Surprisingly unsettling documentary about legendary cult rocker GG Allin and his cadre of followers, this film follows Allin about New York City as he plays gigs, gets kicked out of venues, and deconstructs his punk creed for the camera. Film also takes time out for revealing interviews with childhood friends of Allin, fans, Allin's high school teachers, Allin's relatively articulate brother Merle, and one humorously disgruntled ex-bandmate.
If you've never heard of or seen Allin before, he's basically this punk rocker whose act is a (literal) assault on the audience. He plays naked, cuts himself, defecates onstage and rolls in it, vomits onstage, attacks members of the audience (and is attacked). It can be quite jarring to watch a GG show, even from the relative safety of one's own living room. There's the twitchy sensation that he is erasing any boundaries between performer and audience and the sense of danger becomes very real and scary.
This film presents a somewhat one-sided view of Allin, I think. We see him in rage-mode, basically. I used to frequent mondo video in LA a year or two after Allin died and they had practically a library of concert footage on the guy. The people who worked there said he came in often and was just a mellow guy. It was when he got booze or drugs inside him that he became wild.
Director Phillips does a very good job of chopping his footage up for maximum potency. And anyone doubting Todd Phillips' bravery need look no further than this footage or to his brilliant, incendiary banned HBO documentary "Frat House" about fraternity hazing.
Unfortunately, Phillips doesn't dig too deeply into what may have caused Allin's crazed behavior. We hear a little about his abusive dad, but not nearly enough.
Perhaps the best footage on the DVD is the bonus feature which shows GG's last show in NYC and it truly is disturbing stuff. Allin is frighteningly whacked-out on drugs and the camera follows him nonstop as he sings a song, then goes berserk when the sound cuts out. He attacks the venue (and several people in it) then spills out into a NYC street, naked, bleeding, and covered in feces, runs around the streets for a time generally being wild. Pretty great footage.
Good documentary
If you've never heard of or seen Allin before, he's basically this punk rocker whose act is a (literal) assault on the audience. He plays naked, cuts himself, defecates onstage and rolls in it, vomits onstage, attacks members of the audience (and is attacked). It can be quite jarring to watch a GG show, even from the relative safety of one's own living room. There's the twitchy sensation that he is erasing any boundaries between performer and audience and the sense of danger becomes very real and scary.
This film presents a somewhat one-sided view of Allin, I think. We see him in rage-mode, basically. I used to frequent mondo video in LA a year or two after Allin died and they had practically a library of concert footage on the guy. The people who worked there said he came in often and was just a mellow guy. It was when he got booze or drugs inside him that he became wild.
Director Phillips does a very good job of chopping his footage up for maximum potency. And anyone doubting Todd Phillips' bravery need look no further than this footage or to his brilliant, incendiary banned HBO documentary "Frat House" about fraternity hazing.
Unfortunately, Phillips doesn't dig too deeply into what may have caused Allin's crazed behavior. We hear a little about his abusive dad, but not nearly enough.
Perhaps the best footage on the DVD is the bonus feature which shows GG's last show in NYC and it truly is disturbing stuff. Allin is frighteningly whacked-out on drugs and the camera follows him nonstop as he sings a song, then goes berserk when the sound cuts out. He attacks the venue (and several people in it) then spills out into a NYC street, naked, bleeding, and covered in feces, runs around the streets for a time generally being wild. Pretty great footage.
Good documentary