Many people think Bill Paxton manifested one of the first depictions of punk in mainstream film, in a scene at the beginning of The Terminator. He’s rude and crude, and he’s got spiked hair and attitude, but he was relatively late to the party; punk rock had violently emerged almost a decade prior.
Punk is a crude and rebellious form of music that started in 1976 with the release of the first Sex Pistols album, which ignited a revolution in culture, including music and film, with many films expressing punk rock values and ideas through their direction, soundtracks, characters and dialogue. Take a look at these films for a better, very entertaining (and often disturbing) glimpse at punk rock and the punk lifestyle of anarchy, squatting, rebellion, and heavy drinking and drug use.
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11 Class of 1999
CAROLCO
In the odd film Class of 1999, Stacy Keach plays some type of weird alien albino, and Pam Grier and John P. Ryan (who plays a malicious psychopath and the greatest thing about this flick) play robotic teachers. These killer robots are brought in to help the local school, which has severe problems with gangs and punks and general anarchy. Heavily influenced by RoboCop, this 1990 movie follows two opposing gangs, the Razorheads and the Blackhearts, as they feud with and kill each other. Both are targeted by the robot teachers, which once were part of the military and use extreme force in controlling gangs. In the best and goriest scene, one of the android teachers shoves his hand all the way down a student’s throat, killing him. Meanwhile, everyone is getting hooked on a new drug called ‘Edge.’ Splatterpunk icon John Skipp co-wrote this bonkers futuristic punk rock sequel which also features Malcolm McDowell.
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10 Class of 1984
United Film Distribution Company
Class of 1984 is a punk rock revenge film from director Mark L. Lester, who later directed Class of 1999 and Stephen King’s Firestarter. A new music teacher is shocked by both the amount of violence and the official apathy of the police and authorities who run his new school like a prison. Featuring the great Roddy McDowell and a then-unknown Michael J. Fox, “the edgiest teen film of the ’80s” has gang wars, drug pushing, a deadly overdose of PCP and lots of girls doing cocaine, but is still regarded as a classic. The new teacher (Perry King) eventually learns that the punk kids he looked down on actually want to learn music and have genuinely good musical skills, so he decides to have the kids put on a school concert. As it is about to begin, he is handed a picture of his brutalized wife, who had been raped by a group of punks. Andrew chases them down, hungry for blood, having finally been pushed past the breaking point. The punk score is led by Alice Cooper’s theme “I Am the Future,” and contains the song “Let’s Have A War” by FEAR, an essential punk song that features in several films on this list, such as Repo Man.
9 The Filth and the Fury
Film Four
The Filth and The Fury is one of two great documentaries made by director Julian Temple (Ted Lasso actor Juno Temple’s father) about the Sex Pistols. For some reason, this film has many irrelevant shots of random British television shows and clips from Shakespeare’s Richard III, which slowed down the pace of the film. Too much attention is given to Malcolm McLaren, the manager and founder of the Sex Pistols, an arrogant, manipulative strange man responsible for the breakup of the band (according to interviews with Johnny Rotten, lead singer). There is, however, some great footage in the film of the Sex Pistols playing live, both in England and America. The documentary features an interview with Sid Vicious high on heroin, and containing a surprisingly honest and heartfelt discussion of Sid Vicious’ death from an overdose by a very upset and emotional Johnny Rotten.
8 The Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle
Tara Releasing
Another Sex Pistols documentary from Julian Temple, The Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle features way too much footage of Malcolm McLaren (and his little person sidekick), who managed the Sex Pistols and is a manipulative creep who destroyed the band; apparently, people find him extremely fascinating or magnetic. Featuring some great live footage of the Sex Pistols from back in 1977 and some unique artistic touches, this is sure to please every Sex Pistols fan, and it is superior to The Filth and The Fury. There are strange animated sequences, shots of Sid Vicious riding a motorcycle, footage from their last ever show, and Sid Vicious performing “My Way,” which was re-created in Sid and Nancy.
7 Suburbia
New World Pictures
The 1983 Roger Corman-produced Suburbia (not to be confused with Richard Linklater’s SubUrbia) is an underground classic directed by the one and only Penelope Spheeris (who directed three films on this list, along with Wayne’s World). Starring Chris Pedersen, (from Platoon and Point Break) as a charismatic punk with an attitude, and Flea (from the bands Fear and Red Hot Chili Peppers), the film centers on the phenomenon of alienated runaway suburban kids “squatting,” or communally living in condemned and abandoned buildings. There are some great live performances by TSOL, The Vandals, and D.I. performing the punk rock classic “Richard Hung Himself,” a dark nihilistic song. The film begins in a shocking and disturbing way– a bunch of dogs maul a baby to death, and “crime-fighting” rednecks drive around shooting and killing dogs. Later on, these disgusting men confront the punks in the name of crime prevention. There’s an infamous funeral scene after one of the young punks, who had revealed that her father molested her, dies of a drug overdose; the punks and the abusive father turn the funeral scene into total chaos in this anarchic, wild film.
