A bizarre sci-fi rock opera like little else being produced under the banner of Canadian film at the time, Metal Messiah is about an enigmatic metallic-skinned stranger trying to stop society's self-destructive obsession with rock and roll. Anchored in Toronto's live music scene if the late 1970s, this dystopian parable was the feature film debut of local music impresario and director Tibor Takács. Working with screenwriter Stephen Zoller, Takács' film is a crudely crafted, episodic work that plays out like a glam version of Amos Poe's avant-punk NYC flick The Foreigner (1978), but with even more ambition, attempting to scale to the bombastic rock opera heights of films like Phantom of the Paradise (1974) and Tommy (1975). (from: http://www.canuxploitation.com/review/metalmessiah.html)
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Reviews
Lack of good storyline.
I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
I was in this movie, as well. I played a number of different roles over a period of several months. Tibor Takacs was definitely the director. Joe Sutherland was the D.O.P. and one of the producers.I really enjoyed the shoot but I wasn't too happy with the finished product. I think Tibor cut out most of the dialogue so that the film was almost silent. It ended up being just a lot of avant-garde images. I remember we shot in a coal pit, in a cafe, in a train, in a junk yard, in a disco etc. The guy who played the Metal Messiah was on a big ego trip but the rest of the cast were great. Shooting the film was a wonderful experience. It was previewed at a rep cinema in the West end of Toronto on Bloor Street West, in 1977 or 1978. I also want to mention that Stephen Zoller was nominated for a Canadian Film Award, for this film, for Best Adapted Screenplay. (This production started out as a stage play.)
I don't see a lot of reality in the present information on this movie.It was produced and shot by JLS Productions. Joe Sutherland is a friend of mine and I was in the movie. Check the message board for this movie, I left a few comments.It was shot in Toronto, but not at Panavision, unless Panavision owns the tailing piles for Ontario Hydro, the Science Center, that restaurant at Ave. Rd. and Davenport, etc etc.And who is this Tibor Takács? Joe Sutherland directed this film, at least the scenes I was in.Joe lost all his non insured film equipment to thieves and went into producing IBM clones in my living room, that he sublet from me in 1980. Last I heard he was living in the Harbor Castle driving a Corvette again. He still owes me a black and white TV set that he trashed when he tried to cannibalize it to build one of his first computers!
The actor who played the Messiah is named David Jensen, not David Hensen. He and his band - Kickback - provided the soundtrack - which was the best part of this movie. The band continued on for a couple years, then eventually split up. The guitarist, went on to perform with Saga, while David Jensen continued his music career in Toronto - eventually moving out west where he now lives (Victoria BC) and plays with the band one2many. one2many have just released their new CD called "You Don't Know Me". Most songs on this CD are written or co-written by David Jensen and to learn more about him, check out one2many's website, which has picture's of his time in Metal Messiah - both the movie and the play.
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