Heavy Metal Parking Lot (1986 Video) User Reviews

NOT "Utterly pointless"

[coex23 · 8/10 · 24 December 2020]

If you honestly think all drunks are the same, you've never really studied human behavior. Yes, at some point, drunken behavior is predictable, but this film isn't merely about that.

Also, keep in mind that context is important for almost everything. The context here is documenting a very un-documented section of American culture in 1986. Yes, this kind of music was all over MTV at the time, but no one really dove in deep enough to the fanbase until Krulik did here. This film is not merely about drinking, partying and watching a cheese rock show. If you think that, you should stick to whatever it is that you feel comfortable watching.

It's also not easy to waltz into this kind of crowd with a video camera (again, in 1986) and be accepted. These "metal heads" are normally prone to kicking the krap outta people. Krulik does this with ease and gets them all hamming it up and posing for the camera as if he were one of them.

This film puts you there, makes you want to have a beer and sink into an aspect of culture you might not know or feel comfortable with. THAT is something!

DVD of cult classic offers plenty of features and extras

[DJJOEINC · 7/10 · 6 July 2007]

Heavy Metal Parking Lot - legendary cult film taken in the Capital Centre parking lot on May 31,1986 before a Judas Priest/Dokken concert.The throng is ready to party and loud-it is a fun time capsule with tons of unintentional comedy and mullets and enthusiasm.I had heard about this movie for years and finally found the DVD.The DVD has the inspired original 15 minute film,7 minutes of outtakes,featurettes about the movie and the Capital Centre and 3 sequels- Monster Truck Parking Lot ,Neil Diamond Parking Lot & Harry Potter Parking Lot - none of the sequels capture the raw gonzo vibe of the 86 short film.Check out "TVs from Outer Space" - it is a video the film-makers shot of a local band-very funny stuff.The DVD also has commentary and an alumni section.A fun time capsule. B-

Priest rocks always. This vision of their fans is... interesting!

[Quinoa1984 · 8/10 · 31 August 2016]

Well, Judas Priest *still* rules, long as they don't retire (though even then they can rule in perpetuity for another decade or so), so that's a given, I suppose.

But what about what this represents? This is like getting a time capsule or an anthropology class; having gone to some metal shows over the year (and, in the interest of full disclosure, Priest played with Ozzfest in 2004 and arguably did better than actual reunited Black Sabbath at the concert, if just by a smidgen, but I digress), this is fairly accurate. Of course for this time and place it's young people getting f****d up before going in to see their favorite band (and Dokken, lol, Dream Warriors man!), but that's what's compelling about it: it's honest, and that's what matters.

There's nothing else to it except that this filmmaker wanted to see what it was like in a parking lot before a metal concert. Of course it can't be helped that they all react like animals to the camera being there - hey, it's time for a concert, let's have fun - but the energy is certainly different than in the days of Woodstock or Altamont, where people didn't pay the camera too much mind unless if someone actually asked the hippies a question. For these "old-school" metal-heads who love Priest and Metallica and Scorpions and Ozzy (though one guy snorts that "he's gotten chubby!") it's all about showing the PRIEST RULES state of being for the cameras.

You won't exactly get a ton of insight into the culture at large - Spheeris' Decline II: the Metal Years is the place for that as it's a feature - but it's a nifty little 16 minutes that is kind of funny for how passionate these guys and ladies are (sometimes it's hard to tell them apart due to the hair!) and there are little moments that stand out like when a girl says she's 13 (is she really, who knows, who would lie about something like that), or when one of the token Hispanic metal-heads chugs down some whiskey. Metal time!

I think when I say this is anthropology it's that the filmmaker isn't showing us anything that's other than seeing a culture in its natural state of being or habitat: metal-heads are to this parking lot what the earliest homo sapiens were to a cave as they prepared their fire and had their women and Quest for Fire days. One might think it's almost cheesy to see by today's standards of audiences (i.e. Slayer or on the opposite end those EDM shows where people completely zonk out on ecstasy), but there's now a charm to it seeing this 30 years later, back when it was thought that metal was brainwashing young people's minds or even doing things like bringing them to violence.

Are these metal-heads animated? Oh sure. May they be missing some brain cells? Possibly, or they will be more-so by the time they've gone and done their two hours of head-banging and whiskey swigging (or, if you're a groupie, screw Glen Tipton apparently). But they're ultimately, in the vision of this director, harmless. What a... nice trip down memory lane this will be for people of this time and age.

