Review of This Is Spinal Tap (1984) by Joseph B — 25 Apr 2016

Rob Reiner's directorial debut is one of the funniest movies of the 1980's and it oddly enough summed up hard rock/heavy metal's popularity in a mocking manner. "This is Spinal Tap" is about a fictional band named Spinal Tap, a band with the distinction of being called "The World's Loudest Band." A band that loses most of their drummers to strange mishaps including one who choked on someone else's vomit. A band that really never had a hit but follows whatever is popular at the moment. They started out in the skiffle craze that swept Britain before becoming a rock and roll band, then psychedelia and settling on heavy metal where they sort of stuck in that genre for over a decade.

At the core of this story is the three main band members, David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer). David and Nigel are like brothers but when David's girlfriend Jenny (June Chadwick) it causes a lot of tension among the bandmembers. They are attempting a comeback tour and filmmaker Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) is there to film this tour and the chaos and comedy that ensures.

It's a film that is so absurd, so fun and so enjoyable to watch that one can't even fathom this may not be a real band. Their songs are good, albeit offensive at times.