Oslo, 1987. 17-year-old Euronymous is determined to escape his traditional upbringing and becomes fixated on creating 'true Norwegian black metal' with his band Mayhem. He mounts shocking publicity stunts to put the band's name on the map, but the lines between show and reality start to blur. Arson, violence and a vicious murder shock the nation that is under siege by these Lords of Chaos.Written by
British Counsil
When Varg leaves the video store on 10 August 1993 with a copy of Die Hard 2, the video cases for several films that would not be released until several years later can be seen in the window, including The Bone Collector and Analyze That. See more »
The US theatrical and DVD releases were cut for an R rating, toning down the gory violence of Dead's suicide, Faust's stabbing and Euronymous' murder.
The unrated 'directors cut' version is only available on Blu-ray in the US. It runs for 118 minutes instead of 116 as per the R-rated version. See more »
Get something straight up front - this is a movie, not a documentary. It will have errors. Get over it, move on.
As a whole it does well to bring to life the schizo genius/idiocy of the roots of black metal. It is ~90% accurate which makes it leaps ahead of most docu-dramas. To the unwashed, this may seem like a parody of sorts. But the reality is that the main players were a fringe crazy that was beyond parody. Yes, they were all probably like that and the film understates it if anything.
Black metal is a thing. Yes there is a point about the desecration of Asatru shrines. No it does not justify anything. If the film does have a flaw it is in emphasising satanism and odinism - no, their thing predates that. It is otherwise a fine retelling, Don't listen to the _Mayhem_ cultists. This is a good movie.
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Get something straight up front - this is a movie, not a documentary. It will have errors. Get over it, move on.
As a whole it does well to bring to life the schizo genius/idiocy of the roots of black metal. It is ~90% accurate which makes it leaps ahead of most docu-dramas. To the unwashed, this may seem like a parody of sorts. But the reality is that the main players were a fringe crazy that was beyond parody. Yes, they were all probably like that and the film understates it if anything.
Black metal is a thing. Yes there is a point about the desecration of Asatru shrines. No it does not justify anything. If the film does have a flaw it is in emphasising satanism and odinism - no, their thing predates that. It is otherwise a fine retelling, Don't listen to the _Mayhem_ cultists. This is a good movie.