Hated: GG Allin and The Murder Junkies (1993)

There's nothing I could say or any review here that could prepare you for the wild ride documentary of this man's life. Not being a fan, I couldn't appreciate nor see any talent as maybe his admirers would, still though, this is very intriguing. If you want to see a man who lived his life to the very edge of extremity and brink of insanity, I present G.G. Allin. Punk Rock, Death Metal, Satanic or White Supremicist Rock Groups all look like a PBS program for pre-schoolers compared to this man. I suppose the one question we ask ourselves while watching this, as you realize you actually are watching is, "shouldn't this guy be institutionalized?" There's some very deserving folks locked away for lesser reasons, yet because he was classified (by some) as a performer, he was free to be exposed (and expose himself) to the general population and even entertain. Like Lenny Bruce, G. G. Allin doesn't apologize for its shock value. This is serious stuff, not for the weak and yes, you will be disturbed with its content. As a documentary it does pull you in and well presents G. G. to a point where you understand his point of view and in some odd way sympathize with his way of thinking and living. He lived a harsh life and it was his way of expressing outrage and coping in society with equal disgust. Like an animal on display at a zoo, you wonder what the animal thinks of you might better describe his act. If you ever wanted a taste of the wild side this is as close as you'll get without being there and might appreciate your quiet life more once seeing it. It's more than a documentary, it's an experience, one that will haunt and disturb you long after. So before you dismiss this as just a story of an insane and sickening man claiming to be an entertainer, watch it with an open mind and a good stomach, you'll definitely need it, and be happy you survived. This is as gritty as you'll see outside a snuff film.

"The human is just another animal who is able to speak out freely, to express himself clearly." And that is just what G.G. Allin's problem is. He does not try to express himself with words like any animal who can speak would do, or to express himself clearly like any human with some sense would do. He uses nearly exclusively body language and in that body language only one side of the picture, the gross and the gore, the dirty and the bloody. Punk they say? Punk they have the right to say. But G.G. Allin demonstrates if it is necessary to do so that he, as a punk rocker with a death wish, is an exhibitionist, an aggressive and violent person, a literal s***t-eater, a true p***s-drinker and a self p***e-taster. So what! So nothing. So not much. The death wish is no longer only a death wish in him. It is also a death instinct because he not only wishes death but he is cruelly violent against other people. If he really believes a body is a rock and roll temple, his vision of the temple is particularly dilapidated. It is Stonehenge after a gang of looters armed with twenty bulldozers have been on the site for a fortnight. Look at his temple, at his body: out of shape due to no exercise, extreme alcoholism, drug addiction of all types and kinds, not to speak of his idea that the body is like paper, to be scribbled on I guess. There is no explanation in this very superficial film. And there is no real presentation of his music. It is more some kind of self-satisfying review of this annihilating and nihilistic anti-art attitude on what is not even a stage, but just a piece of floor in some kind of back room. Punk for sure but without the music or without the political anarchism. Just some scatological provocation as if a provocation was enough to be considered as art in the simple fact that it is a provocation or as politics in the simple fact that is outside all norms. Too bad, and what's more he did not even hold his promise to commit suicide on stage. He simply died of an overdose. What a flop! What a let down! An artist should be able to hold his promises.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

Surprisingly unsettling documentary about legendary cult rocker GG Allin and his cadre of followers, this film follows Allin about New York City as he plays gigs, gets kicked out of venues, and deconstructs his punk creed for the camera. Film also takes time out for revealing interviews with childhood friends of Allin, fans, Allin's high school teachers, Allin's relatively articulate brother Merle, and one humorously disgruntled ex-bandmate.If you've never heard of or seen Allin before, he's basically this punk rocker whose act is a (literal) assault on the audience. He plays naked, cuts himself, defecates onstage and rolls in it, vomits onstage, attacks members of the audience (and is attacked). It can be quite jarring to watch a GG show, even from the relative safety of one's own living room. There's the twitchy sensation that he is erasing any boundaries between performer and audience and the sense of danger becomes very real and scary.This film presents a somewhat one-sided view of Allin, I think. We see him in rage-mode, basically. I used to frequent mondo video in LA a year or two after Allin died and they had practically a library of concert footage on the guy. The people who worked there said he came in often and was just a mellow guy. It was when he got booze or drugs inside him that he became wild.Director Phillips does a very good job of chopping his footage up for maximum potency. And anyone doubting Todd Phillips' bravery need look no further than this footage or to his brilliant, incendiary banned HBO documentary "Frat House" about fraternity hazing.Unfortunately, Phillips doesn't dig too deeply into what may have caused Allin's crazed behavior. We hear a little about his abusive dad, but not nearly enough.Perhaps the best footage on the DVD is the bonus feature which shows GG's last show in NYC and it truly is disturbing stuff. Allin is frighteningly whacked-out on drugs and the camera follows him nonstop as he sings a song, then goes berserk when the sound cuts out. He attacks the venue (and several people in it) then spills out into a NYC street, naked, bleeding, and covered in feces, runs around the streets for a time generally being wild. Pretty great footage.Good documentary

Many people, like myself, heard all the wild stories about GG Allin. I thought I had seen it all, or at least, could picture it all. NOTHING in my lifetime had remotely prepared me for this documentary/film. Sure, someone could tell you, "He craps on stage and smears it on his face, then throws it at the audience. Then he goes into the audience and beats the hell out of people", or, "He had a prostitute pee and his mouth and then he threw up while continuing to drink the urine". Of course you'd either laugh or cringe, but no matter what you're thinking, it's nothing like sitting there and actually watching these events take place in front of you. It will cause you to question many things, and wonder what happened to Allin in his lifetime to want to destroy himself in the manner that he did. He takes every possible degration and humiliation and makes it his life's blood. The interviews with his brother, friends, and former band mates are a great source of information, but the interviews with Allin himself will grab your attention the most. He reeks of desperation, patheticness, and anger. He was a man who could actually claim he had no morals and meant it, all the while you may find yourself not being able to help but feel sorry for him. It's an amazing thing to watch, and possible the most disturbing. Many people I know could not watch it more than once. I recommend that you do.