Dream Deceivers (1992)

Dream Deceivers: The Story Behind James Vance Vs Judas Priest (1992)

Just before Christmas 1985, James Vance and Ray Belknap shot themselves with a 12-gauge shotgun as part of a suicide pact…  one boy lay dead and the other was left horribly disfigured … the parents of the surviving teen sued English heavy metal band Judas Priest based on their belief that the suicide was triggered by heavy metal music and in particular a track by Judas Priest called “Better By You Better Than Me” which the prosecution alleged contained “satanic” subliminal backwards messages which drove the boys to ‘Do It!’…

“The film is essentially the story of the court case where Judas Priest and their defence team challenged the prosecution who alleged their music “caused” the surviving teen James Vance and his deceased friend to engage in a suicide pact. .. Twenty years on the court case itself may seem absurd and yet the Christian fundamentalists are as powerful as ever and a new “moral panic” is just as likely now as it was twenty-odd years ago…..” IMDB