Trick or Treat (1986) starring Marc Price, Tony Fields, Lisa Orgolini, Doug Savant, Elaine Joyce, Glen Morgan, Gene Simmons, Ozzy Osbourne directed by Charles Martin Smith Movie Review

Trick or Treat (1986)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Marc Price in Trick or Treat (1986)

An 80's Metal Treat

High School kid Eddie Weinbauer (Marc Price) lives for heavy metal and in particular the music of rock god Sammi Curr (Tony Fields) who grew up in the same town a few years earlier. But being a heavy metal fan makes Eddie a victim at school where he is bullied by Tim Hainey (Doug Savant) and his gang leading to him only having a couple of friends, one of which is disc jockey Nuke (Gene Simmons). When Sammi dies in a fire Nuke tries to console Eddie by giving him the last record which Sammi recorded which has never been released. Soon Eddie believes that Sammi is communicating with him via backward messages on the record. But whilst it helps to give Eddie courage to stand up to Tim and his bullies it seems that Sammi has bigger revenge in mind.

I don't know where to start because I love "Trick or Treat", the 1980s movie with a hilarious cameo from Ozzy Osbourne as a crusading minister opposed to heavy metal and its suggestive lyrics. Ever since I saw it in 1989 this movie has been a constant companion and whilst I may only watch it once a year it never fails to entertain with it simply being so perfectly 80s from a then heavy metal fan's point of view. Now I will admit that "Trick or Treat" is not a great movie, it wasn't back in the 80s and it isn't now but it just hits the mark time again.

Doug Savant in Trick or Treat (1986)

Those marks it hits starts with Marc Price's perfect performance as Eddie the loner who is picked on in school and Doug Savant is just as good as the High School jock doing the bullying. In truth their characters are cliches but they are spot on as are the range if young actresses playing the teen girls from the one that is sympathetic to the other who is a spoilt bitch. On top of that there are the cameos and not only do we have Ozzy Osbourne showing up as a crusading minister but also Gene Simmons as Nuke the radio disc jockey.

But then there is the whole heavy metal scene from the 80s which I reckon any teenager who watched "Trick or Treat" now would be lost by with the whole subliminal message recorded backwards on a record. Throw in Eddie's blind obsession with the music, the posters all over his room and his collection of band T-Shirts even watching it now it seems still to be perfect.

Ironically if "Trick or Treat" has one problem is that the horror side of the movie is not very frightening and whilst the whole horror of Sammi controlling not just Eddie but others with his music is entertaining it never really gets gruesome enough even with his disfigured face.

What this all boils down to is that "Trick or Treat" is still an entertaining 80s movie and it never gets tired or boring. But sadly for a horror movie it isn't the most frightening of movies.


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