Lords of Chaos (4½ Stars)

This is the fourth film in the Stuttgart White Nights Festival.

It's not common for a horror film to be a true story. For that to happen it has to be a very exceptional story. That applies to "Lords of Chaos", the story of a series of crimes committed by members of the Norwegian black metal bands Mayhem and Burzum in the early 1990's.

Heavy metal, in particular death metal, is commonly associated with Satanism. For most groups it's just about the image. They sing about Satan and evil while living normal lives. They don't pray to Satan, and it's possible that they don't even believe that Satan exists. In the case of Mayhem's guitarist Oystein Aarseth, he wanted to be genuine. His life had to match the image. He wanted to be evil. He met Varg Vikernes, who was just as extreme, and they competed with one another to see who could go the furthest. Most of the crimes were about setting churches on fire, but there were also murders and the desecration of bodies.

This is a fascinating film that I need to see again. It's not just the music. The whole lifestyle portrayed in the film fascinates me.