GG Allin: All in the Family DVD Review from MVD!

GG Allin: All in the Family cover artwork

I cannot recall when it was, but late one night back towards the end of the 1990s I watched a documentary on so-called shock artists and performers narrated by UK talk show bloke and actor, Graham Norton. Within the contents loomed up a nude shouting punk fella with a bald head rolling about in his own shit and fighting with his audience. The segment concluded upon his cadaver laid out in a casket but not before a manic roll about in a busy city street whilst his crowd yelled and encouraged him. This man was GG Allin. This documentary is GG Allin: All in the Family (The Allins).

Most Severed Cinema readers need no introduction, I suppose, since I’ve reviewed Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies (see review here) back in 2014, and a collection of GG Allin talk show appearances (see review here) a few years later. Well, even if you missed those two, c’mon, you’ve likely heard about the decent sensitive chap somewhere along the line. GG was bringing danger back to rock ‘n roll. Those were his own words, and he did so by presenting an onslaught and barrage of violent abuse thrown at himself and at anyone who got too close. The music was simply noise, but with a sense of very dark humour throughout. A sly wink along the way before smashing your skull in!

Hated basically concentrated on the last years of GG, plus covered his history, from imprisonment, drugs, fights, nudity, shit, piss, and whatever else would emerge when exploring his world. However, aside from a small handful of moments, nothing really focused on the people close to him and around him, namely his family – both blood and band. GG Allin: All in the Family presents GG’s mother, his brother Merle, and The Murder Junkies. Of course, we get the old live shows, the interviews, the build up to his final fateful night on earth, but centrally we also have this time ‘round, the aftermath. What happened to the band, to Merle, and to GG’s mum?

All in the Family is equal to, if not somewhat better than Hated because we finally see the human under-neigh the madness. Let me explain something here that I think anyone who knows of GG will understand. I watched the complete bonus DVD footage of GG’s last performance in 1993, which is on the Hated release (not on the VHS which I had owned for many years) and I felt quite sad. GG starts his show, smokes weed, has a bit of a laugh, then some geeza smashes him over the head. High on drugs and adrenalin, the show falls to pieces as GG goes ballistic and everything spills into the streets.

One moment totally captures the later tragedy more than anything. GG hears the fans cheering him on and he decides to bang his head pointlessly against a post just to amuse them. Not long before, GG was determined to start a rock ‘n’ roll revolution against society, he was a Duracell Bunny of expletives and intense rage. Also, many years ago, a man called Mad Jay, or Mad Dunny, existed, my younger pill popping, drinking, violent, coke snorting (when me and my gang could afford it) alter ego. He relished and thrilled to amuse and entertain his friends by doing really stupid things. Like Oliver Reed who sometimes faked how drunk he was because that was what people wanted, the older GG was caught within a persona he had made that became all too large for him to contain. He is heard on the Carnival of Excess album explaining how he’d always wanted to do an acoustic rock album but rarely got the chance. That LP showcases a different artist, GG had talent (as we see in documentaries) but was a ‘shock’ punk man. This was a later more internally damaged and probably tired GG after all – midway into this documentary his dear little Mum backs this factor up.

Because on the other side of things as I said, it wasn’t always like that, GG had a powerful message to pass to his legions of misfit oddball followers, in fact he had many messages. However, this time ‘round it isn’t about all of that. As we open to his brother Merle walking through a cemetery to the grave where GG’s headstone used to stand until it was taken by the local vicar because it was knocked over and was attracting folks who were shitting and pissing all over it. The Allin brother’s mum then says how she hasn’t been down there for many years due to this.

Over the years Merle explains that most people who visit have been respectful, but there’s others that are “complete assholes that fuck the cemetery up!” We see footage of lads urinating on GG’s grave. We then witness the awesome moment a bloke is caught dick in hand, made to wipe it up and then has a guitar smashed across his face. Beautiful.

