Phallus In Wonderland

*Phallus in Wonderland* was the band’s first attempt at a commercially released, long-form film. The video was nominated for a Grammy in 1993 (which they lost to Annie Lennox for Diva, as mock-mentioned in the 1994 song “Jack the World”). This film was meant to coincide with the album American Must Be Destroyed, and the video contains multiple music videos from that album.

According to the This Is GWAR documentary, the band was given $50,000 for 1 single music video, and the band had never seen that amount of money before and couldn't believe it was just for 1 video, so they ended up making an entire movie with it.

## Plot

The plot to this film is rather unfocused and messy. But if you can actually sit through it and understand what your eyes are seeing, it tells the story of Gwar’s rival with the Morality Squad. Oderous’s Cuttlefish is taken by them, and then taken to court to determine whether it’s a penis or fish. After that, the band is called to New York City to shoot a commercial for a Gwar cereal. The cereal is a rather normal food, despite the fact Sleazy sprinkles it with cocaine instead of sugar, making kids addicts. Meanwhile, as the Morality Squad is preparing their attack on the band, their religious representative, Father Bohab, is convinced of child molestation and sodomy of a twelve-year-old choriboy. Even though the evidence of his crimes are very obvious, the Squad claims he was framed by Gwar (more specifically, their manager, Sleazy P. Martini, who did actually expose Father Bohab). Father Bohad is released and the charges are then dropped. A group of protesters and Bohab take to the streets to picket against Gwar. Gwar and Sleazy then jump in and brutally attack and murder the crowd. They culminate and disembowel Bohab and sodomize him with his own cross. Gwar then make their way to a nightclub, in which they all become wasted on cocaine. The next morning, a hungover Oderous awakens to his Cuttlefish having escaped the Squad, and reuniting with Oderous. The Cuttlefish warns Oderous of the attack the Squad is planning, Gwar then win that battle, and their T-Rex, Gor-Gor, is born and attempts to destroy all of the world. Gwar then ends up killing Gor-Gor. The movie simply ends with Oderous being reunited with his Cuttlefish.

## Printing

In 1992, *Phallus In Wonderland* was released on VHS, then to DVD in 1999. It's been out of print since 2002 (for VHS, since 1994). Metal Blade and Slave Pit both carry the remaining VHS copies, and neither have the DVD. There is some confusion as to who actually owns the rights to this film, with Metal Blade saying that Slave Pit is the owner (and that they are in the re-negotiation process), and Slave Pit stating the opposite.

Because of this, copies of both have been hard to find, which has led to cases of people selling them for as much as $120.

On January 8, 2008, Metal Blade Records re-released the DVD. Special features include instant scene access, options to play songs only and curtain call. The DVDs come in a variety of colors, such as blue and black, and have a phallus etched onto them.

## Director Aliases

"Distortion Wells" is the pseudonym for Bill Morrison, who later directed the music video to "Saddam A Go-Go."

"Judas Bullhorn" is Canadian director and musician Blair Dobson. Despite being nominated for a Grammy, neither were ever paid for months of work on the project, and Dobson, after initiating the project between his company and Slave Pit /Metal Blade, left halfway through shooting.

In the Bohab Central forums, Mike Bishop (who played Beefcake the Mighty at the time) claimed that this use of outside directors led to serious tension between himself (it was his doing) and Hunter Jackson (the founder of Slave Pit), and was a major factor in his departure the following year.

## Cultural Refrences

* At one point during a newscast heralding the arrival of Gor-Gor, the news anchor exasperatedly cries out, "Game over, man! Game over!" à la Private William Hudson in *Aliens*.
* In the same scene, the newscaster then pulls a gun out of an envelope and commits suicide in a manner identical to R. Budd Dwyer.

## Music Videos/Songs

1. "Crack in the Egg"
2. "Have You Seen Me?"
3. "The Road Behind"
4. "The Morality Squad"
5. "Gor-Gor"
6. "Ham on the Bone" (credits)