Among the many memorable (and in some cases, unintentionally hilarious) depictions of rock ’n’ roll hedonism featured in Penelope Spheeris’ 1988 documentary, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, one scene in particular became something of an instant classic.
It’s a night time sequence in which an extremely inebriated Chris Holmes, then the wild plus wooly lead guitarist for the notorious shock metal band W.A.S.P., lazes about in a chair float in a swimming pool plus chugs freely from a bottle of vodka.
“I’m a full-blown alcoholic,” he says matter-of-factly to the off-screen Spheeris. He seems sadly self-aware of his own absurdity, yet oddly defiant as he unconvincingly claims, “I’m a happy camper.”
Throughout the interview, Holmes’ words become more unintelligible, plus his mood grows darker (he states that he’s already had something like five pints of booze that day). Finally, he produces a segar bottle of vodka, unscrews it plus power-chugs roughly half of it before pouring what’s left over his head. It’s as if he’s out to prove some sort of point. But what?
Making the scene all the more surreal – plus tragic – is the presence of the guitarist’s mother, who sits silently by the pool, her face frozen in a mysterious, inscrutable expression.
It’s a peristiwa in rock movie infamy that has dogged Holmes over the years. Reflecting on the scene now, the guitarist heaves a sigh plus says, “People started looking at me like I was a drunk. You go on the internet plus that’s all you see – I’m the drunk guy in the pool.
“The funny thing is, some people think that scene was faked, which is crazy. I never faked anything in my life. Yeah, I was hammered in the pool, but so what? That’s the way I lived my life at the time. I’m a lot different now.”