The Story of James Vance & Judas Priest
On December 23, 1985, two young men in Reno, Nevada put shotguns
to their own heads after drinking and smoking marijuana as they
listened ... all » to a record by the English rock group Judas
Priest. Raymond Belknap shot himself fatally, while the other,
James Vance, was grossly disfigured.
Their parents, claiming that subliminal messages in the heavy metal
band's songs mesmerized the boys into their bizarre suicide pact,
filed suit against CBS Records. Centered around this non jurored
trial, DREAM DECEIVERS looks at this tragedy through interviews
with Vance, his and Belknap's parents, other Reno "metalheads", and
members of Judas Priest.
Plastic surgeons tried all they could to restore what was left of
Jay's face, but were only able to restore his ability to eat and
breathe - the disfigurement was too severe. Jay returned home to
live with his parents between hospital visits and would ride his
bicycle around town shocking people with his grotesque
disfigurement.
Harmony Korine: I used to sneak into the NYU library and they had a
copy of it and I would watch it. It gave me the strangest feeling.
Just the images of those two kids listening to Stormtroopers of
Death, driving around Reno deserts drinking Miller-Lite. Fucking
blowing their brains out, listening to Judas Priest backwards. And
that guy being interviewed with this face that's completely blown
off... It was so eerie."
