Drop Dead Rock

Drop Dead Rock was originally released in 1995, the same year Adam Ant released his last album.

Ant plays Dave Donovan, the corrupt manager of a foul-mouthed, bad tempered, ill-mannered, prima donna punk rocker named Spazzo (Ian Maynard), who wants to have his client murdered so he can run away with Spazzo's former porn star wife (Chelsey Parks) and not have to put up with him anymore.

Things go awry when the members of an absolutely terrible band named Hindenburg kidnap Spazzo and force him to listen to their music for constructive criticism purposes. After a record executive named Thor Sturmundrang (Blondie's Debbie Harry) offers Donovan and his client a multi-million dollar record deal, Donovan decides Spazzo might be worth more to him alive than dead and it's a struggle to get him back from Hindenburg.

The film has since gone down as a cult classic, but it watching it indicates it hasn't exactly aged well. Its low-budget production was looked upon as one of its assets when it was made, giving it a kind of B-movie kitsch, but it just comes across as cheesy and the jokes are mostly tired watching it 15 years after it was made.

Ant is great throughout, though, and keeps the script and action moving where things could just sputter and die. It should also be noted the film's hilarious lesbian subtext was ahead of its time. Spazzo's wife ends up sleeping with Hindenburg's sarcastic and witty female drummer who's dressed in drag as Spazzo at one point. It's implied throughout that she's got a thing for the ladies, though the writing unfortunately portrays her character as a stereotype a bit too frequently.

Overall, Drop Dead Rock now comes across as a curiosity to those interested in Ant, Harry and aging punk rockers. If nothing else it serves as a good look at Ant's often overlooked acting career.