“If you were a kid in the ‘80s, and you were into fast cars, fast girls, and sniffing glue, then you were into Grave Diggler.” – Matt Pinfield (Radio & MTV icon)
After making official songs for Terrifier 3 and Scream 7, heavy metal band Ice Nine Kills has now joined forces with brand new Radio Silence sequel Ready or Not 2: Here I Come!
You might have noticed that the band uploaded a mysterious video titled “Hell or High Slaughter (Grave Diggler: Pt. 2)” onto YouTube yesterday, presented as the teaser trailer for a faux documentary titled Laid to Rest: The Grave Diggler Story.
But what does it all mean… ?!
Bloody Disgusting can exclusively report that Ice Nine Kills has a song featured in Ready or Not 2: Here I Come!
The track “Hell or High Slaughter” will be featured in Ready or Not 2, releasing in theaters March 20, but it’s not actually an Ice Nine Kills song. Rather, it’s a Grave Diggler song…
The faux ’80s hair metal band, in the universe of Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, is made up of the fathers of Ice Nine Kills’ band members, including lead singer Spencer Charnas.
In addition to “Hell or High Slaughter” being featured in Ready or Not 2, both early in the movie and during the closing credits, the music video and faux mini doc are coming soon!
The band explains, “Their sons may have eclipsed them in the 21st Century, but for a sleazy moment, Grave Diggler left its stain on hard partying rock n’ roll with decadence, desecrations, and panty raids. The group once stood shoulder to shoulder with their eyeliner-and-excess peers in Poison, Mötley Crüe, and W.A.S.P., before bad business and even worse drugs dampened the fire in their loins. By the early ’90s, like many glam bands, Grave Diggler faded from the spotlight. But history has a strange way of digglering up the past.
“When the directing duo behind Scream (2022) and Scream VI began work on the sequel to Ready or Not, they desperately wanted to include one of Grave Diggler’s forgotten classic anthems. But even after Radio Silence Productions deduced the connection with Spencer Charnas, securing the rights was no mean feat. The ensuing legal battle between fathers and sons resulted in Ice Nine Kills re-recording “Hell or High Slaughter (Grave Diggler: Pt. 2)” for Ready or Not 2 and the long-banned 1987 music video for the song seeing the light of day.”
Broken Lizard’s Paul Soter (Super Troopers), a lifelong Diggler obsessive, teamed up with director Myles Erfurth (Pandemic Sex Party) and Spencer to detail the band’s tale in the forthcoming documentary. Laid to Rest: The Grave Diggler Story features all-new interviews with Ready or Not 2’s Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Elijah Wood, and directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett; Stephen Pearcy (Ratt); Matt Pinfield (MTV); Michael Starr (Steel Panther); Jose Mangin (SiriusXM); James A. Janisse and Chelsea Rebecca (Dead Meat); rock manager Andy Gould; and both Sonny and Spencer Charnas.
“Ice Nine Kills Presents Hell or High Slaughter (Grave Diggler: Pt 2)” and its NSFW music video will be available exclusively on the Ice Nine Kills YouTube beginning on Friday, March 20.
Watch the teaser trailer below for a taste of the retro hair metal madness…