Correction

[nsx5400 · 22 October 2004]

The film was shot at the now defunct Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. This was the former home of the Bullets (now Wizards) and Capitals. It was torn down around 2002 and replaced with a shopping mall. When it opened, the Captial Centre was a state of the art facility - by the time the movie was made, it was THE place to see major acts (as well as stuff like pro wrestling and monster truck rallies) in the metro DC area. Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a great movie both for metal fans and for those of us who grew up in the DC area during the 80's.

I have lived this life

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 24 July 2020]

Jeff Krulik's films - Mr. Blassie Goes to Washington, Led Zeppelin Played Here, Ernest Borgnine On the Bus - show a deep love and fear, often at the same time, for pop culture

The film itself is simple: a group of young metal fans get inordinately wasted while waiting to get in to a Judas Priest/Dokken concert at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland on May 31, 1986. Everything captured is real and that's what makes it pure magic.

This film was a VHS bootleg fave for years until music rights issues were cleared up. Since then, follow-ups and sequels - Heavy Metal Picnic and Neil Diamond Parking Lot - have been made. But the fact that you can easily find this movie now does not dilute its magical power. The sad truth is that probably all of these kids, including the ones who wanted to have rough sex with Glenn Tipton, have all grown up and are afraid of the next wave of music that came in its wake, as well as still out partying without masks or social distancing.

I will say, a youth of metal shows proves to me that none of this is fake. I lived this life. I had a girlfriend who tried to bring a pound of weed inside a glass jar inside a show once. I burned my feet because Three Rivers Stadium's field was so hot during Monsters of Rock - yes, Rokken with Dokken. And while I've never been so drunk that I don't remember a show, I used to have a roommate that would routinely piss his pants instead of leaving the front row.

Absolutely excellent!

[Superunknovvn · 10/10 · 20 May 2005]

This little bootleg-movie takes you back to another era, when rock dinosaurs walked the earth and there was no difference between the looks of a guy and a girl. "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" is a hilarious short documentary that gives us an impression of what it meant to be a metal fan in the 80's. The movie starts in the early afternoon as the first people arrive at the parking lot of a concert venue where a Judas Priest concert is going to take place later on. They come, they see, they crank up the volume of their car radios and get wasted. The whole thing is extremely entertaining to watch and also makes you a bit sentimental. In the end, you'll have to wipe a few tears from your eyes and come to the conclusion that metal fans just aren't what they used to be in those days.

Why is this NOT in the Top 30?

[thomas-a-shaw · 10/10 · 8 May 2005]

C'mon folks... This is the Spinal Tap fan-base without the script!!! Heavy Metal Parking Lots are now a thing of the past as cops patrol and the bands are more about being depressed and less about the RAWK! Back in the day, 20 years ago, the parking lot was where everybody was allowed to get messed up before a show. For those of us who lived it, the movie presents some of those people we met all those years ago.

The editing is what makes this work. Sure, the film concentrates on the basest members of the band's audience, but it is really fun to laugh at how we ALL loved the rock and roll spirit in the 80s that had been handed down to us from the 1970s.

A classic timepiece that needs to be treasured forever.

Great movie.

Rock N Roll!!!!

[ElijahCSkuggs · 9/10 · 6 June 2008]

Heavy Metal Parking Lot has got to be one of the funniest, and silliest and metalest documentaries I've seen. When a local public access TV crew gets the idea to bring their camera to a Judas Priest parking lot before the concert, they only could have dreamed the type of characters they'd come across. Everyone and their mothers are loaded or high off their asses. Rambling metal-heads have got to be one of the funniest and dare I say, most pathetic (in a good way) sights I've ever seen. And talking about ugly dudes! Phewy! If you're looking to pass a half hour with some silly interviews and drunk retards, definitely watch this lil gem of a film. You also get a couple trailers for other Parking Lot films. One being before the Neil Diamond concert, another at a Monster Truck rally. And you also get some more found footage for the Heavy Metal Parking Lot if you watch till the end. Which you must definitely should! Rock the f@ck on!!

Great Documentary Of An Era!!!

