Within the small and unruly genre of the fake documentary, this film is an absolute classic. It has acquired a following (see e.g. McDonalds Hard Core Logo in this programme) and defined the norm for its own sub-genre, that of the mock rockumentary. Director Reiner performs in his own film as documentary-maker Marty DiBergi who is making a TV film about his favourite British hard-rock band This is Spinal Tap. It may be unnecessary to point this out, but the band loving called The Tap by fans never existed – a legend was evoked especially for the film. The fake group was given an oeuvre (for which Reiner was among those to write songs), a past (including ‘archive’ footage of old gigs) and of course groupies. The result is a parody obviously made with great pleasure and expertise on the pop documentary, telling a few home truths about the music industry.
