Phil Varone: Waking Up Dead
(MVD Visual)

By Kevin Wierzbicki

At the very beginning of this film Phil Varone, former drummer for Saigon Kick and Skid Row, issues some advice for those considering a life in rock ’n’ roll: “Don’t do it!” Then the documentary shows Varone indulging in an endless parade of booze, drugs and eager women – hardly the stuff of discouragement for nascent rock stars.

The film is called Waking Up Dead so you would expect some real grit here. What is given instead is footage of Varone snorting line after line of cocaine and fondling countless topless women; all the while carrying on a narrative complaining about how he’s broke and has wasted his life with these antics.

Not all of the footage is vintage either – he’s still snorting coke as the movie is being made. Varone intends for this film to garner him sympathy but instead he comes off like a total loser, not for his past but for his present.

Grade: B

Waking Up Dead is currently available.