Heavy Metal Parking Lot

Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a twenty minute documentary about the tailgating that occurred before a Judas Priest concert in 1986.  It’s a film that captures American youth at their finest; drunk, belligerent, and dressed to the nines in 80’s fashion. 

There isn’t much to the movie.  Boys and girls are in a parking lot in Maryland before the concert and many of them are clearly intoxicated.  That by itself would make for a boring movie but this is a time capsule of America.  It captures a slice of America without any pretensions.  It captures the 80’s fashion as it was, with the Madonna glove reaching into a shot, fake snake skin pants, mullets, and plenty of average Joes without shirts.
 
It’s a sociological gem as it shows alpha males surrounded by their friends, controlling the microphone, yelling about how much Judas Priest rules and how bad the opening bad, Dokken, sucks.  There are women trying to get a word in edgewise with their male counterparts, talking about how they wouldn’t mind jumping Rob Halford’s bones, and trying to evade an unsolicited hug.

The movie is simple and cheaply made but it’s one of the truest documentaries I’ve ever seen.  There isn’t a story being told, the director’s didn’t shaped people into stereotype characters that we now recognize from reality television, he just turned on the camera, asked some questions about their favorite band, and let the story tell itself. 

The dvd has two and a half hours of extras.  There are three sequels included; Neil Diamond Parking Lot, Harry Potter Parking Lot, and an unfinished Monster Truck Parking Lot.  There is news footage about the movie’s fame, an extra that claims the movie is one of the most dubbed videos in history and it asks people to send a copy of their dub plus a story of how they acquired the dub, an extra about the DVD release party, about the demolition of the arena where these concerts took place, and a short Rob Halford interview.

I don’t know if this movie is available in Fargo.  I have Netflix, so that’s where I found this gem.  Most people who like to drink and get high will probably find this movie entertaining on some level.  My friend’s girlfriend, who likes to drink and is getting her masters degree, thought it was stupid, so let that be your guide.