Mini Film Review – Lords Of Chaos

Yesterday I watched Lords of Chaos; and it was very grim! Directed by Jonas Åkerlund, and starring Rory Culkin, Emory Cohen, and Jack Kilmer; Lords of Chaos is a Horror Thriller film based on the book of the same name by Michael J. Moynihan, and Didrik Søderlind. The film is a piece of historical fiction which tells the story of the Norwegian Black Metal scene from the early 1990’s, through the perspective of Mayhem founder Euronymous. The story of the film is an interesting one which starts out relatively sane, but gradually becomes more grim and scary, as the central characters begin to let things get out of hand; through their own actions. It’s a story which highlights some interesting perspectives between young men doing things out of a desire to rebel but in a fun way, to those who genuinely mean what they say and what they believe. It’s a hard film to pin down at a basic level, as some people do things because they like the lifestyle, where as one lead character (Varg Vikernes) looks like an outsider, drawn into another’s world, but then gives in to this world, and does things at first just to stand out and make a message, to becoming this tyrannical character. But it does feel like the film relies on the viewer to make their own judgement on that point as it’s not really made all that clear as to which side of the coin it is. It is a hard subject to talk about, but this film discards conversation for actual acts of terror, from dead animals, to burning churches, to sadistically detailed scenes of murder. And what makes this all the more terrifying, is when you learn this is all based on real incidents, and the actions of real people. It’s not necessarily a horror film, more of a thriller with some very graphic imagery. And it’s a hard one to say as to whether its an enjoyable or entertaining film given the seriousness of the subject matter; but it is one you will find hard to turn away from!