Caught In the Act

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"Caught In the Act" is a 1984 film based on the Styx theme album "Killroy Was Here" featuring the well-known and widely un-understood song Mr.Roboto. The film follows and expands upon the story of the album, in which an outlaw rock-n-roller escapes from prison in a future where moral suppiority has lead to the banishment of rock music. I had heard and loved Mr.Roboto for years, having no solid understanding of its meaning, assuming the rock band Styx was just a silly one-hit-wonder from the eighties. Then, one day, I realized that Styx was ACTUALLY a very popular seventies group that had written several other songs I knew and I loved without ever knowing their author, including Renegade. With some brief research I discovered that Styx had made a habit of producing theme albums, and with that in mind, I went out and bought Killroy, to see if I could find out what the heck Mr.Roboto was all about. Apperently, the song has both more and less metaphor than I had imagined. The social and philosophical implications abundant, but at the same time, it really is a song about a guy escaping from prison by hiding inside a robot shell! While reading the liner notes, I learned about "Caught In the Act." A few months later, my wonderful wife got me a copy. It was only ever released in the UK, and only on VHS. After watching the movie, it all finally made sense. Dr.Righteous has brainwashed America's youth to conform to his own views on morality, while speaking the evils of "heavy-metal poisoning." Killroy is a rocker who is imprisoned for murdering one of Dr.Righteous's protesters at a concert. As a result, Dr.Righteous finally gains the political pull to have rock-n-roll outlawed. Years later, Killroy escapes by hiding inside of a hollowed out 'Mr.Roboto' prison guard robot. He meets up with a young believer in free-speech and rock-n-roll and tells him the tale of that fateful night. The majority of the film is then basically a live concert video, with full costumes for Killroy (Dennis DeYoung, Styx lead singer), Dr.Righteous, etc. There are a few "interuptions" by Dr.Righteous and his followers, and the end reveals what lead to the murder. Given the time, themes, and sheer awsomeness of this film, I suspect it has a great deal to do with the now popular cyberpunk premise that rock bands are often covers for freedom fighters working against the corporations, as well as a lot of things in pop-culture we've become comfortable with. It's a shame that the film did get distributed better, because the album is a LOT harder to follow than most of their albums, especially the Mr.Roboto track, and it was so poorly received that Styx basically stopped making music for the next ten years. I was fortunate enough to see them play recently, and I was amazed by how good they still are live after all these years. They really looked like they were having a blast; climbing up on the stacks, JUMPING over the keyboard, joking with the crowd, making fun of themselves, shooting confetty. It was awsome and ridiculous in the way that only rock-n-roll can be. I am SO glad I found this film, and I encourage anyonw who's enjoyed Styx, or wondered what the deal is with Mr.Roboto, to try and get a copy. Best rock video EVER, my apologies to Spinal Tap.