365 Days of Mike Patton: “Night of the Hunter,” Fantomas (2001)

During Mr. Bungle’s recent run of live shows where Mike Patton’s side band played its little-known 1986 death metal EP Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny, one little juicy side story was that famed actor Danny DeVito was in attendance at a show.

The truth is DeVito and Patton have been pals for a while. As noted by Faith No More Followers, they’ve been buddies since 2005 after DeVito took his kid to Coachella and they took in a Fantomas performance.

And hey, speaking of Fantomas, check out “Night of the Hunter” off its movie soundtrack covers album The Director’s Cut.

Here’s the original version of that song from the 1955 film of the same name, via Walter Schumann.

But anyway, back to DeVito! It appears that Fantomas didn’t play this song at Coachella that year, and according to Setlist.fm, the band has only performed it a handful of times ever. Still, DeVito thought Fantomas was awesome.

“Fantomas blew me away. They are super out of this world beyond! Mike Patton is a genius. ….” DeVito told pagesix.com in 2006. “Fantomas are experimental and just crazy.”

And Patton repaid the compliment, telling blogcritics.org, “I don’t really limit my influences. Everything in my life influences me, from my morning coffee to each meal. Really hard to nail down. Danny Devito influences me.”

There are plenty of YouTube videos of DeVito watching Patton live from the side of the stage, and here’s a fun few minutes of Patton and DeVito talking about each other (and about how MySpace is phenomenal) …

… And while watching it, I came to a stunning realization. DeVito is just like us in his love for Patton. He just happens to be better friends with Patton than most of us could ever conceive. Oh, and he’s also a pretty good actor.

Previously from The Director’s Cut:

• “The Omen (Ave Satani)” (Day 51)
• “Cape Fear” (Day 25)
• “Charade” (Day 17)

To follow along on the 365 days of Patton, click here for a list of each day’s post.