It is the 1980s, which somehow seems oddly
appropriate in an Orwellian sort of way, and that is when a Norwegian guitarist
by the name of Oystein Aarseth formed the band Mayhem. To those who don’t follow such things a
history lesson is about to be unleashed on the unsuspecting come May 28.
Unobstructed View, with domestic sales and
distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has tabbed that street-date
Tuesday for the release of both Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and stand-alone DVD
editions of prolific Swedish filmmaker Jonas Åkerlund’s Lords of
Chaos.
The film worked a few venues on the festival
circuit, including Molins de Rei Horror Film Festival in Barcelona, Spain this
past November and captured Best Picture honors. That led to a limited domestic theatrical
break last month … the ARR works out to 109 days and box office revenues
generated from the film’s limited theatrical run to date stand at $218,415.
Aarseth, who called himself Euronymous (played by
Rory Culkin — Scream 4, Columbus,
etc.), was at the vanguard of “Black Metal” in Norway in the mid-‘80s, forming
the band Mayhem and eventually opening a record shop (actually more like a
gathering-place for the like-minded) by the name of Hell.
Åkerlund’s film deftly chronicles Euronymous rise,
his influence on the heavy metal music scene and, perhaps, more importantly the
crazed nature of Euronymous, his “friends” and music colleagues (a little
blood-letting during performances only adds to the insanity of it all). The more radical and fringe they could
become, the better.
To this end, their music was an all out assault on
society, which included a series of church burnings and eventually murder (and
a well-timed “suicide”). Filmmaker Jonas
Åkerlund knows this subject personally, it shows (founder of the Swedish heavy
metal group, Bathory … before becoming a high-profile music video producer and
director) and his choice of Rory Culkin to play Euronymous is inspired …
downright creepy.
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