HAIR METAL MOVIE MADNESS (Special edition!) #4: Pee Wee and Dee Snider BURN IN HELL… by DARK SIDE

Posted on July 10th, 2009

Is there something you can share with the rest of us, Amazing Larry????

Many of us grew up in the 80’s watching the movies and listening to music. One song from that era can bring back so many great memories. Sometimes… songs remind us of movies (or vice-versa). HAIR METAL MOVIE MADNESS brings back those memories by connecting the songs we loved from the 80’s to the movie(s) they were attached to. Visit The Small Town Critic every Saturday (in this case, Friday) to rock out with us to the songs and movies that shaped a generation…

For shame, I never saw “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” in the theater. I ended up seeing it on VHS at summer camp after all the other campers endorsed it with one word… “Awesome.” At the time, “awesome” was a step above “radical,” “gnarly” and “wicked.” When that counselor with the creepy lazy eye put that tape in, I knew I was in for something special. One Large Marge and an Amazing Larry later, I knew I was destined to see this one again and again.

Long before Paul Rubens became a creepy sex offender (alongside Jeffrey Jones), he played the creepy man-child of indeterminate sexuality, Pee Wee Herman. Despite the obvious Yikes-factor of Ruben’s infamous character, Pee Wee scored high marks with kids and achieved cult icon status amongst Generation X’ers.

“Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” also gave some exposure to one of the most recognizable hair metal bands from the 80’s. Twisted Sister scared the pants off of grandmaws and ministers for nearly a decade with hits like “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock.” Dee Snider’s freaky drag-queen-from-hell look got people scratching their head. In the 90’s he would go on to become a big proponent of free speech, taking on Tipper Gore’s “Explicit Lyrics” sticker campaign by testifying in court and impressing the hell out of the nation with his biting wit and unexpected intelligence.

In 1985, Rubens and Snider would meet briefly during the famous chase scene in “PWBA.” If it hadn’t been for that scene, I may have never been exposed to Twisted Sister’s most underrated song “Burn in Hell.” Consequently, as an evil clown, it’s one of my favorites.

Behold first the famous scene…