Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare (1987): Hair Metal, Hell Puppets, and the Twist Nobody Saw Coming
- Johnny Rewind
- Apr 11
- 2 min read
By Johnny Rewind | Nostalgia Navigator
Jon-Mikl Thor is a Canadian bodybuilder and rock musician who decided in 1987 to make a horror film starring himself as the leader of a hair metal band who battles actual hell demons in a farmhouse. He wrote it, produced it, and cast himself as the hero. The budget was approximately nothing. The demons are rubber hand puppets. The climax involves a plot twist so spectacularly stupid that it circles back around to being genuinely inspired. Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare is everything.
The Plot (Hold Onto Your Hairspray)
Triton and his band Triton arrive at a remote Canadian farmhouse to record their new album. One by one, band members and their partners are possessed by demons and killed. The demons are tiny rubber puppets operated by hands just off-screen. Thor spends most of the film flexing and performing. The final act reveals a twist that recontextualises the entire film in the most absurd way possible — involving Thor's true identity, which we will not spoil here because it is too good to ruin.
Behind the Madness
Thor financed the film partly through his music career and partly through what appears to have been sheer force of will. The farmhouse was a real location with almost no set dressing. Many of the demon puppet sequences were shot in single takes because they only had one puppet per demon. Thor has spoken extensively about the film over the years with complete pride and zero irony. He believes he made a good film. He is not entirely wrong.
Be kind. Rewind. Watch your hairspray.
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