Metal Detector Maniac

***Metal Detector Maniac*** is a Farley/Roxburgh black and white comedy that was released in late 2021. A rough cut of the film debuted at the 2021 Motern Extravaganza weekend on Saturday, September 4, 2021, in Danvers, Massachusetts.

Gold Ninja Video released the film on Blu-Ray, with *Heard She Got Married* (2021) as a bonus feature on the disc. The release was made available for pre-order on January 1, 2022, and started shipping at the end of the month. It is scheduled to be released for streaming on Vimeo in July 2022.

## Plot

From Letterboxd: "Two songwriters investigate a local weirdo."

In this movie, Farley and Tom Scalzo play themselves, but as if there were music professors at a New England college. They go on a paid sabbatical to record a new album for their band (also their actual band going back to college), Moes Haven. While engaging in "pre-writing" activities such as playing basketball, they become suspicious of a metal detector they keep seeing around (played by Chris Peterson). The investigation begins to consume their time and energy, and also fuels their musical creativity.

## Background

The title of the movie was announced on the MMIP podcast on February 20, 2019, and filming commenced on March 30, 2019.[1] Some scenes of the movie were also shot during the 2019 Motern Extravaganza. The movie was originally was expected to be released in October 2020, but was delayed due to complications of COVID in completing filming. As a result *Heard She Got Married* (2021) was written, filmed, and released during the hiatus.

## Reception

Since the last full feature movie release from Farley/Roxburgh of *Slingshot Cops* in 2016, many indie film buffs had discovered and begun to celebrate their films. This led *MDM* to be a much anticipated independent release, to many positive reviews. As of February 8, 2022, the film has a 4.1 star rating on Letterboxd.

Among the many positive reviews, Film Critic Will Sloan wrote: "Matt Farley and Charles Roxburgh’s new movie is the most gloriously committed shaggy-dog joke I’ve ever seen. It is possible that someone else might hatch this idea, but nobody else would devote the time and energy to turning it into an actual movie, and nobody else would follow it through to this conclusion. The last 30-or-so minutes had me gasping with laughter. In addition to that, this movie is yet another beautiful articulation of their philosophy of artistic creation."

## Album

Farley and Scalzo recorded an album titled *Metal Detector Maniac* as Moes Haven, matching their characters in the movie. The album was released on vinyl-only in February 2022.

## Cast

* Matt Farley as Matt Farley
* Tom Scalzo as Tom Scalzo
* Bryan Fortin as Skizzy
* Kevin McGee as Commissioner McGee
* Elizabeth Peterson as Elizabeth
* Jay Mayo as Hank Appleton
* Jon Cross as Department Chairperson Cross
* Jim McHugh as Officer McHugh
* Sharon Scalzo as Officer Sharon
* Theresa Peterson as Sisters
* Jim Farley as Officer Jim
* Michelle Briand as P.I. Michelle
* Phil Cote as Professor Phil
* Phil Kelnhofer as P.I. Phil
* Tony Kerber as Vinnie
* Kyle Kochan as Adjunct Instructor Langston
* Chris Peterson as Metal Detector
* Peter Kuplowsky as Peter
* Tiffany L'Heureux as Runner
* Richard Glenn Schmidt as Lead Juror
* Odilon Green as Professor
* Jim Wallace as Professor Wallace
* Amelia Shields as Rosie
* Chris Sleison as Sleison
* Pippi
* Rachel Farley as Judge (voice)

## Reviews

* Gillspie, Stephen. Metal Detector Maniac: An Endlessly Charming Journal Into the Heart of Detectorist Darkness, *The Twin Geeks* (January 25, 2022)

## References

1. ↑  Tweet - preorder link (January 1, 2022)
2. ↑ Matt Farley Tweet (February 7, 2022) ("MDM will be available on Vimeo in July. Until then, it's only on Blu Ray from @GoldNinjaVideo ...")

## External links

* Metal Detector Maniac on IMDB
* Metal Detector Maniac on Letterboxd