Detroit rock city
Starring Giuseppe Andrews, James DeBello, Edward Furlong and Sam Huntington as the four youths who are big fans of KISS, Detroit Rock City is a rock and roll film catering to a select audience. The title of the movie is based on the original KISS song and was released in 1999. Based in the late 1970?s, this movie is a typical movie of its kind. Though the movie failed at the box office, it became a cult movie for hardcore rock and roll fans. The title of the movie is based on a song by KISS called Detroit Rock City. Written by Paul Stanley and Bob Erin, this song was featured in the album Destroyer, released in 1976. The song was dedicated to a KISS fan killed in a car accident on his way to a KISS concert.
There is not much of a storyline. Hawk, Jam, Lex and Trip are big fans of KISS living in Cleaveland with a mission. This mission is to go and see their favourite rock and roll band perform live in Detroit which they had missed the previous years because of bad luck and strict parents. Jam's fanatic mother, played by Lin Shaye, is an anti-KISS protagonist who believes that KISS stands for Knights In Satan?s Service. She found out that the four have managed to obtain tickets to the concert and is furious. She burns the tickets in front of the whole school and moves Jam to a Catholic school. The other three decide to win tickets again from a contest line. Trip wins the tickets and the three friends lure Jam away from his new school in a funny scene.
The four friends meet with adventure en route to Detroit. When Trip throws out a piece of pizza which hits the windsheld of some guys, they pick up a fight with Hawk. In the melee, someone takes Trip's wallet. Natasha Lawson, as Christine, walks away from the fight and is picked up by the four friends a little way ahead. She smokes a joint with the guys, passes out and is left in the car which later disappears. After reaching Detroit, the four fans find out that the tickets were given to the next caller, Trip having omitted to give any information. The four decide to separate in search of the concert tickets and meet later.
The four friends go different ways and try various ploys but are unable to get tickets for the concert. Trip goes into a gas station and tries to mug a small kid for a ticket when his elder brother gets into action. To avoid being mugged himself, Trip tries to pay them by robbing the shop. When he finds competition, he ends up by saving the store by tackling the robber. Hawk, by a series of circumstances, is shown dancing naked in a strip club to earn some money for the KISS tickets. Lex thinks up a plan of helping the crew set up for the concert but ends up trying to get his car back and save Christine from being raped. Jam's mother, leading an anti-KISS rally, sees him and drags him inside a church. When Jam's girlfriend sees him enter the church and follows him, they wind up in the confessional booth making love. When Jam confronts his mother demanding his drumsticks, he gets back only one of them, the other having been broken.
The four friends meet up again to confess failure. Jam hits upon an ingenious idea to enter the concert. He suggests that they beat up each other and tell the guards at the entrance that they had been mugged for their tickets. Not finding a better way, the others agreed and they carry out this plan. When they arrived in a bedraggled state at the entrance of the concert, they find that the guards do not believe them. At this crucial moment, Trip catches sight of the people with whom they had a fight and incriminates them by saying that they were the muggers. The guards find Trip's wallet in one of the guy's pocket and lets the four friends through. Making it to the concert on time by hook and by crook, the four are exhilarated and the title song of the movie is played at the end in the concert.
An interesting snippet for KISS fans would be the concert when Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss come to life on the big screen. Written by Carl.V.Dupre and directed by Adam Rifkin, a few hilarious moments and some good acting are all that a non KISS fan can find in this movie. Packed with violence, nudity, strong language and use of drugs, this movie just does not have what it takes.
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