Alabama preacher's daughter runs off with a touring Christian hair metal band during the summer of 1986.Alabama preacher's daughter runs off with a touring Christian hair metal band during the summer of 1986.Alabama preacher's daughter runs off with a touring Christian hair metal band during the summer of 1986.
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination
- Jamie
- (as Will Oliver)
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Did you know
- TriviaWhen Erik is asked what kind of music he listens to, he lists 66 different bands. This number corresponds to the 66 books that make up the Christian Bible.
- Quotes
Michael: So uh, what kind of music do you listen to?
Erik: Hmmprh, quite a bit, actually. Uh... love metal, hard rock. I love your guys' stuff. Um, see I've been listening to Rez Band, Barren Cross, Bloodgood, Leviticus, Jerusalem, Messiah Prophet, Philadelphia, Barnabas, uh, Daniel Band, Shout, and Saint which I think is the heaviest of them all, of course. Um, but I can hear you guys playing with any of them. I've been listening to this new metal band called "First Strike," their album was produced by Mike Roe of the 77s. I love the 77s, that whole post punk new wave scene bands like Youth Choir, The Lifesavers and LSU which is the new version of the Lifesavers and it's insane. Uh, Undercover, Vector, Charlie Peacock, Bill Mason Band, uh, Mad at the World, Andy McCarroll and Moral Support, the Techno's, In 3D, Quickflight, 4-4-1, um, Steve Taylor and Daniel Amos of course, And even Punk stuff like The Lede, and this new underground band from Texas that I heard about from Cornerstone called One Bad Pig. And, and then there's the mainstay rock acts... you gotta love them, you know, Larry Norman, uh, Randy Stonehill, Darrell Mansfield, Servant, Petra, Degarmo & Key, uh, Rick Cua, Prodigal, uh, Kerry Livgren and AD, Idle Cure, Sweet Comfort Band, um, Phil Keaggy, Rob Castle's band, White Heart, Kenny Marks, Mark Heard, Pat Terry and all that great stuff from the old days. My uncle turned me on to some crazy cool Jesus music that I still really dig like Keith Green, All Saved Freak Band, Tom Howard, Concrete Rubber Band, uh, Randy Matthews, Brenton Heyworth, he actually opened for Clapton, Ishmael United and so many others... But you know what I really love, is when I find a regular band, you know like on MTV and the radio that just has a Christian perspective on things , I've been really into Bob Dylan, The Alarm, uh, Simple Minds, The Call, uh, After the Fire, Bruce Cockburn, Violent Femmes, this wicked metal band from Chicago called Trouble. Uh, Alpha Band, they actually backed up Dylan, and uh, Kaja--that's what was left when the lead singer left Kajagoogoo, it's way cooler. And U2, of course. Oh, and I've been getting into this jazz-fusion band called Koinonia. That's just what I carry around with me. I've got a lot more at home.
- SoundtracksMakes Me Wanna Sing
Written By Michael Sweet (BMI)
Performed By 316
"Electric Jesus" is so many things ... and it's not: a) A comedy as much as it is a dramedy; b) A roman-à-clef as it is an ode to the soundtrack of youth; c) Strictly a teen love story, but an overarching love song to music itself.
Writer/director/co-producer Chris White deftly blends those into a cohesive story about a hair-metal band. Not just any hair-metal band, but a Christian hair-metal band, whose members emerge from a South Carolina high school circa 1986.
Southern Evangelical Christianity makes an easy target, of course, for cheap, shopworn laughs. "Electric Jesus," though, threads an expert needle between needling Bible thumpers while threading its characters together with durable strands of, uh, Christian compassion.
Set in heavy metal's heyday, the story is told through our narrator, Eric, the ultimate music nerd who lands a gig as the sound guy for the band, 316. Next thing we know, Eric and the boys go on tour, taking their music to churches, skating rinks, fellowship halls and other temptation-free establishments.
Eric and the band clearly are high on Christ. Then Sarah, a pretty young thing, stows away on 316's ratty RV whose former owner, a band, of course, graffitied "Joy Explosion." Sarah, of course, becomes Eric's love interest and she also happens to have plenty of musical talent and an agenda of her own
"Electric Jesus" undoubtedly gets plenty of John Hughes '80s teen-amour comparisons, but this film makes considerably more of that dead-on verisimilitude. (Disclaimer: I ran a concert hall for 20 years, and, I mean, I got a little PTSD watching the movie. White absolutely nails the crappy reality of bottom-tier bands' touring lives.)
The real story in "Electric Jesus" is heartbreak. Great songs that set out to break your heart do a fine job of it without coming off as self-conscious. In much the same way, this story doesn't set out to break your heart, either, but the film delights in doing exactly what good songs do.
- gvlwriter-47517
- Nov 30, 2020
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- Budget
- $1,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Color