A documentary on the life and career of Alice Cooper will explore his struggle with alcohol and drugs – a part of his life he has rarely discussed in public.
Filmmaker Sam Dunn, of Canadian firm Banger Films, says his feature-length film, Super Duper Alice Cooper, sees the iconic singer discuss issues he has previously shied away from.
Dunn tells Bravewords: “The drug abuse problem was never something he had talked about before – it was taboo for him. He didn’t think it was cool to be a druggie. I think also what makes Alice different than a lot of rockers is he’s got this moral compass that comes with a Christian upbringing. His father was a pastor.
“So we tried to tell the story of Alice in a way that gave a sense of where he came from and how this lifestyle he got caught up in sort of threatened to dismantle his own morals and the principles with which he was raised.”
Dunn and long-time collaborator Scot McFadyen this week announced they are working on films about Black Sabbath and Soundgarden. And on Super Duper Alice Cooper, they have charted Cooper’s rise in the 1970s, his descent into drug and alcohol and abuse and his return to form in the 1980s.
Dunn adds: “I guess in many ways Alice’s story is the typical rock and roll story. The white picket fence origins, then getting sucked into the storm of rock in the 60s and 70s and hitting rock bottom with drugs and alcohol and then making a triumphant return.”
