Freak369's Full Review: Type O Negative - After Dark
Plot Details: This opinion reveals everything about the movie's plot.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t write a review of Type O Negative’s video release, “After Dark” yeah, it took me a while to get around to it, but better late than never. There’s something almost voyeuristic about watching this kind of a ‘movie’ you get to see some behind the scene footage, video clips and stuff that you’d otherwise not be privy to. I do have to add a preface to this; unless you are a Type O fan, chances are you won’t be able to make it through the first five minutes of this, then again, why would you watch it if you weren’t a fan? Shot on location in Brooklyn, New York [along with some tour footage] you get to see Peter, Kenny, Josh and Johnny being, well, themselves. [Sal, the former drummer, is in a few scenes too] If you’ve never seen them in concert, watched an interview or been lucky enough to meet them in person then this is a nice little peek into what they are like but take it with a grain of salt; they are sort of hamming it up for the camera in some spots and no, they aren’t really that negative. Even though I am a huge fan of the group, but more importantly, their music, I can admit that this isn’t the best ‘home movie’ the production is poor, film footage is sloppy and the interviews are, well, not really interviews.
So if it flat out sucks, and I only say that to be brutally honest, why would someone want to see this. Look at it this way; when you are a fan of a group you buy anything with the name on it and since this is their only official home video release [and a chance to get most of their music videos as well] it’s worth ten bucks but if you are on the prowl for this, get the DVD version. This one gives you some extra footage but you have to read the details of the DVD first to make sure you are getting the ‘newer’ one not just the VHS transfer. So what will you see on this? Again, being brutally honest, Peter Steele has his good moments and his bad. The footage from “Cinnamon Girl” is so hot that, ladies, you might just have to put it on pause because he’s looking mighty tasty. One thing that really catches you off guard is when they show Kenny and his daughter Megan [Hi Meggie!!] when she’s still a toddler. It’s this kind of ‘behind the scenes’ view of the band that lets you see what they are really like - not the broody, dark iconoclast characters that they portray on stage. Well, except Josh, he’s pretty much as dark as they come.
One thing that still irks me is the banjo music that you hear when they show the scenes of Johnny; it was cute the first few times but does start to grate your nerves after repeated viewings. You get to see some excellent footage of the group when they toured with Pantera and yes, Dimebag is there joining in the fun and getting covered with toilet paper and mustard [extra spicy of course]. The coverage of this carries on through several scenes and it sucks that it’s broken up, it would have been nicer to just have the whole thing run in one long clip but hey, I just review the stuff, not edit it. Phil Anselmo appears in a very old MTV clip with Josh promoting the release of October Rust and I have to admit, Phil looked so freakin’ adorable with the shaggy hair. A nice touch is the intro montage of magazine covers and CD jacket sleeves that grace the beginning of the video; don’t blink or you might just miss some very cool bootlegs and foreign titles.
The Videos
Without a doubt, “Cinnamon Girl” has to be the one video that really shocked me. I was expecting to see some cheesy unreleased video but it’s a actually well done. It’s a studio version of the song but it’s live footage and my oh my, Peter Steele looks absolutely divine in this one. Since this is the studio version of the song you don’t really get any audio perks [meaning a different version of the song] but there’s enough eye candy to keep you entertained. One thing that struck me as odd is that the song is about a girl, right, ok, well, where the hell are the chicks? I would have thought they would have had some girlies dancing around - even if they were just fans - but no, you don’t see a single femme fatale or goth girlie dancing around. Even so, they guys all look like they are having a blast playing an outdoor venue [me thinks this is one of the rockfests in Amsterdam but I could be mistaken].
With two versions of “Christian Woman” to choose from you really get slammed with the songs content and ‘meaning’ but, thankfully, when they were putting this together then had the brains to separate them. The versions are completely different so it’s not like you are seeing an extended version of the original when you see the second one; that was sort of what I was expecting but when I saw the opening scenes of the Naildriver version [Peter dressed as a priest] I knew I was in for a nice little treat. Some parts of it are a little cheesy but hey, most early videos from groups are rudimentary and focus around the things that mean the most to them. In this case it’s the seductions of nubile teen girls, one of which is wearing a uniform that’s a dead ringer for the ones we had when I was in school. The standard version of “Love You To Death” is always a treat to watch but honestly, they could have done so much more with the video. There’s a few somewhat steamy scenes but this is such an erotic song that the first time I saw it I said “OK, what the hell was that?” Honestly, I felt cheated. There’s no doubt that the production of it far exceeded anything else that they’ve done in video format but damn it, I wanted something a little more hard core.
“My Girlfriends Girlfriend” sort of falls into the same classification; it’s got a touch of sex to it but not enough. Since the song has a 60’s feel to it thanks to the keyboards they retained that feel when it came to the chicks and the video set. To me, it was nice but again, it didn’t even scrape the surface of what the video was capable of. I know, I know, sometimes it’s better to tease than to please but in this respect, you don’t even get your engines started. Black No. 1 isn’t the best video from the group and I would have taken a completely different approach to it but you do get to see semi naked goth girlies, black and white footage and things of the like. This was one of their earlier videos and doesn’t really capture the magnitude of what the song is about - something that is covered in the other segments of the video when the band members are asked “What is Black No. 1 about?” - the answers are comical but Johnny gives the best response [at least that’s my take on it].
The Bottom Line
If you are a fan of Type O Negative then this is something that you will definitely want to pick up for your collection; it’s not the best rockmentary on the market but it shows you some pretty cool backstage stuff, you get most of the videos and some pretty hysterical live stuff with Pantera and the late Diamond “Dimebag” Darrell. To me, even though this isn’t the most impacting type of footage, it’s still Type O Negative - raw, gritty and eloquently noir. I’d love to say that this is something that I watch as much as Pantera’s “Vulgar Video’s” but it’s not, there’s nothing wrong with it but it lacks a lot the things that you might expect or hope to find on a Type O home video. Now, if you are lucky enough to get your hands on the “red tapes” - the stuff that didn’t make it on to the VHS or DVD versions then you’ll see some hard core antics of the group ... but unless you are connected with someone that can get a copy of them ... well, you’ll just have to make due with what you get on this one. If you have a choice between the formats go with the DVD but make sure you are getting the newer one with bonus footage.
Cult heavy metal band Type O Negative have been making their lugubrious dark music since the late 1980's. Too dark and edgy to be an MTV mainstay the ...More at Family Video
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