Do you accept the challenge?
Cult Canadian heavy metal god Jon Mikl Thor is well known to lovers of B-movies and trash cinema. He was the handsome bohunk-turned-vengeful-monster in the MST3K staple Zombie Nightmare, and the masterful auteur behind the truly baffling and utterly wonderful 1987 film Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare. In Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare, Thor plays a hapless musician whose friends are being picked off in a remote cabin by the forces of evil. In the film’s climax, he reveals himself to be a agent of God, and he does battle with Satan himself. The battle, seen below, is the stuff of legend.
In the 1980s, Jon Mikl Thor was at his peak, having already released ten studio albums under Thor or Thor and the Imps in a decade. In 1987, however, Thor left music to pursue a career in film, and then dropped out of showbiz entirely following a near nervous breakdown. His film career that has proven to be spotty. In 2005, he returned to make an ultra-low-budget sequel to Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare (called Intercessor: Another Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare), but by then the magic was gone. Despite his declared retirement, Thor continued to make music, regularly releasing many records in his native Canada pretty steadily over the years; his 2015 album, Metal Avenger, was called one of his best records by those who managed to hear it.
Thor’s filmography has remained trim, his most notable project since the 1980s being his biographical documentary film I am Thor, made by Ryan Wise, and released in 2015. The film was largely about his rise to fame, and his attempts to reclaim metal glory – and all its demonstrative theatrics therein – in the modern age. As it turns out, he’s big in Scandinavia.
I am Thor, however, has caused enough of a stir to lure Thor back to the big screen, and he has announced – according to Coming Soon – that a new concert film called Thor: Return of the Thunderhawk is currently in the works. As of this writing, Return of the Thunderhawk – the tour that followed Metal Avenger – is nearly complete, but still requires some funding to finish entirely. Of course, there’s a Kickstarter page, should you want the glories of Thor to return to theaters.
What would you rather see? That other Thor, or the real deal?
Top Image: Columbia Pictures
Witney Seibold is a longtime contributor to the CraveOnline Film Channel, and the co-host of The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon. He also contributes to Legion of Leia and to Blumhouse. You can follow him on “The Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.
