Disturbing - This is really the only word that can describe GG Allin, one of the most notorious shock rock n' rollers of all time. It's hard to tell just whom GG was performing for sometimes, and his motives were quite often muddled within his erratic behavior. My first memory of HATED is from the old OOP Film Threat release from back in the day. There were images from this film that have been burned in the back of my mind since my initial viewing. Released on DVD by Music Video Distributors, Hated may once again be poked and prodded by the masses. I was inspired to check out HATED once again after my recent viewing of a DVD I had received from a band called Kettle Cadaver (review here) My guess is that you're probably not going to like what you find within HATED - This is extremely disturbing stuff folks, but at the same time, wholly fascinating and never dull, Hated is always entertaining.

A student film made for very little money and shot on 16mm film stock, HATED gives us a very creepy 50-minute peek into the life of GG Allin. Allin was a crazy (literally) rock n' roller type who made a career of mutilating himself onstage while humiliating and quite often kicking the shit out of his audience members. Director Todd Phillips manages to assemble an eclectic group of people from GG's life for this documentary including fans, former band mates (at one point, briefly Dede Ramone?!?), family members (his brother Merle) old school chums, teachers and even GG himself. Mixed in with the quite often comical testimonials and social commentary is random news footage (including a clip from The Geraldo Show) footage of GG being interviewed, performing (if you can call it that) and just acting plain rude. Even after all of the events unfold (leading to some bizarre funeral footage after GG's death) it's still hard to pinpoint just what made GG tick. I think he probably says it best himself at one point when he states that if he wasn't performing, he'd probably be out killing people. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind about that statement being 100% true.

I thought it would be best to talk about a few particular moments from HATED, since much of the footage presented is just random GG rudeness, despite the fact that the filmmakers were supposedly following GG and his band The Murder Junkies on an East coast tour. Highlights of GG's life that we're treated to include an impromptu performance at NYU in which a naked GG crams a banana up his ass (crams it real good up there too) only to toss chairs (and banana ass pieces) at the crowd before he's kicked off of the school's campus for good. Also featured is concert footage of GG defecating on stage with the grand finale showing him smear the feces all over his face and body while hurling the remaining chunks at the crowd. The icing on the cake and one of the few scenes that REALLY have stuck in my mind after all of these years concerns a very special birthday party that GG had one year. GG's request was to have a girl pee or crap in his mouth and after having downed some hot dogs (one of which is visibly inserted into the girls ass) GG gets his birthday wish. The video footage shows in gross (really gross actually) detail, a nude girl urinating into GG's wide open mouth as he lie on his back - he gulps it down only to vomit profusely while still gleefully gulping away. This could honestly be one of the most revolting things I have ever seen put to film in my entire life (and that's REALLY saying something!).

For the determined viewer (that also has a very strong stomach) HATED stands as some really rewarding viewing (bet you didn't expect to hear me say that!). It's an extremely well made and informative documentary created by a bunch of true amateurs that were really able to pull it off (I doubt they had any idea of what they were really getting themselves into). I still don't understand exactly who GG Allin was, but I think the mystery surrounding him is still part of the appeal. What would you expect from a man who described himself as "God, Jesus and Satan all rolled into one." Indeed.

HATED looks about as good as one could expect on this DVD as stated earlier the film was shot on some cheapo 16mm film stock, under some very harsh situations. Despite the fact that there os plenty of grain and colors remain a bit muted, this is easily the best this film has ever looked (which honestly, isn't saying much). There's really no evidence of artifacting either, this is without a doubt the best way to see HATED. Audio is quite clean as well with a solid and clear stereo track. No real evidence of hiss or distortion to be found.

Extras include a trailer and a brief blurb on filmmaker Todd Phillips. There's also a song and interview option, which basically gives the viewer a few unique ways to watch the documentary. You can skip directly to a scene by song or watch GG spout off his thoughts from the documentary through the guise of an interview segment. There's no new footage here, just two creative ways to access the documentary footage. The final extra is video footage from GG's last performance on the evening that he died of an overdose. The footage is truly frightening and runs about a solid hour. There isn't a whole lot of music that's played at the show (one song?) but there's a hell of a lot of fighting, bleeding and defecating. The camera follows GG and his friends as they try to outrun the cops on the streets of NY after the "show", hail a cab and score some drugs. It's remarkable footage and an extreme amount of added value to this DVD purchase. In the end, this is an unbelievably entertaining and frightening package - highly recommended.