Heavy Metal Parking Lot

Heavy Metal Parking Lot
Directed by John Heyn and Jeff Krulik
Release dates
 1986
Running time
 17 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a documentary short produced by Jeff Krulik and John Heyn in 1986.

Plot

Heavy Metal Parking Lot documents heavy metal music fans tailgating in the parking lot outside the Capital Centre (which was demolished in December 2002) in Landover, Maryland, on May 31, 1986, before a Judas Priest concert during their Fuel for Life tour (with opening act Dokken).

Reputation

By the early 1990s, Heavy Metal Parking Lot had become an underground cult-classic, usually traded on bootleg VHS videotapes. It was reportedly a favorite on the Nirvana tour bus, among many other bands. Due to growing popular demand for the film, music-rights issues were finally sorted out with Judas Priest.

Cultural influences

In 2004, Trio broadcast the TV series Parking Lot, which expanded on the 1986 documentary. Created and co-produced by the original filmmakers, John Heyn and Jeff Krulik (in association with Radical Media), eight episodes were broadcast before Trio TV went off the air in 2006.

2006 DVD Release

In 2006, the documentary was finally released on DVD. Released in late May of that year which marked the 20th anniversary of the filming, the DVD version contains the original 17 minute run. Also including 2 hours of bonus features that were left out of the original version and finally an interview with the infamous "Zebra-man" (a 22 year old at the time), whom Krulik and Heyn tracked down and interviewed in the summer of 1999 (13 years after the original filming).

External links