Blu-ray, DVD Release: Hit So Hard: The Life & Near Death Story of Drummer Patty Schemel

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: June 5, 2012
Price: DVD $24.98, Blu-ray $29.98
Studio: Well Go USA


Hit So Hard: The Life & Near Death Story of Drummer Patty Schemel movie scene

Patty Schemel shares a moment with Kurt Cobain (l.) and his daughter Frances Bean in Hit So Hard.

Hit So Hard: The Life & Near Death Story of Drummer Patty Schemel is a 2011 biographical documentary film that chronicles the to-hell-and-back journey of Patty Schemel, drummer for Courtney Love’s band Hole.

Directed and co-written by P. David Ebersole, the movie offers audiences a chronicle of life as a rock star in the 1990s from Schemel’s point of view – at band practice, on the road, backstage, performing in front of millions of people and partying after the gig is through. It also reveals the story of the drug addiction and other problems that consumed Schemel and almost took her life.

The film includes a slew of personal home video footage revealing Schemel’s life offstage with Courtney Love, Love’s late husband Kurt Cobain and her Hole bandmates, all of whom are interviewed in the film. Also popping are fellow female drummers Debbi Peterson of The Bangles, Luscious Jackson’s Kate Schellenbach and Gina Shock of The Go-Gos, all of whom add their opinion about being hard-hitting percussionists in a world of mostly-male drummers.

Hit So Hard was screened at no less than two dozen film festivals around the world (including South by Southwest in March, 2011) before opening in a limited run in U.S. theaters in April, 2012. Reviews are generally positive.

Bonus features on the DVD and Blu-ray include the following:

  • Audio commentary with Patty Schemel and director P. David Ebersole
  • Patty Schemel’s Private Home Movies
  • Q&A at MoMA with Hole and filmmakers
  • “Teen Fan Really Can Play” featurette

Check out the trailer:

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About Laurence

Founder and editor Laurence Lerman saw Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest when he was 13 years old and that’s all it took. He has been writing about film and video for more than a quarter of a century for magazines, anthologies, websites and most recently, Video Business magazine, where he served as the Reviews Editor for 15 years.