ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joseph Perry writes for the film websites Gruesome Magazine, The Scariest Things, Horror Fuel, The Good, the Bad and the Verdict and Diabolique Magazine; for the film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope and Drive-In Asylum; and for the pop culture websites When It Was Cool and Uphill Both Ways. He is also one of the hosts of When It Was Cool’s exclusive Uphill Both Ways podcast and can occasionally be heard as a cohost on Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast.

Confession time: I never listened to rock band Redd Kross until watching director Andrew Reich’s documentary Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story. After watching it, I’m partially baffled as to why, because they are right up my musical alley, and founding-members brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald share similar tastes with me in 1970s pop culture (from Kiss to The Partridge Family to Linda Blair’s Born Innocent tv movie, for example) and crunchy, catchy guitar-driven rock and roll. It must have been a simple case of “So many bands, so little time.” We pretty much all have examples of that. In short, I’m thankful I found Redd Kross through this high-energy documentary.   

From the brothers McDonald’s days growing up in Hawthorne, California — where their band debuted as school kids when they talked Black Flag into playing with them at a private party — through their early punk days to their most popular phases to their still-going-strong present while being married and raising kids, Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story shows that the siblings have lived lives. Reich doesn’t shy away from asking big questions, either, as he brings tough emotions to the McDonald parents regarding Steve’s disappearance as a young teenager, and does the same with the brothers regarding their past drug abuse. Sibling rivalry is on full display, too.

Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story isn’t a mere warts-and-all tell-all, though — far from it. It’s a grand celebration of two brothers and their band — including their revolving door of bandmates — who fought against big record labels before being signed by one, who love 1970s kitsch and went against the norms of what fellow musicians and music lovers expected, helmed wonderfully by a longtime fan. 

The talking heads include a who’s who of musicians from acts whose heyday was in the eighties and nineties, former bandmates, friends and relatives, record label folks, and more. Plus, we get trips down 1970s memory lane with clips from The Brady Bunch, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, and much more, along with loads of clips from Redd Kross performances, backstage videos, and interviews throughout the years.

Reich’s Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story does exactly what a great documentary should do: make viewers new to the subject want to learn more about it, and give people familiar with the subject information they hadn’t previously known. Thanks to this film, I’m aiming to make up for lost time by cranking Redd Kross albums.   

Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story screens as part of the 2024 Calgary Underground Film Festival, which runs April 18–28. For more information, visit https://www.calgaryundergroundfilm.org/.