"HEAVIER TRIP" (2024) Is A Raucous Sequel That Will Have You Headbanging For More! (REVIEW)
*** Editor’s Note *** “Heavier Trip” was originally reviewed during it’s premiere at this year’s Fantastic Fest. At the request of the distributor, we held the review until this week so you can see it on Friday, November 29, 2024 in theaters!
As the sun shines down on the city of Austin, TX with it so do the lights of the Alamo Drafthouse in South Lamar for the 19th annual Fantastic Fest! For eight days, some of the best genre films worldwide will showcase the current and future talents in genre filmmaking while celebrating some classics in new, revitalized restorations. This year, Macabre Daily is fortunate enough to have some boots (well, one person) on the ground basking in the glory of all the genre has to offer. As part of our coverage, we will post reviews, interviews, and previews of upcoming films and games taking center stage here, including some exciting new horror games from the indie studios showcased in Fantastic Games presented by Day of the Devs! We are honored and privileged to be here, thank you to our partners at Fons PR, and now let’s get to the good stuff with one of the festival openers and the World Premiere of, “Heavier Trip” from Doppelgänger Releasing. “Heavier Trip” will be released in theaters and on digital on November 29, 2024.
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Impaled Rektum, a band, is in jail but must escape when the guitarist's father falls ill and their family home/business faces demolition. They receive an offer to play a major festival but decline due to being imprisoned and unprepared.
HOW IS IT?
We know what you’re thinking, “is this horror?” Not really, but the intersection of horror and heavy metal is certainly more than a coincidence, and given we are fans of fast-paced, double bass-laden blast beats it only made sense for us to cover the sequel to 2018’s “Heavy Trip”. “Heavier Trip” picks up pretty much right after the first film as we follow the band, Impaled Rektum as they look to escape prison and get their big shot playing one of Germany’s biggest music festivals, Wacken Open Air. Fans of the first film will be delighted to see more of the same brash humor and hidden metal easter eggs, but the first film isn’t a requirement to enjoy the hilarity and touching story about sticking to your convictions and standing by friends.
“Heavier Trip” opens with everyone’s favorite fake metal band being stuck in prison, but it’s not the kind of prison that we here in the US are used to seeing. Taking hilarious aim at the cultural differences between the US and Dutch prison systems, one can’t help but laugh when the warden talks about wanting his prison to be a place where people would be so inclined to commit crimes just to be prisoners. In the first film, Turo (Johannes Holopainen) was a singer looking to find his voice, and now he’s a frontman looking for an audience when serendipitously they are visited by music producer Fisto (Anatole Taubman) with an offer they can’t refuse; play one of Germany’s largest metal festivals while making enough money to save the guitarist Lotvonen’s (Samuli Jaskio) parents slaughterhouse. Despite reservations, the band breaks free and we follow them as they attempt to make it to the festival with themselves intact. Much like the first film, this is a road movie about personal discovery with the emphasis this time on striking a balance between finding fame and staying true to one’s self with competing priorities for each band member. Xytrax (Max Oaska) is a metal purist only content staying true to their black metal aspirations, and Oula (Chike Ohanwe) is just trying to do the right thing and finish their sentence in prison so they can go on with their life. Their distinctions are more apparent this time around, and it is hilariously entertaining to see how their intentions play off each other.
What makes “Heavier Trip” such a delight for fans of metal and those who aren’t is that it doesn’t require previous knowledge of the first film or the music genre as a whole to enjoy it, but it does reward metalheads with little nods to the genre and even a cameo from BABYMETAL to make a salient point about how times and tastes change, and how that shouldn’t take away from the dedication artists put into their craft. The second half of the film is noticeably more sentimental than the first as we see the friends start to fracture with competing priorities. It also gives ample room to explore the film's core thesis; that staying true to yourself is more important than anything else. This is a potent theme, especially within the context of musical genres where tribalism can often prohibit new entrants or newcomers from being accepted, and the film handles this topic with care. While the stellar performances and great jokes carry the film, it is also bolstered by some killer metal music as a backing score from none other than Mika Lammassaari from the band Obligatory Human Destruction. Overall, “Heavier Trip” is more of the same in the best way possible that expands on the sentiments expressed in the first one while also commenting on the current state of creative affairs in a hilariously heavy metal fashion.
LAST RITES
“Heavier Trip” is a perfect continuation of the misadventures of Impaled Rektum as they grapple with prison, the music industry, and each other to discover what’s important in life and art. The comedy is precise and hilarious, and the journey is not exclusively enjoyable to metalheads so those seeking some great humor and heartfelt story should put their horns up for “Heavier Trip”.
THE GORY DETAILS
Directed By
Written By
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Where can you watch it?
HEAVIER TRIP will have its theatrical and VOD release on Friday, November 29, 2024!
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