“666 EVE” (2006)

Starring: Lizzy Borden, Paris Gables, Rob Black, Matt Zane & Shane Bugbee
Project by Shane Bugbee
EvilNow.com

Polly Staffle Rating: **

To celebrate the hundred year occurrence of 6/6/06, Church of Satan priest and Radio Free Satan owner Shane Bugbee organized a party in hopes of raising some hell. Porn stars, pinups, metal and punk bands and miscellaneous geeks, freaks and creeps were invited. The controversial DVD “666 Eve” is a document of that night. Sadly, that’s all it is.

With no narration or organization, Bugbee’s DVD feels like he handed someone a camera, told them to walk around shooting footage throughout the night, and once the night was done, so was the film. It’s not quite that raw as more than one camera was obviously used and a bit of editing work has been done, but the event still wasn’t shaped into any kind of story. That being said, there is some good here and with a little retooling, this could be a pretty entertaining piece.

Highlights here include quick performances by a couple different bands, a short humorous interview with pornographer Rob Black, a burlesque performance by his porn star wife Lizzy Borden and the Headsick Pinups, who smear blood on each other. More footage from any of these would have been welcomed, but other footage goes on for too long.

As far as the bands go, viewers are treated to a couple of songs by porn director Matt “The Lord” Zane’s heavy metal outfit Society 1, London’s all-female tribute punk band to The Ramons called The Ramonas and the cult gay tribute to Henry Rollins and Black Flag known as Black Fag. Scenes featuring the latter two groups were extremely quick, but a segment with Joey Strange’s art rock band The Horse You Rode In On seems to drag on forever. Strange and company stick meat hooks through piercings in their backs and then hook a wire and pull in three different directions. Sure that’s neat for a few seconds, but it just goes on and on and I found myself fast forwarding through it.

However, I did love every bit of the Society 1 footage even though it was not near as insane as I thought it would be. These guys are usually known for outrageous stage shows and wild backstage antics. Zane was once even suspended 30 feet above the stage during a concert, but there’s none of that here. Zane, who recently vandalized the house of Evanescence’s lead singer Amy Lee with pop star Kelly Clarkson, simply plays Dick Clark, counting down to midnight. A big cake that was brought on stage and presented as a promotion for the movie “The Omen” is thrown at the crowd and smeared on Bugbee and those in the vicinity. Zane’s group then plays a few songs to ring in 6/6/6. They rocked so damn well I was left wanting more.

But my favorite part of “666 Eve” would have to be the off-the-cuff interview with Rob Black. The owner of Extreme Associates seemed out of his element and completely honest with his answers.

“I actually have no idea why I’m here,” Black says. “Matt (Zane) and Mark (Zane) planned like this big party they are doing with Shane (Bugbee). They came to me and said, ‘Will you put your name on it? Have the girls come out?’ And I said, ‘As long as I don’t have to fucking do anything.’ … and it just sort of just steam rolled. So I don’t even know what the fuck is going on.”

But Black added he was happy to be at the event. “I want to see some Satan shit,” Black said. “Normally I don’t go out. This is a rare occasion that I am actually out. I usually sit home and watch TV. Actually, tonight is my Baja Fresh night. I eat Baja Fresh. I watch Chris Mathews – the news – and then I pass out and go to bed.”

The controversial filmmaker has had public feuds with the magazine Adult Video News and Larry Flynt, among others. His company has even been targeted by the government. They are currently indicted on ten obscenity charges due to a number of films that have become known as The Federal Five. Those pornos include footage of Jesus having sex with an angel, a female journalist being gang raped under the order of Osama bin Laden, the story of a serial rapist and killer, a naive preteen being talked into having sex with an adult man and women drinking bodily fluids.

“We make the dirtiest, filthiest most disgusting pornography in the entire fucking world,” Black says. “If there’s any taboo, we break it. You can see girls drinking piss. Girls fucking throwing up on each other. Girls eating their own fucking puke. It’s disgusting. I know why the government went after us. It’s disgusting stuff, but it’s not obscene. It’s just disgusting.”

Now that I’ve got all that out of the way, let’s get to the main reason you’re reading this review. When Bugbee sent his DVD to other sites, they refused to review it. One site actually said it was “way too hardcore” for his site and he sent the DVD back to Bugbee. So what’s the fuss all about? Among those performing at the event was bondage guru Familiaris Angelus, who just so happens to nail his woody to a piece of wood. Actually, don’t get too excited ladies and gentlemen, it’s a limp noodle and there’s zero blood. I’m no expert on the act of hammering one’s cock and balls to a cross, as I have never done this, but the key seems to have previously pierced holes, align the nails up with said holes and smack, smack - crucified penis. So how does this scene play out? It, like the rest of the DVD, could have greatly been improved with a tad more editing. Instead of being shocked, I found myself laughing a number of times due to technical difficulties. You see, lining up the nail isn’t quite as easy as I made it out to be. It took awhile for Familiaris with the aid of two female assistance. The trio would stretch his genitals as far as they could and then his manhood would pop back into place. This goes on for some time before any success. Sure, it’s cringe worthy, but the magic of editing could have helped suspend my disbelief a bit and hammered home some shock and “oww.”

As is, Bugbee’s “666 Eve” stands as a video yearbook for the evil holiday celebration. This sort of thing is great for those that attended the event to remember some of the sights and sounds. But I was hoping for more. There are good visuals here and some groundwork for a top notch release. I just feel overall the DVD would have benefited greatly from solid editing, a bit of narration and more interviews with individuals giving background on the event, explaining the significance of the day. It just needs some backbone to drive it along, as opposed to its devil-may-care existence.