“I hated GG Allin, but I loved Kevin,” explains his mum as she fries up some eggs, “And there was a GG and a Kevin.” Merle is seen across country driving. “There was no one closer to me than GG.” He arrives home, a nice detached pad, and we see his incredible collection of serial killer odds ‘n’ sods plus Murder Junkies stuff. Merle chills out in his PJs reading a book on Richard Ramirez. Merle sells loads of GG memorabilia and such online. It keeps the name GG alive plus helps him keep a lifestyle he enjoys. Their mum states that Merle won’t face the fact his brother has passed and if he did, stopped doing all of this, to him GG would be gone. Merle has a secret escape room full of GG’s prison art, personal things, for “me and my brother.”

We then hear about their childhood, and the degeneration of their father into madness that obviously left many traumatic shock waves throughout their lives. Following on is their years as Malpractice, the first band. Mum would run the lighting and other things; they were a close family blasting out heavy duty music. This became The Jabbers, more aggressive, more in-yer-face not caring if they were banned from venues. Admission fee is worth it just for the inclusion of a cheap and alley trash awesome music video from the early days. It’s absolutely fantastic!

There’s mention of GG’s child, and Merle’s attempts at long term relationships which doesn’t really work out too well, bless him. There’s discussion of GG’s infamous stage shows, where GG himself is heard explaining how he isn’t out to entertain, he hates people, he makes people his target. “It’s just shit,” says Merle, “It wipes off.” He’s seen fishing his faeces from his loo and painting with it.

We cover his announcement of suicide, his claim he’d do it at a certain time on stage, then his mission via GG’s own recorded words, intercut with various live moments involving fights, plus the thoughts from some of his fans. I do love some of the editing – one minute we have violence, then the Allin’s mum calmly doing her shopping. GG Allin built a small empire from nothing. He spread his word; he became famous. There are also scenes from his talk show appearances and more.

“After GG died, the band was like ‘how are we gonna continue?’” thus we enter the section focused on the Murder Junkies, we find out what happened to them in the post GG world, the amount of singers they waded through before discovering a man who understood what was needed, and as Merle states, they made more money and had more success, funnily enough, because shows weren’t halted anymore and their lead singer wasn’t banged up in prison.

“He was always fighting between GG and Kevin,” says Merle, “he loved being Kevin, but he couldn’t be Kevin in public. I think he got himself so deep into the GG thing, there was no way of getting out of it. He had to go further and further…”

Mum Allin and Merle hang out, have a long talk, and she finally goes to the grave site. She then appears at a show to commemorate the anniversary of GG’s passing. She confesses with a chuckle afterwards that it’s all noise to her.

In the talk shows I reviewed, the final one becomes a kind of parody of everything GG started out doing. The mission has all but gone, he is a shouting incoherent tired man who did what the fans expected of him. If he didn’t shit on stage, fight, shout, and bleed, his fans were let down. Proven at the infamous final show at the Gas Station in 1993 I mentioned before. His final year was a mess, and his mum states at one point he was planning on coming home to her to rest, to “get better”, perhaps a re-energised GG could have emerged after a time and returned with his vendetta against society, doing it all his way, and not for the amusement of others.

To truly understand the depth of GG Allin you need to see this film, it is not what you expect it to be. Creator Sami Saif, who has also helmed documentaries on Tommy Seebach, poet Tove Ditlevsen, and his own family, has done a remarkable job delivering something which will make you think, plus will likely make some new fans of the noise from those who happen to wade in blind. GG Allin: All in the Family is such a treasure for anybody who follows either GG, The Murder Junkies, or both since you generally take all as a complete whole.

Speaking of holes, you cannot say you’ve lived until you’ve witnessed drummer Dino getting drumsticks inserted up his bare ass by a cute girl from the audience. Trust me on that.

AKA: The Allins, En helvedes familie – Punk, pis og overdoser

Directed by: Sami Saif | Produced by: Signe Leick Jensen, Stine Boe Jensen | Cinematography by: Anders Lofstedt | Editing by: Martin Schade | Music by: The Murder Junkies, Lawrence Kedz, Afenginn | Cast: Merle Allin, GG Allin, Arleta Baird, Dino Sex, The Murder Junkies | Year: 2017 | Country: USA | Language: English | Colour: Colour/ B&W | Runtime: 1hr 24 min

Studio: Beat Film, Toolbox Film
Distributor: MVD Visual