Rock 'N' Roll Comedy that goes up to eleven!

Rating: 8/10 (1 June 2007)

As is the case with half of the cult classics, they perform poorly at the box office, but thanks though to the advent of home video, they finally find an audience. This Is Spinal Tap is one of those movies. Poor box office takings can be attributed to such things as poor advertising, the movie itself being a dud or even being released at the wrong time to the wrong audience. In the case of This Is Spinal Tap, many failed to realize that it was a comedy, or specifically speaking, a mockumentary (fake documentary). This was a relatively new genre for that era, and not many audiences were attuned to that type of cynical comedy with its improvised comic realism.
Soon after being released on home video, audiences began to realize the humour they had missed on the big screen. The makers of the film obviously followed the history of rock, as virtually everyone is satirized from Van Halen to Aerosmith to The Who and even The Beatles. Some memorable gags include Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) playing the guitar with his feet, his piano ballad entitled "Lick My Love Pump", the drummer who spontaneously combusts on stage and of course, the amps which go to eleven. Such is the impact of the mockumentary that it has been referenced in everything from The Simpsons, Buffy, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and even Spiderman 3. Much like The Rutles, which served as one of Spinal Tap's biggest influences, the film has its share of memorable cameos including, but not limited to Anjelica Huston, Dana Carvey and Billy Crystal.
The humour worked well, in fact maybe too well. After drumming its way on the big screen, rock 'n' roll would never be the same again and Heavy Metal's seventh grade lyrics, amongst other things, could no longer be taken seriously. Now there's quality comedy!