This last week has been incredibly challenging for myself and several others due to one singular reason – Steve Grimmett passed away suddenly on August 15th, 2022. This is a loss felt by every single Grim Reaper fan, especially those fortunate enough to have built a friendship with Steve. I cannot recall how I initially met him online, however the first time in person was at a Motel 6 in Ventura, California. I had been outside having my morning cigarette, and Steve comes outta the room next to mine. He says “I didn’t see you at the show last night!” I had to explain I had drank my body weight in Malibu first thing in the morning, and after spending the afternoon partying with the dudes from Black Death, I passed the fuck out in a hotel room that didn’t belong to me or anyone I know. We hit the Rainbow for breakfast shortly thereafter – only rule implemented was “No more Malibu for breakfast!” I opted for Budweiser instead.
Following our initial meeting, we’d spend as much time as possible together whenever possible. Being that he resided in England, myself in Canada, made our friendship all the more challenging. I got to see him more often than one would expect, and the memories I shared with him will always be held dear to me. I never thought I’d become such good friends with someone I worshipped as a teenager. I wasn’t even a teen yet when my dad first showed me the music video for Fear No Evil. Naturally, I was immediately hooked and it became a lifelong love. One of the happiest moments in my entire life was when I got to take my dad out for dinner with Steve and the rest of his band. I split an entire bottle of Jack with him in his hotel room that night, and the thing that was always the best about Steve was how much he loved music. We spent the entire night chatting about music. Guitar players we loved. Albums we loved. I gave him the most shit when he spilled the beans that Malmsteen wanted to work with him back in the day, but he passed on the opportunity. For anyone that knows me, you can guess my reaction and it’d be accurate. The amount of shit I gave him! It felt like a personal attack against me, because I am entirely insane. We had a good laugh about it, then I watched him play some of the best heavy metal on God’s green earth for the upteenth time.
In hindsight, I was the luckiest bitch on earth to experience such a personal connection with someone so kind and caring. As these things typically go, I’m grieving the loss of someone I feel I didn’t fully appreciate in the capacity I should have. Steve never missed a birthday. He always checked in on me, asked about my health as we were both diabetics and both had struggles with mental illness. He always reached out when he suspected I wasn’t doing okay. He just cared that much, y’know? Probably sounds weird as shit to some folks, but Steve literally felt like family. He always did. I haven’t really had the guts to share my feelings, and perhaps this isn’t the place nor way to go about it, but here we are.
I debated writing about Grim Reaper’s discography. I feel like Rock You to Hell is an especially underrated record, and Suck It and See deserves to be in every sleazy vampire porno ever created. Steve’s range was incredible, and he sounded as good live as he did on record. The fact that he could hit those high notes was fucking insane to me. Debated writing about In Search of Sanity, the Onslaught record he did vocals on that is often overlooked and unlike anything else Onslaught ever did. Lionsheart, yet another especially impressive heavy metal band he fronted. He was a heavy metal god, we all know this; I’d be rehashing old news, basically, and I kinda want to highlight something that Steve always alluded to prior to playing one of my favourite songs, Lust For Freedom – the film he wrote the song for.
If you listen to the lyrics closely, you’ll reveal the entire plot of Lust for Freedom (1987) – but it is all about context, baby! Lust for Freedom is actually a women in prison flick, and if you’re familiar with the sleazy subgenre, you know just how lusty these things can get. Lust for Freedom is no exception – it feels like a cheaper and nastier version of Chained Heat (1983) but if Andy Sidaris directed it after smoking a bunch of speed. Kicking off with a chaotic shootout, the action (karate) kicks in immediately, abusing the use of machinegun fire for the sake of dramatic, albeit obnoxious cinema. If you’re not entirely on board just yet, you will be when we get into the nitty gritty.
As a fan of the women in prison genre, I’ll be the first to admit that alotta the time the plot falls by the wayside for the sake of gratuitous violence and lesbianism. While Lust for Freedom contains both aforementioned elements, it also boasts a pretty fucked up storyline. Our main imprisoned vixen is an ex-cop named Gillian Kaites (Melanie Coll). After watching her fiance/partner get murdered in a shootout, she decides to quit the force and takes to the highway to remove herself from her shit. If you’ve seen Psycho (1960), you know this route typically never works out. That being said, Kaites doesn’t find herself at a motel run by a murderer, but by a couple of bad cops that are plucking chicks from rural California, drugging them, then manufacturing phony charges in order to incarcerate them indefinitely. If that weren’t morbid enough, they straight up have created a business out of selling their prisoners to madmen making literal snuff pornography. The women that remain incarcerated get raped, tortured, and occasionally are forced to wrestle to death. It is just… incredibly fucked up. Who woulda thought, eh?
Lemme tell y’all before you get too excited – this is a Troma flick, and I’d say it is pretty true to the essence of Troma. If you dig Troma, you’ll love it – if you’re unsure, smoke a bowl and then just go with it. It is kinda difficult to explain what makes this a ‘good-bad’ movie, but it really is one of the better ones. The action sequences are bizarre and over the top; The women are hot as hell (Michelle Bauer makes an appearance!); The story is dark and disturbing; and the conclusion is shockingly bloody. It’ll make you feel many things, but I assure you that boredom will not be on the roster. And doubling back to Grim Reaper – if you’re a fan, ya simply gotta see it. Ya get more than what you bargain for – hint: Rock You to Hell plays approximately 69 times. Nice, I know.
Overall, I think watching Lust for Freedom is a pretty cool way to celebrate a fallen icon, despite its obvious imperfections. My favourite thing in the entire world is when heavy metal and exploitation cinema crossover, and this is a shining example of what a beautiful relationship it can be. It is sleazy, sloppy, horny, fucked up, and weird – but hey, so is heavy metal. And that is why we like it so damn much!
