Take an Exclusive Peek Inside The Damned's New Documentary, 'Don't You Wish That We Were Dead'

The Damned were the first UK punks to release a single, the first to breach the UK-USA divide on tour, the first to release a proper album, and, as it became apparent, the most resilient of '77 punk's Holy Trinity. As the Sex Pisols exploded and the Clash mellowed, the Damned kept on keeping on, soldiering on in a gothier, more post-punk direction through the 80s. The band has broken up, reformed, broken up again, reformed again, and so on, but has held steady in its current form since 2004.

For the past several years, director Wes Orshoski (who also acted as the film's producer, writer, cinematographer and editor) has been working on a warts'n'all, band-authorized documentary about The Damned—fitting, perhaps, as it follows Lemmy, his acclaimed documentary on the life of dearly departed rock'n'roll god Lemmy Kilmister. The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead traces the band's tumultuous history and explores the fraught relationship between original members Rat Scabies and Captain Sensible on the cusp of the Damned's 35th anniversary.

The film draws on archival footage and interviews with all four original Damned members as well as commentary from the likes of Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders), Mick Jones (The Clash), Steve Diggle (Buzzcocks), Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode), Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead), Jack Grisham (T.S.O.L.), Keith Morris (Black Flag/Circle Jerks/OFF!), and Dexter Holland (The Offspring), as well as live performances between 2011 to 2014.

The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead premiered at SXSW 2015, and will be showing at select US theaters in April and May before it officially comes out on DVD/Blu-ray via Three Count Films/Cleopatra Records/MVD on May 20.

Preorder a copy of the film here, and check out this intense clip of Rat Scabies ranting and ruminating on his life and career in the middle of a French market. It's got everything—pathos, anger, and an angry British man contemplating existence.

Catch it on the big screen while you can: