Short of my parents playing Death’s Scream Bloody Gore while I was still in the womb, which probably never happened, but I’m pretending did, my introduction to death metal was Cannibal Corpse in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Jim Carrey growling “Hammer Smashed Face” with the Buffalo legends remains THE version of their signature song, and in an interview with Noisey, drummer and co-founder Paul Mazurkiewicz said, “Since that movie came out, I’ve met at least one person at almost every show that tells me they found out about us from that movie.”
Cannibal Corpse wasn’t nearly as well-known back in 1993, when you shot your scenes, as you are today. How did Jim Carrey know about you guys?
Well, to go back a little bit prior to all this, I guess Jim was on The Arsenio Hall Show. This must’ve been a couple of months before his people called us. I’ve still never seen the footage, but apparently he went on the show and started talking about how he liked bands like Carcass and Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death. We heard about it through our friends and other people that saw it and we thought it was killer. Here’s this Hollywood actor who’s really intrigued by this kind of music. 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. (Via)
It’s been many years since Carrey’s made a good movie — 2009’s I Love You Phillip Morris if we’re being generous; if we’re not, 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — so maybe it’s time for him to embrace the metal side of his personality again. “Coming next fall to a theater near you, Me, Myself, & Immolation.”
For much more, including Cannibal Corpse’s other movie offer, head to Noisey.
