Dir. Juuso Laatio & Jukka Vidgren (2024)
An imprisoned heavy metal band gets an invitation to perform a concert after being informed a family home faces demolition.
Full disclosure: Heavier Trip is a sequel to the film Heavy Trip, and I regret to say that I have not seen the original film. After watching this one, however, I'm going to have to check it out. For some reason, I've come across several films lately focused on death/black metal, and I am all the way here for it. I don't actually like death metal, either. The screaming is a complete turn-off for me, and it feels like it's all just noise. Movies about it? Apparently they're my jam.
Impaled Rektum is comprised of lead singer Turo (Johannes Holopainen), drummer Oula (Chike Ohanwe), guitarist Lotvonen (Samuli Jaskio), and bassist (and true metal believer) Xytrax (Max Ovaska). They've been imprisoned for crimes that they absolutely committed in the first film, and when they discover that Lotvonen's father has had a seizure and the family farm is about the be demolished by the bank, they set out on a quest to play a metal festival to get the money to save the farm. Evil record producer Fisto (Anatole Taubman) desires to commercialize the music, however, and the band is forced to choose between stardom and their musical principles.
Heavier Trip is an excellent heavy metal horror comedy, filled with stellar performances and some amazing gags. The actors in Impaled Rektum are hilarious and heartfelt, providing exactly the type of metal spirit and brotherhood needed to give the band it's soul. The script is fantastic, with tons of laugh-out-loud comedy and a great story that fleshes out a timeless story of a band trying to make it big. There's a little bit of gore, a lot of mayhem, and plenty of great references that will make both horror and metal fans happy.
You know a sequel is good when it makes you want to go back and watch the original, and that is absolutely the case here. Heavy Trip is going immediately onto my watchlist, because if it's anything like this one, it's going to be a hell of a lot of fun. Heavier Trip is one of my favorite films that I've seen from Fantastic Fest so far, a raucously enjoyable film with a message and a heart that it wears on its sleeve. It's reminiscent of other films like Deathgasm, though a little less serious and a lot less bloody. If you enjoyed that one, I can pretty much assure that you'll love this one too. Check it out if you get the chance.
Who this movie is for: Horror comedy fans, Death metal devotees, Sellouts
Bottom line: Heavier Trip is a great sequel and a hilarious film. The stars all give stellar performances, that script is nearly flawless, and it's entertaining throughout. If you're a fan of heavy metal horror films, this one is most definitely for you. Great flick, and one of the best of Fantastic Fest so far.
