Trick or Treat

Cassette & vinyl will bring you to hell kids!

Although the 80's were shit (as The Vaselines put it in their wonderful second LP "Sex with The Vaselines") the film industry was very creative during the decade. Some of the most wonderful films, cult or massive, came out in that decade and none other film than today's entry can deliver a horror film with bulk 80's pop culture references. Trick or Treat is a 1986 horror gem written by Rhet Topham and directed by Charles Martin Smith. Starred by Marc Price as Eddie Weinbauer, Tony Fields as Sammi Curr & Lisa Orgolini as Leslie Graham.

What happens when a Glam Rock star dies and his number one fan gets his hand in the only vinyl copy of his latest recording? Well, shit happens! Featuring hard rocking cameos by Gene Simmons (as Nuke, a local radio DJ) & Ozzy Osbourne (as Reverend Aaron Gilstrom) this is the Halloween movie every audiophile enthusiast should watch as soon as possible. 

The evil sign of rock!

Ozzy, Sammi & Gene.

Eddie AKA Rag-Man Weinbauer, is a diehard fan of all things heavy metal, glam and classic rock in general. His bedroom is a fortress of music with giant speakers, a Sony turntable and very respectable collection of vinyl records & cassette tapes you wish you had today. As a matter of fact, he even owns a copy of Megadeth's debut album Killing is my Business which by the date the movie was filmed, wasn't even out, making our lead character's copy one of the earlier promotional copies send to different college radio stations in order to promote their music. So, going back to the movie (I'm a freaking audiophile, I admit it) Eddie's number one rock star, Sammi Curr is seen by society, school teachers, parents & reverends as a Satanic & perverted monster that is posoning America's youth with his evil music. This causes Eddie to be constantly bullied in school, just because he listens to Rock music. Yes, in the 80's everybody thought heavy rock music was a door to Satanic cult rites and all sorts of atrocities. 

Later while doing his chores Eddie finds out his ultimate hero has died in a fire, obviously causing our lead massive pain since "Sammi Curr was the only one who truly understood his teenage brawls against the world" For unexplained reasons, Eddie runs into the local radio station to tell Nuke (Gene Simmons, Kiss bass player & singer) his love about the recently demised Glam rocker. Nuke believes him and as gift, offers him the last studio session Curr recorded in brand new vinyl. Only one copy exists, and Eddie is the lucky winner! (Nuke has made a cassette copy he'll play during Halloween) 

What are these hidden messages?

Satan is calling to you Eddie!

The problem is, the copy features some strange voices Eddie can't understand, so, using the most cliched story about LP's he reverse plays it, or plays it backwards, finding creepy messages Sammi Curr left to the lucky owner of this unique vinyl. The messages are essentially "nail them all" something Curr kept singing about while he was alive. Eddie, being his number one fan, knows this message means he has to face his bullies at any cost, so evidently things will go south pretty quickly. 

Wait a fucking minute?! Why is this movie called Trick or Treat?! Where's Halloween?! Now, now. Eddie's school is celebrating a Halloween party! and Sammi Curr was supposed to be the feature artist  but since, society considered him a fucking satanic perv his invitation was revoked. Still not Halloween enough? Well, let me continue then. The more Eddie plays Sammi Curr's LP, the more evil like he turns, so when things go out of hand, Sammi comes back to life through Eddie's stereo asking him if he's forgotten they made a pact to "nail them all". From then on, murders start happening and Sammi sort of, avenges himself and Eddie's by making every detractor they had, explode (no graphic violence is featured in the film whatsoever) 

I hope Eddie cums on my tits, I'm not ready for another load on my face.

Oh C'mon! I know you swallow!

In order to "nail them all" Eddie makes a cassette copy of the LP and gives it to one of his bullies as a "peace offering" Unfortunately, the cassette ends up in the wrong hands (The bully's girlfriend) And via headphones the spirit of Sammi Curr rapes and leaves the girl comatose. Tim Haney (the bully, played by Doug Savant) instantly runs into Eddie to ask him what the hell was in the cassette he gave him. But, Sammi's spirit protects Eddie's house so Tim leaves him unharmed. Nevertheless, Eddie has a good heart and decides to tell his death idol he doesn't want any part in his murdering revenge. Obviously, and predictably, you can't get rid of a death rock star like that, so despite plugging off every stereo Eddie can find, Sammi Curr still finds a way to travel through the real world to propagate his hatred message of death targeting Eddie's love interest Leslie Graham (Lisa Orgolini)

So once Halloween night happens, Sammi replaces the band playing for the school party and so begins the Halloween party massacre, where our death rock star "nails" the students with his electric guitar. But shit doesn't stop there, since this unreleased LP is also being played in the local radio station, allowing Sammi to cover the whole city, making no one safe because stereos where everywhere in the 80's! home stereo, walkman, car stereo, radio signal oh man!

This music makes want to diddle my skittle.

Rock music is the true gate to hell!

Watching Trick or Treat feels like watching portions of other films. There's the late night teen pool party, with booze and tits. There's the bullied outcast seeking revenge. There's the death spirit possessing electrical devices. There's the girl who has a thing for the bullied character. There's a teenage party that ends up in a fucking massacre plus a couple of world class cameos. However, this isn't a copy of something that has been done before. This is a horror film made for rock music fans, specially those who dig Vinyl, Rock music & cassette tapes. If you're that kind of a person, you will enjoy this flick. Also, if you're into watching 80's horror films, I so believe this is for you, and I'm sure you've watched it already. For general audiences and digitized music era fans, this may be hard to swallow (no pun intended). For gore & slasher fans, this film doesn't offer visual violence, although there are hints here and there, it could be a family friendly slasher. 

Now, some stuff you probably didn't know about the movie:

-Eddie's best friend Roger is played by Glen Morgan, his only acting stint. Morgan later went on to be a prolific writer/producer for The X-Files (1993), Final Destination (2000), and Final Destination 3 (2006), as well as direct the Black Christmas (2006) remake.  

 
-All songs in the movie are written by the band "Fastway" which consisted of former Motorhead Guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke, and current "Flogging Molly" vocalist Dave King. 

 
-Cult movie company Anchorbay were all set to release a special 20th Anniversary Edition DVD of 'Trick or Treat' in 2006, but cancelled it when they encountered problems with the film's music licensing.  
-This movie features and after credit scene! (I won't spoil it here)

 

I'll leave you kids alone.

My bush is yours Eddie.

Overall, Trick or Treat is not as scary as other Halloween themed films yet, it is fairly entertaining and mildly original. If you want to watch something different, look no more. If you want to watch some good scary flick, wait until our next review coming before October the 31st.

 

Here's the movie trailer: