VICE’s New Show Chronicles Insane Heavy Metal Martial Arts Movie
VICE have been cooking up some interesting programming lately. Their new show, Outsider, which tells the stories of weird independent films, is being helmed by Zack Carlson — a great film programmer and archivist from Texas who wrote the definitive guide to the history of punk in movies.
What does this have to do with metal? Well, the first episode tells the story of Miami Connection, a 1987 motorcycle-ninja/crime/synth-rock film independently financed by, directed by, and starring Florida taekwondo master and business magnate Y.K. Kim. Yeah, you read that sentence right.
The music for the in-movie band Dragon Sound, written by John Oates lookalike Jon McCallum, is really something to behold. Think Brian Trenchard Smith’s Stunt Rock meets 5150-era Van Halen, but with martial arts masters ripping solos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO9BFGHTrC8
I haven’t seen the movie — it existed only on a few collectors’ old 35mm prints before being re-released by Drafthouse Films in 2012 — but the story of how this thing was made is utterly fascinating. It even includes a little tour of McCallum’s basement studio, for all you recording geeks!
Check out the episode below:
