Nightstream Review: ‘This is GWAR’ Blood Canons, Monster Toilets, Cuttlefish, Oh My!
Even if you’ve never listened to a single note of music from their albums or were fortunate (or crazy enough) to attend one of their shows, most people have at least heard of GWAR. The self-proclaimed “Scumdogs of the Universe” are a mystery to even their most devoted fans.
Still, with This is GWAR making its virtual premier at the 2021 Nightstream Film Festival, we get a peek behind the blood and other substances-soaked curtains. With his second feature, director Scott Barber (The Orange Years: The Nickelodeon Story) gives audiences a backstage pass to one of history’s most prolific, obscene, and entertaining musical groups ever to hit the stage.
Born from the frustration of two artists in Richmond, Virginia, of all places (I would have guessed Rigel VII), GWAR was the brainchild of Hunter Jackson, a commercial art student, and Dave Brockie, front man for the punk group Death Piggy. Jackson was creating props and costumes for a film project he was developing called Scumdogs of the Universe about a bunch of rowdy space barbarians who’ve come to conquer earth.
Eventually, Brockie began to incorporate the film’s wardrobe into his shows, and as the band grew in popularity, so did the production design. Ultimately, it turned into a full-fledged spectacle of giant worms, blood cannons, monstrous toilets, and of course, a cuttlefish. The roadie filling blood canisters put it best when he said, “People love getting spewed on, and I love doing it.”
Despite the larger-than-life aspect of the band/ performance art, This Is Gwar, takes a much more personal look at the members who found their way into this traveling circus. The roughly two-hour-long documentary chronicles the early days playing in garages and abandoned warehouses to their sold-out arena shows. The stories throughout are told from first-person interviews of bandmates, past to present, and comic book style animation, which is appropriate due to the GWAR-themed comics they would sell at their early shows. The incredible, personal, and often hilarious stories are told to keep you fully engaged and hanging on to every detail.
Over their tenure, clashing egos, artistic direction, and just fatigue have been an issue with GWAR, contributing to the ever-rotating cast of characters and musical styles. Barber manages to capture the sometimes-tearful recollections, as the members recount friendships forged and lost, life on the road, and the tragic deaths of guitarist Cory Smoot and band founder Dave Brockie. You could see how there could be bad blood with some who were let go from the band, but through clever editing or just respect for GWAR itself being more than the members themselves, there were very little harmful or disrespectful musings from those who interviewed.
This is GWAR manages to pull some familiar faces into the documentary as well. Celebrities like Alex Winter, Weird Al, Thomas Lennon, Bam Margera, and Ethan Embry (Fed to the space worm during the dream sequence in Empire Records) all recall their first experience with the music and spectacle that is GWAR. It shows not only how far their influence reaches but it also reveals that their fan base is all over the map.
After more than three decades, multiple member changes, thirteen studio albums, and a few live recordings as well. It seems that Dave Brockie’s vision that the band would live on well after his death, appears to be coming to fruition. Elaborate costumes, in character shenanigans, and live shows that leave the audience drenched in blood and other unmentionable fluids. Not to mention an ever-changing style depending on who is fronting the band, it’s clear GWAR is in a category all their own.
Director Scott Barber was able to go beneath the mask and create a documentary that if you weren’t a fan before, you probably wouldn’t be after. Still, you’ll have a lot more respect for the musical talent, creativity, blood, tears, and sheer willpower it takes to unleash GWAR onto its adoring public. 4.5/5
We watched This Is Gwar as part of the Nightstream 2021 Film Festival. Be sure to check back to ScaryNerd and we will let you know when this film will be available to stream.
About Post Author
K.B. O’Neil is an artist, writer and musician living in Cincinnati, Ohio. He loves movies, books, video games, snuggling his two pups and all things Horror. When not working he can be found getting into adventures with his wife and their new daughter.
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