Bob and The Monster

"It's a strange environment I'm working in," says Bob Forrest at the start of this documentary about the former front man of the 1980s cult band Thelonious Monster. The strange environment he's talking about is the world of drug addiction in Los Angeles, which was a center for all things creative back in the day. It is a world he thoroughly explored. The film contains a wealth of archive material featuring concerts over the years, including disturbing footage of a completely drugged up Forrest rifting around the stage. Together with the numerous interviews, these images paint a picture of Bob Forrest the artist and Bob Forrest the junkie and alcoholic. We learn that Forrest had a tendency towards self-destruction from a young age: "I always wanted to shoot drugs," he explains. But we also hear that he is a remarkable musical talent, according to musical greats such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Anthony Kiedis (with whom Forrest sits reminiscing at the kitchen table), Flea, Jane's Addiction's Stephen Perkins, and Courtney Love. The latter is one of the people who gained a great deal of support from the now drug-free Forrest in her own struggle with drug addiction.