By KRISTOF G.

Starring Slayer, Jason Trost and Danny Trejo
Directed by BJ McDonnell and Wayne Isham
Written by BJ McDonnell
Nuclear Blast Records

As any metal aficionado already knows, Slayer is about to retire—after 12 studio albums and 38 bloody years of killer riffs, batshit-crazy solos, thundering drum fills and powerful, angry screams to bang your heads to. If you haven’t had the chance to catch them live (or even if you have), be assured that Nuclear Blast Records’ SLAYER: THE REPENTLESS KILLOGY (playing one night only in 1,500 theaters worldwide on Wednesday, November 6, then available on Blu-ray November 8) is the perfect testament to the most uncompromising metal band who ever lived.

First, it’s more than a live concert. Yes, this package includes a solid, 90-minute Slayer show (with all the classics), shot by the great Wayne Isham, who worked with so many great bands—The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Dokken, Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, just to name a few. The concert was held on August 5, 2017 at the LA Forum, the very same venue where Slayer will be performing the last show of its two-year-long farewell tour on November 30, 2019.

Plus, as a cool-as-hell intro, you get a horrific, totally uncensored 40-minute “musical” starring the Slaytanic foursome and directed by BJ McDonnell (interviewed here). Basically, this KILLOGY is comprised of a trio of music videos, with extended prologues and conclusions, ending at the LA Forum show—with ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK’s Jessica Pimentel! Plus, the whole thing features more horror actors than a convention poster. In addition to Jason Trost (HATCHET III) as eyepatch-wearing main character Wyatt, you can see Danny Trejo (FROM DUSK TILL DAWN), Derek Mears (Jason Voorhees in the FRIDAY THE 13TH remake), Tyler Mane (Michael Myers in Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN), Vernon Wells (THE ROAD WARRIOR), Sean Whalen (THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS’ Roach) and a couple comprised of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2’s Caroline Williams and Bill Moseley, whose kids are played by Felissa Rose’s own children. How come? The SLEEPAWAY CAMP star is also one of the producers. What a cast, eh?

So, what’s happening? After an ominous, sun-dried prologue, it starts with the Slayer lads ripping through “You Against You” next to an iron plane wreck (a very metal corpse, yes), while Wyatt relentlessly stabs and shoots a bunch of ski-mask-wearing mercenaries in an isolated diner. Then, the cops show up and he ends up in prison—very nice use of original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE soundbites here. There, Slayer plays “Repentless” in the middle of a mosh pit—actually a violent (with eye-gouging, throat-cutting and beheading galore) riot à la NATURAL BORN KILLERS—before Wyatt gets the head of one of his fellow inmates.

Two months later, Wyatt and Trejo’s character somehow get abducted from prison to awaken tied up in a Nazi’s seedy basement (just like Butch and Marcellus Wallace in PULP FICTION). Mayhem quickly ensues while Slayer performs “Pride and Prejudice” in a snowy forest. Finally, the extended epilogue involves Wyatt getting his bloody, KILL BILL-esque revenge before the ultimate resolution takes us through Slayer’s show encore (“Angel of Death”) into the Forum’s backstage, with final villain Luther’s demise, without trying to be Metallica’s THROUGH THE NEVER. Undoubtedly, Slayer is still REIGNING IN (or RAINING, as you wish) BLOOD here, indeed.

The skinny? Lots of (mostly) practical gory fun, overflowing with genre-cinema references, with a killer soundtrack to boot, followed by a tightly edited, pedal-to-the-metal, 20-song concert…what more could you need? This is a real treat for any Slayer fan.