6 Sid and Nancy
New Line Cinemas
The story of the destructive love between Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen is well known by anyone familiar with punk rock. Iconic director Alex Cox’ Sid and Nancy is the true tale of two heroin addicts who both died tragic deaths– Nancy was stabbed to death in a hotel room she was sharing with Sid (the obvious suspect in the murder), who died shortly afterwards from a heroin overdose. Gary Oldman’s performance is incredible; he simply is Sid Vicious. Chloe Webb is also excellent as Nancy, though she’s very different from the real Nancy Spungen seen in Julian Temple’s two Sex Pistols documentaries.The biggest problem with the movie is the portrayal of Johnny Rotten, a terrible performance which really brings the movie down. The film even has a small part from Courtney Love, in a perverse bit of irony on the part of the universe.
5 Repo Man
Universal Pictures
Repo Man “is a movie that should be rereleased every 10 years, forever,” and is one of the best punk films with the most attitude. Alex Cox’s film is about Otto, an aimless young kid who finds pleasure and purpose in repossessing cars. Otto has the task of hunting down an old car worth a lot of money because of the contents of the trunk- which kills anyone who opens it, and that’s not the only outlandish, unusual thing about this very far-out film. Starring Zander Schloss of the Circle Jerks (and with a performance from the band), the seminal punk rock film’s soundtrack has Fear, the Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, Black Flag, Iggy Pop and more. Harry Dean Stanton is incredible as always, and this is undoubtedly Emilio Estevez’s best performance.
4 The Decline of Western Civilization
Manson International Pictures
Penelope Spheeris’s hugely influential film The Decline of Western Civilization chronicles the Los Angeles punk scene around the turn of 1980, which produced such bands as Circle Jerks, X, the Germs, FEAR, and many more. It is the absolute best cinematic introduction into the punk mythos a person can have. The film contains some incredible live concerts of the bands, as well as footage of them in their daily lives, which is fascinating. For instance, we see Darby Crash of the Germs (who looks a lot like Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols) cook an egg as he answers questions about his life and the band before dying of a heroin overdose at the age of 21. It’s this kind of intimacy and curiosity which made Spheeris’ three documentaries so incredible.
3 The Decline of Western Civilization, Part 3
Spheeris Films
The Decline of Western Civilization Part 3 features a number of musical acts, including Final Conflict, and there’s footage of Flea (FEAR, Red Hot Chili Peppers). What makes the film so special and unique, however, is not its coverage of punk rock bands, but its coverage of very young punk rock fans. Called “gutterpunks,” these are homeless teens who make money by panhandling and stealing. They live as squatters, living communally wherever they can find a spot to sleep. Adorned with mohawks and piercings, they all come from broken and dysfunctional homes, and they have one reason to live– alcohol. Their advanced alcoholism at such a young age is really heartbreaking and sad, and so are their individual stories. Spheeris interviews these kids on the street and at their parties and gets honest answers from them. Filmed between 1996 and 1997, most of the kids in the film had not even been born yet in 1980 when the first film in the series came out. It is a melancholic, powerful look at the dark side of punk and perhaps its cultural death.
2 Another State of Mind
Time Bomb
Another State of Mind is the story of a 1982 tour by punk bands Social Distortion and Youth Brigade. It begins with 11 guys in a broken down school bus; by the end of the film, there are only four people left. Faced with a lack of money and personality conflicts, the tour spirals into tragedy and is finally abandoned. The film is about the DIY ethic, and it is a classic tale of the difficulties of being an unknown underground band on tour. Another State of Mind remains memorable for some of its unique and odd interviews and access– along with that tour bus, there’s an interview with a Christian punk band, live footage of Minor Threat, fun shots of the bands skateboarding, and great segments with punk rock icon Keith Morris, who founded Black Flag before forming the Circle Jerks.
1 HATED: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies
Skinny Nervous Guy Prod
HATED: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies is the nasty, filthy story of the most infamous rock and roll outlaw to ever walk this Earth. GG Allin was a loaded gun, pointed at his audience. Because of the violent, anarchistic nature of his shows, they more often than not were shut down by the police, often after just a few songs, resulting in GG getting arrested over 50 times. He spent significant time in jail after blinding a fan by smashing a beer bottle and jabbing it into her eye. At his shows, he would tear off all of his clothes and walk around nude except for his combat boots, defecate on the stage and throw feces at the audience. He would run into the small crowds and hit, punch, kick and headbutt anyone who got in his way. He sliced himself up with broken bottles and his body was covered with obscene and crude tattoos that would make a sailor blush. He was the darkest, most nihilistic embodiment of punk. This documentary perfectly covers Allin’s daily life of mayhem, covering his career until he (too) died from an overdose of heroin. Weirdly enough, the film was directed by Todd Phillips, who went on to gain fame directing The Hangover trilogy and his similarly nihilistic Joker.
