Coming to DVD and VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, August 5: DREAM DECEIVERS
David Van Taylor’s chronicle of disaffected teens and heavy metal on trial debuted simultaneously on POV and at NYC’s Film Forum in 1992. The film was nominated for an Emmy and won an IDA Award, and is now being released on DVD and VOD by First Run Features.
In December 1985, two teenagers near Reno NV carried through on a suicide pact, just after listening to their favorite band, Judas Priest. Ray Belknap succeeded, while James Vance survived, but was left horribly disfigured, and later died under unclear circumstances three years later. Alleging that subliminal lyrics in the heavy metal music prompted their suicide plans, their parents unsuccessfully sued the band. Van Taylor gained access to both families and to the band – a reflection of a more innocent, less media-wary culture 25 years ago – to document the trial and the larger, disturbing issues at its core. A product of its time, there are a few clunky aspects to the film, like meandering scenes with some uninvolved metal fans meant to expose a general sense of teenage alienation. These have nowhere near the impact of Vance’s mother responding too defensively to very revealing cross-examination about her son, or to unsettling interviews with Vance himself before his death. Regardless, what emerges is a captivating portrait of denial, with parents too easily ignoring or excusing more likely factors of depression, violence, and drug and alcohol abuse in their homes, and instead deflecting the responsibility all-too-quickly, and unconvincingly, on external factors like popular music.
what (not) to doc 