This is Spinal Tap

This is Spinal Tap

Release Date

1984

Director

  • Rob Reiner

Cast

  • Rob Reiner
  • Michael McKean
  • Christopher Guest

Spinal Tap, one of England's loudest bands, is chronicled by film director Marty DiBergi on what proves to be a fateful tour.

Director Rob Reiner's largely improvised cult classic follows the key members of fictional British heavy metal band Spinal Tap—lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), lead singer/guitarist David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), and bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer)—as they embark on their first American tour in years, with filmmaker/TV commercial director Marty DiBergi (Reiner) on hand to document the occasion and retrace the group's evolution. Responsible for such albums as Intravenous DeMilo, The Sun Never Sweats, and Bent for the Rent, the aging metal heads are now trying to make a comeback with their latest LP, Smell the Glove. But just about anything that can go wrong, does, from canceled shows to botched stage props to playing second fiddle to a puppet show. This hilarious, spot-on send-up of '80s rock culture includes cameos by the likes of Bruno Kirby, Dana Carvey, Fran Drescher, Billy Crystal, Paul Shaffer, Anjelica Huston, Fred Willard, and Patrick MacNee, and such unforgettable Tap hits as "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight," "Hell Hole," "Big Bottom," and, of course, "Stonehenge."

Past Programs

2013

The Science of Sound

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline, MA

2019

The science of sound and the electric guitar

Amherst Cinema, Amherst, MA