One of the biggest moments in Cannibal Corpse's illustrious career was when they showed up in Jim Carrey's breakthrough hit, Ace Ventura. It was a big moment and the band claim that not a day goes by where a fan tells them they discovered the death metal greats through the wacky comedy. Despite previous reports to the contrary, Jim Carrey was a big fan of the band's and personally requested that they perform "Hammer Smashed Face" during their big scene in the movie.care
If you've never seen the movie, here's the scene:
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Recently, Metal Injection reader, Florida guitarist and metal lifer Mark Douglas reached out to us and told us that he was actually there on set the day of the infamous shoot at the Cameo Theater in Miami, Florida. Douglas ended up being an extra in the movie. Douglas noted he tagged along with Corpse guitarist Rob Barrett, who was his former roomate. They filmed over two days at the theater, and the shoot consisted of Corpse playing their single "too many times to count," according to Mark.
Photo by Mark Douglas
Photo via Mark Douglas
Photo via Mark Douglas
Last year, drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz told Noisey they almost turned down the role:
I remember we turned it down at first because we had a European tour lined up during the time they wanted us down in Florida to shoot our scene. We’d had the tour lined up for months, and we’re not the kind of band that goes back on deals that we make, so we had to decline. But a few days went by and we got another call saying, “Jim Carrey really wants you guys. They’re gonna rearrange their schedule to accommodate you.” That just blew us away, because this is a major movie production, you know? I mean, Jim wanted us that bad. So of course we agreed to do it. We were just kids from Buffalo, so it was very exciting for us to be wanted in that way.
Carrey was a big fan of the band, as evidenced from the moment they met him:
On the day we flew down there, they picked us up at the airport and took us directly to the set to meet Jim and the director, Tom [Shadyac]. They were filming at this house that was supposed to be the house of Courteney Cox’s character. We’d never been to a movie set, so we were pretty impressed. They took us over to the [actors’] trailers, and Jim comes over to us wearing his Ace Ventura garb, going, “Oh my god! Cannibal Corpse! It’s so great to have you guys here!” Then he starts rattling off lyrics and tells us he wants us to play “Hammer Smashed Face.” It was insane.
In the same interview, Mazurkiewicz noted the band was almost in Airheads as well, until the producers had found out they just shot for Ace Ventura.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/eWymXgST_sA[/youtube]
Cannibal Corpse's new album Red Before Black comes out November 3rd. Watch the gruesome music video for the first single, "Code of the Slashers," here.
