‘Wrathbone’ film premieres free on YouTube for Halloween
The horror-comedy mockumentary Wrathbone, written and directed by and starring Steve Flavin, premiered today at 12:00 p.m. PT/3:00 p.m. ET. The 29-minute film can be streamed for free on YouTube via the channel youtube.com/@steveflavin. Released to align with Halloween, it follows a festival circuit that began with its world premiere at Panic Fest in April. That run spanned nine festivals and yielded five awards, including Best in Show at Queer Screams, Best of the Fest at Hollywood Horrorfest, and Best Music at the Vancouver Horror Show.
Built in the style of VH1’s Behind the Music, Wrathbone recounts the tale of a fictional 1980s heavy metal band by means of interviews, archival footage, music videos, and historical photographs. Flavin takes on the dual roles of Nigel Wrathbone, the washed-up frontman for the band, and Frankie Ecco, his evil pop-star nemesis. The film borrows the language of the documentary form outright rather than spoofing it, and it includes additional nods to This Is Spinal Tap, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Purple Rain, and Trick or Treat.
Flavin co-wrote the film’s original songs with producer and composer Nathan Meckel, whose previous work has appeared in projects from Lionsgate, Sony Pictures, MTV, and VH1, along with Juilliard-trained composer Becca Schack, whose credits include CAPCOM Fighting Collection 2. Meckel co-wrote four of the five songs, produced the soundtrack, composed the score, and handled the final sound mix. Schack co-wrote and produced the synth-pop track “Dreamin’ (That You’re Mine).”
“Behind the Music was the blueprint, and I wanted Wrathbone to feel like an episode that had been sitting on a VHS tape since 1987,” said Flavin. “We wrote the album first and made five full music videos because the whole thing only works if you believe this band could have been real. Releasing it free on YouTube right at Halloween means anyone can stumble onto Wrathbone the way you’d stumble onto a band late at night, and hopefully stick around for the whole story.”
In 2024, Flavin and his collaborators wrote a full concept album after studying the production techniques and song structures of the era so that every track could plausibly have played on Top 40 radio in the 80s. The team then produced five complete music videos across nine production days in 2025. Each video serves as a genuine entry in the band’s fictional career and supplies the archival footage that is woven throughout the film. The soundtrack is streaming now on all major platforms, giving audiences a chance to discover Wrathbone through its music before meeting the band on screen.
Steve Flavin is an award-winning filmmaker and content creator based in Los Angeles whose films have screened at Fantastic Fest, Panic Fest, Vancouver Horror Show, and Queer Screams. His work blends horror, comedy, and a love of practical, old-school filmmaking, and his previous shorts include the creature feature Blood Oranges and the queer vampire thriller Thirst Trap. He is also the co-founder and artistic director of SpookFest, San Francisco’s annual horror film festival, now in its tenth year. Wrathbone is his most ambitious project to date, with Flavin serving as writer, director, editor, co-songwriter, and star.
