The Twisted Sister documentary, “We Are Twisted F**king Sister!”, has secured US distribution and will be released in August by Music Box Films.
Directed by German filmmaker Andrew Horn, the film explores the club days of the Long Island, New York band.
The project premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam last November and was screened at Goteborg Film Festival earlier this year.
"Andrew Horn has delivered a quintessential rock documentary," says Music Box Films' managing partner Ed Arentz. "It's a film that obviously speaks to Twisted's legion of fans, but will allow a whole new audience to experience the '70s NYC suburban rock club scene in all its sweaty, grimy, glittery glory, and what it took to become its undisputed masters."
While the microcosm of punk/new wave was being born in Manhattan, Twisted Sister was battling their way to the top of a working class, suburban, cover-band bar scene that surrounded NYC in a 100 mile radius, yet existed in a parallel universe.
Twisted Sister were the Grand Funk of Glam and the New York Dolls of metal, channeling youthful fury, and a wicked sense of humor, into a sort of blue collar performance art in a vast scene that boasted monster clubs, attracting audiences of up to 2-5000 a night. It was both a great living and a dead end, offering no future outside the suburban enclave.
If you think you know them from their hit songs, the MTV videos and massive stadium shows, this is the untold story of how they became that band - full of strange, and often hilarious, twists and turns. It’s about Rock ‘n Roll and the business of Rock ‘n Roll. It’s about perseverance and things blowing up in your face. It’s about finding yourself, finding your audience and doing literally anything, however wild, to connect with them. A mesmerizing, and wickedly funny story of a 10 year odyssey to overnight success.
While Twisted Sister’s history traces back to 1972, it wasn’t until their third album, 1984’s “Stay Hungry”, that the group hit the mainstream based on the success of videos for “I Wanna Rock” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”
The band broke up in 1989 but reunited in 1998 and continue to tour today.
On March 20, the band lost longtime drummer AJ Pero after he suffered a heart attack while he was on tour with Adrenaline Mob.
The group brought in Mike Portnoy to handle drum duties for the previously scheduled 2015 shows and have announced plans for a 40th anniversary farewell tour next year.
See also:
Mike Portnoy honored to work with Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister: Dee Snider says AJ Pero’s death was preventable
Twisted Sister announce farewell tour plans
Twisted Sister announce AJ Pero tribute concert
Search Twisted Sister at hennemusic
