There are certain things that just go together perfectly. Mac & Cheese, Slashers & Horny Teenages, and Metal & Horror. That last one is really important since so many metal heads are huge horror fans. So much so that throughout the years we’ve had some truly badass horror movies that incorporate metal in some form.
Films like 1986’s Trick or Treat, 1987’s The Gate, 2015’s The Devils Candy. But few movies bring it down to the garage band level. Most are either about established bands or just incorporating the music into the narrative.
But also in 2015 a little indie horror film came out called Deathgasm. Released by Dark Sky Films and directed by Jason Lei Howden. This film is equal parts The Evil Dead and Cannibal Corpse, in all the best ways.
The story follows Brodie (Milo Cawthorne), who is forced to live with his uncle and his family after his mother passes away. Being the black sheep of the family, he is instantly ridiculed by his cousin David (Nick Hoskins-Smithand) and his friends at school.
At the local record store, Brodie befriends fellow metal head, Zakk (James Joshua Blake). Brodie and Zakk decide to start a death metal band with Brodie’s D&D buddies, Dion (Sam Berkley) and Giles (Daniel Cresswell). They call their band, you guess it, Deathgasm.
Soon after Zakk and Brodie come across what looks like ancient pages that have musical notes and words in Latin. They decide to learn and play this song to pass it off as their own when they unwittingly summon forces of Hell that begin to possess everyone in the town. They now have to fight off the demonic cult trying to harness the power for themselves and the possessed people around town, all while trying to reverse what they caused.
There’s buckets of blood, crude humor and a brutal soundtrack. Not only did we know kids like this growing up, in my case, I WAS these kids growing up. Trying to come up with the most disgusting band names and song titles all while blasting Slayer, Death, and Morbid Angel while also playing D&D.
The practical effects are disgusting and hilarious at the same time. I never once thought I would see a demonically possessed person stabbed in the head with vibrators, but here we are.
The jokes land well in the midst of all the chaos, but the horror never lets up. Once all Hell breaks loose, its pure metallic mayhem till the credits roll. This isn’t the type of film that’s going to terrify you, but there’s some great body horror throughout.
Overall, this is one of those cult horror deep cuts that knows the audience it’s going for and is familiar with the music and culture. It’s like Beavis and Butthead meets Hatchet. Deathgasm doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is why it’s just a blast of a movie.
I Give Deathgasm 4 Severed Eyeballs Out of 5
Watch the Trailer
Deathgasm is available on to stream FREE on Tubi and many other services.