I love a bit of cheesy, 80s heavy metal horror, but Trick or Treat, a film that seems to get a lot of love from other fans of rock/horror hybrids, just doesn't do it for me: for starters, I actually find the film a tad insulting, portraying metal fans as sociably inept dorks (as opposed to the Adonis-like lovegods that we actually are); secondly, the heavy rock soundtrack, by Fastway, is instantly forgettable—a big mistake when the plot revolves so heavily around the music; furthermore, the horror elements are lame and totally bloodless, and the film wastes its two genuine rock stars, KISS vocalist/bassist Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne, in pointless cameos.
The script isn't all that original either, with it's basic plot lifted from Stephen King's Carrie: teenage heavy-metal loser Eddie Weinbauer (Marc Price) gets his mitts on the only copy of the last album by his idol, recently-deceased, occult rocker Sammi Curr (Tony Fields). By playing the disc backwards, Eddie discovers that he is able to bring Sammi back from the dead, which allows hims to turn the tables on the bullies that have been tormenting him at high school. The only problem is, satanic Sammi just doesn't know when to stop, and he's planning a special appearance at the school prom...
The film's best moment comes when a teen hottie listens to a tape of Curr's album on her boyfriend's Walkman, causing her to strip off before being attacked by a rubbery demon and having her ears melted; if only there had been more of this kind of outrageous silliness (and much better music; surely Simmons and Osbourne could have used their influence to get some decent tunes on the soundtrack), then I might have enjoyed this one a whole lot more. As it is, it's merely average.
The script isn't all that original either, with it's basic plot lifted from Stephen King's Carrie: teenage heavy-metal loser Eddie Weinbauer (Marc Price) gets his mitts on the only copy of the last album by his idol, recently-deceased, occult rocker Sammi Curr (Tony Fields). By playing the disc backwards, Eddie discovers that he is able to bring Sammi back from the dead, which allows hims to turn the tables on the bullies that have been tormenting him at high school. The only problem is, satanic Sammi just doesn't know when to stop, and he's planning a special appearance at the school prom...
The film's best moment comes when a teen hottie listens to a tape of Curr's album on her boyfriend's Walkman, causing her to strip off before being attacked by a rubbery demon and having her ears melted; if only there had been more of this kind of outrageous silliness (and much better music; surely Simmons and Osbourne could have used their influence to get some decent tunes on the soundtrack), then I might have enjoyed this one a whole lot more. As it is, it's merely average.