Butthole Surfers documentary ‘The Hole Truth’ in the works, Kickstarter launched

Gina Alexander

The story of acid-fried Texas post-punks The Butthole Surfers is certainly ripe for documentary treatment, from their infamous fire-fueled early shows to their inclusion on the first Lollapalooza tour and beyond. Way beyond. If there's one person to do it, it's Tom J. Stern, who checked out a student camera to film them in the '80s at CBGBs and has been collaborating with them ever since. Stern's in-the-works documentary is titled The Hole Truth and it promised to be the definitive Butthole Surfers document, a "comprehensive look at this groundbreaking band and its continuing impact on culture at large."

The filmmakers recently launched a Kickstarter which has already met its goal with 21 days still to go. From the Kickstarter pitch:

Through exhaustive interviews, archival footage, cutting-edge animation and graphics, surreal re-enactments, and more, we will make a film in the anarchic spirit of the band. It will be irreverent and funny, but also sincere and heartfelt at times as we get these post-punk rock legends to look back on their strange and extraordinary lives. This won’t be a hagiography. We will dive into it all: Sex, drugs, rock and roll, the beautiful, the ugly, and the weird.

Read more about the film at The Hole Truth's Kickstarter.

Back in the late '80s, Stern and his friend and fellow filmmaker Alex Winter (of Bill & Ted fame) made a short film with the Buttholes titled "Entering Texas," which they then pitched to be turned into a full-length feature film. The band got cut out the script in the early stages, but it went on to become 1993 cult comedy Freaked, which Stern and Winter co-wrote and co-directed, and starred Winter alongside Keanu Reeves, Brooke Shields and Mr T. You can watch "Entering Texas" below.

Earlier this year Stern made the very freaky video for Butthole Surfers bassist Paul Leary's "Would You Like to Eat a Cow?"