Dream Deceivers: the Story behind James Vance vs. Judas Priest

Shortly before Christmas 1985, nineteen-year old Ray Belknap shot himself on a cemetery near Reno, Nevada. His best friend James Vance picked up the gun, reloaded, and pulled the trigger. James survived this suicide attempt, albeit with his face half blown away. From his hospital bed, James wrote to Ray's mother that a heavy-metal record "hypnotized us into believing that death was the answer to life." Five years later, the newspaper headline "James Vance et al. vs. Judas Priest" got world-wide attention. DREAM DECEIVERS shows the human tragedy behind this headline. Every year, ten thousands of teenagers try to kill themselves. Their motives - depression, hopelessness, and isolation - are hardly understood. Intimate conversations with parents, images of the process and of concerts, and exclusive interviews with James Vance sketch a portrait of the world of teenagers on the fringes of society.