Music documentaries as a favourite genre for many, as they give a deeper look into the bands we like and the journeys they go through. So, when the documentary This is Gwar was announced, I was very intrigued. I have been a fan of Gwar for years and have enjoyed the very different take on music that the band has. Gwar is definitely not a traditional band by any means, and if you are someone who dislikes mockery then you will not like their shows. The band has made a name for itself with gore and violence-laden shows, where they mock decapitate celebrities and politicians, spray bodily fluids at the crowd and be as provocative as possible.
Gwar is not just a band but an artist collective. This is Gwar covers the origins of the days when Hunter Jackson began making a low-budget science fiction movie, Scumdogs of the Universe, and teamed with Death Piggy lead Singer David Brockie to provide music for it. This team-up would lead to the creation of the costumed band Gwar, initially using costumes from the never produced movie and then new costumes, and their saga in music. The documentary discusses the roots of the band in the city of Richmond, Virginia ( where they are still based today) and how the conservative nature of the city led to a strong punk scene that influenced the path Gwar would take.
This is Gwar takes the warts and all approach to the band, from its humble origin, to the infighting that began to flare up, and the frequent band member changes. Gwar’s battles with censorship are fully discussed, including Dave Brockie/Oderus Urungus’s arrest on obscenity charges in North Carolina, and the confiscation of the Cuttlefish of Cthulhu, the marital aid worn between his legs that he would use to spray fluid on the crowds. Gwar would later turn that experience into their movie Phallus in Wonderland, which was nominated for a Grammy for best long-form video and the stories of the band’s time at the ceremony were hilarious.
The best parts of This is Gwar were the band members just being candid about the various experiences they went through as the years went by. Every album was discussed, for good and for bad, and most former members still alive were part of the documentary, including Hunter Jackson who had left for a lengthy time ( he has since returned to the band partially) and had a very contentious relationship with Dave Brockie with feelings of resentment boiling over between the two. What helped was that the various members not only told their stories but also how the band is not one they joined to become famous, since Gwar never achieved mainstream fame, only brushes of infamy.
The importance of each member’s contribution to the backstage show was also a highlight. Gwar’s stage show is a very over-the-top one, and the amount of work that goes into it is staggering. What is also amazing is how the stage show evolved from its early days, into what it has since become. The band makes their own props and when making their movies, had to handle everything themselves without much help, making for a great underdog story.
The warts aspect comes with the darker parts of the band’s history. From former guitarist Peter Lee getting shot and developing severe PTSD, fallouts between band members and of course the deaths of former guitarist Cory Smoot and lead singer Dave Brockie, nothing was left untouched. The drug use was also mentioned, as was Brockie’s inability to share the spotlight, which drove away others. Brockie’s death was thought to be the end of the band for a while before the next chapter of the story came to be.
When introducing the various band members during the course of the documentary, attention was given to the bassist Michael Bishop who portrayed Beefcake the Mighty, then left after the shooting incident. Bishop left due to feeling that the band’s common calling of its workers as slaves, was becoming too true when the band was made to keep going on with a photoshoot after Lee’s shooting, despite them needing time to process this ( Bishop was one of the band members present with Lee at the time). Bishop would later return after the death of Brockie, and took on the identity of Blothar the Berserker as the new lead singer and his arc in the real-life story is one of the most interesting.
Gwar’s story is not a sad story despite the hardships the band has gone through or the amount of gore and shock they use in their shows. The story of Gwar as told in This is Gwar is one of how the underdog keeps going, develops a fanbase and makes its own impact on pop culture. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but This is Gwar is a story for any fan of music, nerd culture or anything horror-themed.
This is Gwar is streaming now on Shudder.