[dstamlaw · 10/10 · 24 April 2009]

Hair, Profanity, booze, being young and restless... Above and foremost, it was a time when hard rock n' roll was in its prime. Found a copy of it recently hiding in a deck among other music dvds in a "Public" Store and it made me listen to all 1986 records that I have. Hell Of a year for hard rock!!! "Zebraman" rules and without any doubt sums up the vibe of the era. By the way, my first concert was Saxon, May 1986 in Athens. They played a blinding set. Spitfire, a very underestimated Greek hard rock band(still fighting and giving great shows you know),was supporting. Judas Priest's of 1986 show was immortalized in "Priest Live" live LP and video too. It really got me rocking' in the summer of '87 when it was released...

Interesting in a scary way.

[13Funbags · 4/10 · 15 October 2019]

You'd have a tough time trying to find 2 bands that are less metal than Priest and Dokken. Maybe hard rock parking lot would have been a better title. But you gotta love a video where a guy gives his full name and says he's 20. Then the girl next to him says she is 13 and they proceed to make out. And that's the least creepy thing that happens in the video.

A classic of independent filmmaking-and a lot of fun to watch!

[ktc-browndog · 9/10 · 21 August 2002]

Jeff Krulik is the king of independent filmmaking in DC. "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" displays all his talent and charms: he actually seems to enjoy learning about and interacting with the subjects of his movies, while also reveling in how bizarre they are. A great way to spend a half hour, and a nice trip down memory lane for those of us unfortunate enough to remember all those hair bands.

Funny, but not "ha-ha" funny

[kristen-johnson2 · 28 July 2004]

When I read about this flick, it intrigued me as a heavy metal fan, and as a short and indie film fan.

Unfortunately, it isn't exactly the laugh a minute I expected it to be.

It runs for 18 minutes, a lot of which is "montage" shots. The actual interviews are quite amusing if only for the clothing, hair and language.

Possibly the funniest thing is the people saying "Metallica are the best metal band"... funny because Metallica aren't a metal band any more.

Keep an eye out for a Nigel Tufnel lookalike dressed in a zebra body suit, with a distaste for punk and Madonna.

Rock on!

[lee_eisenberg · 8/10 · 21 April 2023]

Jeff Krulik's "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" is a documentary about an assortment of people gathering for a Judas Priest concert. Lemme tell you, these people are REALLY into the music. I was only a baby at the time that the documentary got made, so I missed this whole era (just as I missed disco, the hippie movement, and doo-wop). Nonetheless, I can say without a doubt that this is some fun stuff. Even if one considers the music corny, the fact remains that it was real music (by contrast, Justin Bieber's "music" is just corporate stuff).

I don't know how available the documentary is on video, but it's available on YouTube.

Extremely random and irrelevant

[Horst_In_Translation · 2/10 · 24 July 2016]

"Heavy Metal Parking Lot" is a 16-minute documentary short film from 1986, so this one has its 30th anniversary this year. It was directed by John Heyn and Jeff Krulik and is probably still the duo's most (and only) known work 3 decades later. I don't see anything memorable in here. The title describes it perfectly. It is footage of interviews, video and audio recordings from a Judas priest concert that includes the audience members and they talk a bit about why they are there and how they fell. Very random stuff really. I also cannot say this is defining in terms of heavy metal. You could have made this film at exactly every other heavy metal concert by Judas Priest or another famous heavy metal band. I would even say that I don't really understand why this one is featured on IMDb and why so many people have seen and rated it. I would only recommend the watch to people featured in the video or maybe their relatives. I wish they could have recorded the concert instead, so at least there would be some music that some people like listening to. Anyway, luckily, it's over quickly. I give it a thumbs-down. Very easy decision.

Drunk goobs with a camera crew (SPOILERS!)

[zardoz12 · 12 July 2002]

Shot on video somewhere in West Virginia, "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" is a pointless look at the massive tailgate party that precedes a "Judas Priest" concert. The concertgoers live up to every stereotype of mid-1980s metal fans in their dress, automobiles, and behavior. Drunk rambling is the order of the day while making the "satanic hand sign" whenever anybody mentions one of the idiotic "big hair" bands of that decade. An interminable 30-minute parade of spandex-clad women, hairy men boasting "Kill Them All" T-shirts, and one Camarro after another. I got to see this film because Chris Smith's "Home Movie" was not long enough for Landmark Theatres' to charge $8 per showing.