The El Duce Tapes

Nov 2 2020 Not Rated 1h 40m
Biography, Documentary, Music

A wilfully offensive band, The Mentors gained infamy for performing in black executioner hoods and spewing cartoonishly racist, homophobic and misogynistic lyrics in the 1980s and ‘90s—but was their use of shock meant to propagate hate or confront it?

Plot

Between appearing in supporting roles in General Hospital and local TV commercials, Ryan Sexton spent the early 90s documenting the life and art of El Duce, lead singer of the notorious shock rock band The Mentors. Famous for taking the stage in black executioner hoods, the band spent a few moments in the national spotlight after some of their most offensive lyrics were denounced on the floor of the US Senate. 25 years later, David Lawrence and Rodney Ascher dive into the long unseen VHS footage searching for clues about who El Duce really was, how much of his disturbing persona was for real, and what an act built around a cartoonish sense of violent misogyny can tell us about our own time and place.

Written by

N/A

Directed by

Rodney Ascher, David Lawrence, Ryan Sexton

Production Countries

United States of America

Production Companies

New City Road

Awards

N/A

Scores
# of Votes
337
Average Rating
7.3 out of 10
Metascore
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Popularity
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