Long Live Rock ‘n Roll: ” Heavy Metal Parking Lot” Turns Forty

By Matt Neufeld
May 18, 2026

On May 31, 1986, two young intrepid and adventurous filmmakers, Jeff Krulik and John Heyn, just a couple of years out of college, lugged some clunky borrowed film gear into the undiscovered country of the wildlands that was the expansive parking lot of the beloved Capital Centre, turned on their cameras, interviewed various drunk, stoned and tripping attendees of that night’s upcoming Judas Priest and Dokken concert—-and, in a flash of rock lightning in a bottle, suddenly rock ‘n roll, filmmaking, documentary, cultural and sociological history was made.

The resulting 16 minutes and 41 seconds of documentary footage that Krulik and Heyn expertly edited together from these absolutely endlessly entertaining and hilarious interviews would travel from that humble start in a suburban concert venue parking lot on a journey that led, eventually, to genuine international fame and glory. The documentary film, “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” would capture the rapt attention of not only the rock and roll, filmmaking and documentary filmmaking worlds, but also the general world at large.

The interviews with the concertgoers were so crazily, uniquely, bizarrely and honestly…well, honest and real—and funny–the footage transcended the ordinary and energetically soared into some stratosphere of reality that claimed its own singular territory in rock, heavy metal, music, film, documentary and pop culture. The people in the film were so funny and energized that to this day and year, many people who saw the film inaccurately thought they were actors and the whole thing was scripted and staged! That’s not true, of course. These were real people, just simply out having fun at a rock concert! A lot of fun!

Originally, through the late ’80s and into the early ’90s, “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” enjoyed a breezy, buzzy, somewhat-hushed life as a genuine underground, cult, black market sensation. Originally produced as a VHS tape, copies were made, passed around, shared and borrowed, while the filmmakers joyfully showed the film at an array of eclectic events—where the film was always received with overwhelming affection, applause, appreciation and rock and roll love!

Soon, as the film’s popularity and fame increased; as the DVD started making its presence known; as national and international rock bands kept watching the film and enthusiastically spreading the word; and as the underground tapes caught the literal eye of a few high-level film and television honchos in Hollywood, well, wouldn’t you know it, “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” exploded aboveground into national—-and international—- prominence! The fame and glory that this classic short documentary film truly deserved finally arrived, and the rest, as they say, is rock and film and cultural history.

Krulik and Heyn went on to very successful careers in film and other endeavors. The concertgoers interviewed in the film went on to have normal lives, just as we all do, working in professional jobs, getting married, having kids, and, today, for some, even enjoying retirement. They’ve gladly appeared at “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” reunion events through the years, always enjoying their fun, youthful exuberance so richly and joyfully captured on those clunky cameras all those years ago. The Capital Centre, sadly, alas, was closed and imploded as owner Abe Pollin moved his entertainment empire to some joyless, cold, charmless place in downtown D.C. that has never captured the magic, joy and charm that was the Capital Centre. And, in a nice round-circle thing, years later Krulik would co-write a great nostalgic book about….the Capital Centre.

And Judas Priest? Hah, the rock gods shall heartily laugh at thee, lest you dare to think that this great band has somehow faded into the fog of heavy metal history! Not a chance! The mighty Priest has never left this mortal coil! And you’ll be pleased to know that here and now, in the year 2026, Judas Priest is having a banner year. The band is out on tour, everywhere, this year. A new greatest hits collection, “The Best of Judas Priest,” is set to be released worldwide on June 19, 2026. And, yes, a new feature-length documentary about the band, “The Ballad of Judas Priest,” co-directed by Tom Morello, is scheduled for a wide release in 2026. For those who continue to rock, we salute you.

Now, here we all are, amazingly, 40 years later, still alive, still rocking, maybe wondering every now and then just where some of that old youthful joy, energy and exuberance have gone. Well, there is one place where that energy still lives, and that is in the 16 minutes and 41 seconds of “Heavy Metal Parking Lot”—still fun, still funny, still crazy after all these years.

Krulik and Heyn are hosting a special screening of the original “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” film, along with an hour of other parking lot footage from that fateful day at the Capital Centre 40 years ago, at a special anniversary event to be held at the AFI Silver movie theater in downtown Silver Spring on May 31, 2026—-exactly 40 years to the day after they shot the original footage for the film.

Here’s a link to that 40th anniversary event:

Here’s a link to a recent story about the film in The New York Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/arts/music/heavy-metal-parking-lot-movie.html

And here’s two links to websites about “Heavy Metal Parking Lot:”

https://hmpl40.com/

https://www.heavymetalparkinglot.com/

Much introspective, analytical and intellectual prose has been penned and spoken during the last four decades about “Heavy Metal Parking Lot,” as admirers try to decipher the film’s unique grip on our collective psyche.

Please allow me to briefly weigh in on this subject on the occasion of this celebratory 40th anniversary. “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” isn’t really overwhelmingly about rock and roll, heavy metal, music, film, documentaries or Judas Priest. The film, in the end, is really about people. Real people, in all of their open and honest and unfiltered, yes, beauty. The film is about people being people, people being themselves. They’re having fun, celebrating their youthfulness, enjoying what they love, hanging out with their friends, celebrating the greatness that is rock and roll, and just truly loving and living life to the fullest.

The film is also not just about these fun people having fun and enjoying life, though. The film is about all of us—-you and me and everyone else. Because the real and honest people we watch on screen are also really you and I. They are us and we are them. Because we were all young once, and we were all out having fun drinking and getting high and making out and rocking out to our favorite bands at rock concerts once, all those years ago. In the end, we are watching a reflection of ourselves and we’re seeing ourselves as we were once, all those years ago. Those were the days, my friend, and we thought they’d never end.

That’s what “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” is all about.

Priest Rules! Rock on!

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Living after midnight
Rocking to the dawn
Loving till the morning
Then I’m gone, I’m gone

–Judas Priest