Detroit Rock City (1999)

Detroit Rock City: Directed by Adam Rifkin. With Giuseppe Andrews, James DeBello, Edward Furlong, Sam Huntington. In 1978, four rebellious teenagers try to scam their way into a KISS concert.

“I was a huge KISS fan for much of my teenage life (finally seeing the original band on their 1996 Reunion Tour was one of the highlights of my life, as I was too young to witness them in their u0026#39;70s heyday), so DETROIT ROCK CITY was mandatory viewing for me when it first hit video. I wouldu0026#39;ve loved to have seen it during its short theatrical run, but sadly, this overlooked movie tanked at the box office and disappeared within a week of its release, which astounds me to this day, because even if youu0026#39;re not a KISS fan, any rock and roller past or present should be able to relate to this story of musical fanaticism, no matter what band(s) you might be into.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film does share many similarities to an earlier classic, 1979u0026#39;s ROCK N ROLL HIGH SCHOOL (starring the Ramones), but thanks to the more liberal time period in which it was made, DETROIT ROCK CITY is a lot more foul-mouthed and raunchier, which may have cost the producers a PG-13 rating, but it just fine by me… after all, real high school kids donu0026#39;t say u0026quot;darnu0026quot; and u0026quot;heck,u0026quot; they spew the F-Word liberally into every sentence! Anyway, our story revolves around four high school misfits circa 1978 whose main goal in life (other than playing bad covers of KISS songs in their basement rec room) is to finally see KISS live in concert at Detroitu0026#39;s Cobo Hall arena. When one boyu0026#39;s fundamentalist Mom discovers the u0026quot;demonicu0026quot; concert tickets in her sonu0026#39;s jacket and burns them, it sets the four friends on a quest to figure out how to get into the concert at all costs, and they set a hilarious series of misadventures in motion along the way. In no particular order, the boys run afoul of a gang of disco-loving toughs on the highway, get mixed up in the middle of a convenience store robbery (thwarted by a Stretch Armstrong doll!), take the stage in a male strip joint to win money for tickets, get their car towed from the mean streets of Detroit, and rescue one of their own from a Christian boyu0026#39;s school. The filmu0026#39;s eye candy quotient is filled very nicely by a cameo from Shannon Tweed (real-life companion of Kissu0026#39; Gene Simmons), and thereu0026#39;s even a tender moment of teenage romance as one boy loses his virginity (in a churchu0026#39;s confessional no less!). All this madness is set to an irresistible hard-rockinu0026#39; soundtrack that features not only Kiss but other 70s titans like Blue Oyster Cult and Ted Nugent. Do the boys finally make it to Cobo Hall to see their heroes? I donu0026#39;t want to spoil it for those who havenu0026#39;t seen it yet, therefore I highly recommend that you check out this overlooked comedy gem. DETROIT ROCK CITY is a hysterical trip down memory lane for anyone whou0026#39;s ever cranked up their favorite song extremely LOUD…and as Kiss themselves once said, if itu0026#39;s too loud,youu0026#39;re too old. Thankfully Iu0026#39;m not too old to enjoy this movie!!”