Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare (1976)

Too much of everything

Disturbing yet enthralling

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

When Alice went solo in 1975, he became an even bigger commercial success than before. Instead of five inebriated rock'n'roll dudes on stage, there was only one, and he was buoyed up by a professional team of musicians and dancers. All he had to do was stay in tune and not fall over. This show makes an interesting comparison with the 'Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper' DVD, which was shot in 1973 and presented a much edgier, darker 'Alice', along with the original band. From 1975 onwards, much of the spontaneity (both musical and theatrical) was replaced by scripted split-second discipline and inflexible stage-cue timing. While this made for fine rock theater, the 'Welcome To My Nightmare' show was at several removes from a great rock gig. Also gone were the provocative, challenging elements. A slightly nasty bout of mannequin-bashing aside, you could have taken your kids to this show. Just this side of Sid and Marty Krofft, in fact. Musically and visually, the hired-hands musical crew are less prominent, and impart a certain leaden stodginess to their interpretations of their forbears' work. Mostly though, the set list covers the vocalist's first solo album, and the band sounds far better performing their studio work live. Even so, the lengthy 'spider battle' guitar duel which opens 'Devil's Food' will have all but the most dedicated fretboard enthusiasts reaching for the remote and sweet, merciful 'fast forward'. Essentially though, this is a show, not a gig, and on its own terms, it is an enjoyable one. If you like the 'Welcome To My Nightmare' album, you'll need this. A little bit rock'n'roll, a little bit pantomime, a whole lot of tipsy staggering and slurring from the vocalist, call it 'Alice Lite', grab a beer and have some silly fun.

Cooper's Welcome to My Nightmare album was a classic, and his supporting tour was amazing, yet the video documenting that tour is downright awful. As interesting as the tour might have been, the video and audio quality on the tape are so horrible that viewers will have a hard time deciding which song is playing and figuring out if the colorful frogman running around on stage is Alice Cooper, a dancer or a band member. As provocative as the video may be, considering it was one of his most entertaining tours ever, fans should be advised that Welcome to My Nightmare is a complete waste of money and is not even worth attempting to watch. If only the concert had been filmed with higher quality equipment, it just might have been his best video release yet.

I seen this one a couple of years ago, and it is always fun to watch. Alice Cooper made this as a last ditch attempt to rise his career from the ashes after the classic Alice Cooper Band dissolved. Producer Bob Ezrin was a major ingredient in this production as well, showing how he uses some elements that were not common in the rock and roll vein. He uses these elements later on for future high profile projects such as Pink Floyd's The Wall and Kiss Destroyer. Cooper and Ezrin came up with Welcome To My Nightmare, the album and broadway play. The main theme is Alice portraying a demented individual named Steven, who displays an array of emotions such as amusement, confusion, anger, and mostly fear. Steven encounters trolls, giant spiders, a giant cyclops, and dances like Fred Astaire. This play incorporates the "Nightmare" music as well as some Alice Cooper Classics. I don't know if calling it a "play" is too accurate (I used it for lack of a better term), it is more like several music videos back to back, as there is hardly any dialogue between numbers. "concert" may not be an accurate word either, due to the concept involved. This production was unique for it's day. It has a demented aura from start to almost finish (the last 2 songs were too upbeat to follow through the theme).Alice does a great job portraying Steven. Alice Cooper was an "alter ego" of sorts to Vincent Furnier (Alice's real name), and Steven appears to be an additional alter ego of his as well in a professional sense. I know this all sounds like mumbo-jumbo, but to an Alice Cooper fan it all makes sense.Interesting to note:Alice Cooper met his future wife during the making of "Nightmare."A lot about "Nightmare" as well as Alice's full career was outlined in a VH1 Behind the Music episode. Definitely worth watching if you liked "Nightmare."

I was surprised that nobody bothered to comment on this film... so I thought I should say just a few words to make a start."Welcome To my Nightmare", a concert recording from 1975, is really enjoyable to watch. It is a must for every Alice Cooper fan and it is worth a try for everybody who loves classic rock music and/or horror films!Never take anything too serious and you might enjoy it the most - I guess Alice Cooper does not take himself too serious and is proud of his bad taste.The concert includes some of his hits and well-known classics like "Only Women Bleed", "Steven" and "School's Out", of course. There's something for everybody. The show is designed after old horror movies or is at least heavily inspired by them and sometimes it gets quite bizarre, but that's part of the fun. It may look old-fashioned to some people - that is a question of personal taste...I can also recommend the film "Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper" from the Billion Dollar Babies Tour. :)