This is Gwar — This is Gwar(Blu Ray)
This is Gwar is a 2021 documentary charting the nearing forty-year career of shock horror punk/ metal project Gwar, who are known for their blood, semen, and general goo-soaked shows that blend together OTT sci-fi and horror themes. Here from Acorn Entertainment is a Blu-Ray release of this Shudder channel production- taking in commentary tracks, and some other extras.
This Is Gwar clocks in at just shy of the two-hour mark. It was directed by Scott Barber, who has two other documentary credits to his name The Orange Years: The Nickelodeon Story (2018), and the currently filming American Clown- which I’m guessing from its title/ cast, is about prankers/ deranged clowns from the US.
The film's credits roll over footage of one of the road crew setting up the massive blood tanks backstage at a Gwar show. Then we get into the band's story which starts in 1984 in Richmond, Virginia - where the project came about as a spin-off from hardcore punk band Death Piggy- unitizing costumes created by Hunter Jackson who had been planning to make a low-budget space pirate film. At its centre was Dave Brockie (of Death Piggy)- rhythm guitar, later lead vocals and Jackson-vocals, with a selection of shifting band members and costume creators. Hunter stayed with the band until the year 2000, and Brockie as the band's frontman until 2014 when he died from an overdose.
As you can imagine with a band having such a shifting line-up, at one point someone says that over a hundred members passed through Gwar, much of the doc’s runtime focuses on this- which is interesting to a point. Though along the way we do get a great selection of wacky & sad stories, as well as of course loads of live/backstage/on-the-road footage.
The elements I found most intriguing were the stage show/ costume elements, and discussions about the bands shifting sound- which moved from punk, metal, and general quirky oddness. Also, the brief comments on the collectives' several self-made feature-length films. Sadly, these elements of the doc take up about twenty-five per cent of the film runtime.
On the whole, This is Gwar is certainly well made and well-realized documentary- and I like the comic book-like graphics and interludes used throughout the film. But as someone who has been aware of/ but never a fan of the Gwar, I found the overt focus on the line-up rather tiring after a time- I of course understand this is a key part of the bands make-up, but often the doc comes off as a wackier and blood sprayed episode of rock band family tree. I just wish there had been more focus on the band's music, discussion about their concepts, and a proper look at the band costumes/ stage show. So as a result, I found This is Gwar an interesting, if rather frustrating at times tiresome documentary.
Moving onto this recent Blu-Ray, and we get a nice selection of extras. We get a commentary track from band members/ collaborators Derks and Bob Gorman. And this is a chatty/laid-back affair, as the pair point out who’s who on screen, the origin of archive footage, and expanding on stories told- it’s a rather sporadic track, but if you’re a fan of the band I think you’ll find worth in playing this. Otherwise, we get the following featurettes- Behind the scenes of a GWAR Show (4.17), GWAR on Empire Records (4.17), The Legend of GWAR (3.05), Last interview with Dave Brockien (10.57), GWAR from the outside (9.06), Four pillars of GWAR (6.12) Slave Pit walk through with Michael Bishop(28.29), A message from the Scumdogs of the Universe(1.53). So, a good selection of things, the most interesting of these was the slave walkthrough- as we get to see where the stage show effects are created/ made.
In conclusion, if you’re a fan of the band, or even have more than a passing interest in Gwar, then I’d say you’ll most certainly want to check this doc out. If like me, you admire, but don’t totally dig the whole Gwar thing…maybe tread a little more carefully, criticism aside I'm glad I watched This is Gwar, but I can’t see myself returning to it again.