The El Duce Tapes
ARROW'S TOP TWENTY OF TWENTY TWENTY • Documentary, Music
In the early 90s, aspiring filmmaker (and General Hospital co-star) Ryan Sexton lugged a giant camcorder into some of the seediest clubs and filthiest apartments in Hollywood. There he filmed hour upon hour of VHS footage of the jaw-droppingly offensive Shock Rock band The Mentors, focusing on their infamous lead singer, "El Duce.”
30 years later, the team behind The Nightmare and Room 237 and the editor of Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on the Exorcist uncover this dusty stockpile of long forgotten – and unseen – footage. They begin to piece together a picture of the man under the black executioner’s hood and what his willfully offensive act and controversial views might tell us about 21st Century America.
An incendiary, tragicomic documentary (midway between The Decline of Western Civilization and Crumb) which has been hailed as “Essential Viewing” by CineVue and called “Dark and irresistible” by director John Carpenter. The El Duce Tapes will chew you up, spit you out and leave you floored.
Up Next in ARROW'S TOP TWENTY OF TWENTY TWENTY
-
The Happiness Of The Katakuris
2002 ･ Japan ･ Directed by Takashi Miike
From Takashi Miike, the prolific director of such shocking hits including Audition and Ichi the Killer comes “The Sound of Music meets Dawn of the Dead”!
The Katakuri family run a peaceful country inn at the foot of Mount Fuji. A little more peaceful th...
-
Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion
1972 • Japan • Directed by Shun'ya Itô
After being used and betrayed by the detective she had fallen in love with, young Matsu is sent to a female prison full of sadistic guards and disobedient prisoners.
-
Mako: The Jaws of Death
A man accidentally learns that he has a mystical connection with sharks, and is given a strange medallion by a shaman. Becoming more and more alienated from normal society, he develops an ability to communicate with sharks telepathically, setting out to destroy anybody who harms sharks. People en...
