FILM REVIEW - HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT

Factory 515
17 min., dir. by Jeff Krulik and John Heyn

Time capsules allow us to relive the past through artifacts preserved in time and space. Someday a DVD and an iPod will represent life in the 21st century and will be laughed at by those who will create the technologies of tomorrow. Fashions of 2009 will be considered “retro” by generations to come, and as bad as it may be, someone will cover Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So,” as it will then be considered a “golden oldie.” We all will likely be in adult diapers, complaining about pretty much everything.

Not to bum you out on what’s to come — let’s take a trip back to the not so distant past. It’s May 31, 1986 and you are in the parking lot of the Capitol Centre in Landover, Maryland anxiously anticipating the doors to open so you can bang your long, flowing hair to the heavy sounds of Dokken and Judas Priest. In anticipation of opening the doors for this epic event, you witness shirtless underage burnouts pounding Budweiser and babbling nonsense in a drunken stupor. You witness Aqua Net queens in high heels and outrageous outfits claiming they want to jump Rob Halford’s bones (how ironic is that?). To top off this experience, some teenage boy dressed like a zebra proudly proclaims that punk rock “belongs on fucking Mars man” and that “heavy metal rules.”



If you believe this experience can only be described in the words above or from those who were there, you would be 100 percent incorrect. In that parking lot, guerrilla filmmakers Jeff Krulik and John Heyn filmed the tailgating madness that became what is known as Heavy Metal Parking Lot. This 17-minute documentary captures the images I describe above in all too vivid detail. You might have seen scenes of HMPL featured in the Less Than Jake video for “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads.”



For many years it was only available on VHS, and was almost impossible to find an original copy due to its cult status. In 2007, the feature was finally released on DVD and can be purchased at Amazon.com or rented from Netflix. Features on the DVD include the original documentary, as well as a commentary track. A very cool “Heavy Metal Parking Lot Alumni” feature is included here as well. The filmmakers track down individuals from the parking lot to see where they are today. Amazingly, most of them embrace their HMPL celebrity cult status. Jim Powell of Metal Grind Records in Maryland gives a tour of his “Heavy Metal Basement” where he gives the viewer an in-depth lesson of the history of Judas Priest and heavy metal in general.

In some of the most amusing bonus features, John and Jeff pull off sequels to HMPL by filming the parking lot of the Capitol Centre for a monster truck event, as well as a Neil Diamond concert. They also film the events at a local Maryland bookstore for the release of the latest Harry Potter book and title the feature Harry Potter Parking Lot. They also feature the closing and demolition of the Capitol Centre, which took place in 2002. Now a mall stands where The Capitol Centre once stood. What a shame.

Heavy Metal Parking Lot may be short in length, but its lasting effect on pop culture will last for generations to come. It’s not only a piece of heavy metal history, but it’s also a testament to those who were in that time and at that place in history. Priest Rules!