this brings us to the final point of what this movie is actually about. Deathgasm doesn’t take itself too seriously which means there will be dildo fights, zombie mutilations, blood vomiting, a lot of blood vomiting. So, you’ll be pretty much drowning in viscera, to quote Corpsegrinder.

Life isn’t going so well for our young hero Brodie. His mother has been institutionalized and he has to live with his highly devout Christian uncle. Not only this, but uncle’s son David is constantly bullying him. Metal music is the only thing that helps, so Brodie decides to form a band with a couple of his friends. They name themselves Deathgasm and after their rendition of an ancient song, something else ancient has awoken. Ancient evil.

As you might have noticed Deathgasm is more about having fun than making sense. That’s why two guys who play Dungeons and Dragons are suddenly in a band and know how to play. I was kind of expecting a more authentic experience like probably the best movie about this subject: The Stoned Age. However, what’s done is done and what’s done is pretty solid. It would be quite odd if we got a live-action version of the Metalocalypse, but a man can dream. Instead, we get a couple of cool Immortal and Burzum references, something that’s always appreciated. There was room for a bit of church-burning jokes but I guess that would be too much. By the way, check out the video below for more hilarious black metal videos. Ahhh, the memories.

Deathgasm is a perfect party movie and that can be a one man/woman party, just to be clear. Hell, just yesterday I got hammered and enjoyed watching it for the third time. The pacing is just right and with a runtime of just eighty minutes, the movie will be over before you know it. As someone who loves metal music, especially death and black metal along with those adorable New Zealand accents I loved this movie. Our young cast did a great job and the special effects were also quite good. I mean, Deathgasm looks and feels really appealing. It’s no wonder that a now-famous scene where Brodie is sitting on a park bench in full corpse paint with sweet Medina became a meme.

Additionally, if you’re interested in this whole metal thing, I recommend you check out Metal: A Headbangers Journey. It’s probably one of the best documentaries on the subject. And if you’re looking for a quick fix, this surreal documentary that’s free on YouTube should do just fine: March Of The Gods: Botswana Metalheads. On a personal note, I have to say that among many things that helped overcome various issues metal is right up there with weed, movies, and beer. I’ve been a metalhead for more than twenty years and I still enjoy this music the same way I did before. And if you’re looking for a cool new Black Metal album, I recommend the 2021 release A Gray Chill and A Whisper by Beltez.

Finally, this wouldn’t be a Subversive Rabbit post if I didn’t recommend you a couple of movies similar to Deathgasm, mostly comedies without the horror part. Apart from the above-mentioned movies, you might wanna take a look at Airheads, Detroit Rock City, and The Dirt. And if you’re looking for something a bit more serious, check out Metalhead, Hesher, and Sound of Metal. As a bonus to warm you up, here’s a nice little song from the band Asphyx called Deathhammer, but it might as well be called Deathgasm. For the Deathgasm!