STACK #256 February 2026

FEATURE MOVIE

THIS IS S PINAL T AP STILL GOES TO 11

Rob Reiner's feature film directorial debut This Is Spinal Tap (1984) is a "mockumentary" hosted by interviewer Marti DeBergi, played magnificently by Reiner himself. Words Bob J

new album Smell the Glove that the band are trying to promote. Eventually they manage to get it released, but only with a totally black cover – a reverse image of the Beatles White Album . As their venues grow smaller and less prestigious it highlights that the band is less popular, amplified when discovering they are second on the bill after a junior puppet show. The band order a Stonehenge prop for one of their performances, but alas the symbols for feet and inches miniature Stonehenge instead of an 18 footer slowly descends onto the stage while the band are playing. The film also features a number of great cameos from Patrick Macnee, Billy Crystal, Bruno Kirby, Ed Begley Jr, and Angelica Huston (also blink and you’ll miss Dana Carvey). Multiple rock bands in the 1980s watched this film believing that it was about them, especially Ozzy Osbourne. And many unsuspecting moviegoers firmly believed that the film was a real documentary from a band they had never heard of. Nevertheless This Is Spinal Tap is the perfect mockumentary, authentic, hilarious. and has stood the test of time of its portrayal of the music industry, earning it a position amongst the list of the funniest films of all-time. somehow get confused. Subsequently, the scene is hilarious as an 18”

Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, and Michael McKean

FUN FACT

The name of Rob Reiner's

character Marty DiBergi is a combination of his favourite filmmakers-Martin

I t follows the fictional has-been heavy rock group Spinal Tap and their disastrous comeback American tour whilst promoting their new album Smell the Glove . The iconic trio of the band, who were all gifted musicians, are lead vocalist David St Hubbins (played by Michael McKean) lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel (played by Christopher Guest), and bassist Derek Smalls (played by Harry Shearer). Reiner had originally written a pilot comedy sketch, which featured a parody rock band, for a U.S. TV show. A couple of years later, using just a handheld camera, Reiner filmed various scenes of his hapless and fictional heavy metal band. Basing it on original documentaries such as Bob Dylan’s Don’t Look Back and Scorsese’s The Last Waltz featuring The Band, Reiner’s humorous mini-film eventually led to an offer of $2 million from writer-producer Norman Lear to expand it into a feature film. Virtually all of the dialogue and

Scorsese, Brian De Palma, and Steven Spielberg.

Director Rob Reiner

Christopher Guest

music world.

Every rock cliche is highlighted from super inflated egos, a nagging

music in the film was improvised and shot without a script by Reiner and his actors. Each band member is a caricature of rock stereotypes that brilliantly capture the absurdity and chaos of the heavy metal

girlfriend, backstage problems, technical mishaps, and a useless manager. Then there is the difficult recording industry who threaten to fade the band into obscurity due to the sexist cover artwork of their

SpinalTap II:The End Continues is also available on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD.

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