gavin6942 Sammi Curr was a famous, devil-worshiping rock star who died under mysterious circumstances. Now he wants to come back to life. Doing so requires possessing radio waves and automobiles and making a few human sacrifices.I was not familiar with this film, and had no idea what it was about. Today, if you say "Trick or Treat", people will think of "Trick 'r Treat", if they know their horror films at all. But right from the start, I liked what was going on here, a rock and roll horror film set in the heavy metal 1980s when rock went head to head with the PMRC.Unfortunately, the film does not quite live up to the early promise, and is not helped by some irritating music. (I like heavy metal, but some of the tracks on here are awful.) We get a story that is a bit like "Shocker" and a bit like "Rock and Roll Nightmare", though very much its own story... worth a peek, though perhaps not the lost treasure I wish I was.

Leofwine_draca TRICK OR TREAT is one of those 1980s films that has dated in the best way imaginable. It sits as a perfect snapshot of that decade, exploring the hard rock genre and the media links that associated it with Satanism and the black arts. Everything about the film, not least the soundtrack, has dated, and yet these are all positive aspects for me. It's one of the most '80s-feeling '80s films out there.The plot is predictable indeed, but it's the atmosphere which is strong here so I didn't mind. Marc Price is well cast as the high school outsider, who decides to get revenge on school bullies by summoning up the undead spirit of a recently-deceased rock star in order to get revenge. Except Price isn't really a villain after all, and he soon finds himself with a real fight on his hands. The acting is quite acceptable, although the female characters are badly written. Watch out for future DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES star Doug Savant as the chief villain.One of the most surprising things about TRICK OR TREAT is that it was directed by Charles Martin Smith, the geeky one out of THE UNTOUCHABLES. Still, Smith does a good job, and the '80s-style special effects are very well handled. There's not a lot of gore on offer here, but plenty of black comedy. A crucial set-piece has been based on CARRIE's famous prom scene although it doesn't come close to that moment in the De Palma classic. Watch out for cameos by Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne, the latter particularly amusing as a vicar!

Pulp Culture Trick or Treat (1986) Director : Charles Martin Smith Starring: Marc Price, Tony Fields & Lisa OrgoliniEddie Weinbauer is a typical all-American teenager. At least he was until he fell under the evil spell of ROCK MUSIC!Now he's obsessed with the recently deceased Heavy Metal superstar Sammi Curr and as Halloween approaches, Eddie begins to realise this isn't only Rock "N" Roll…it's life or death!Trick or Treat combines horror, comedy and Heavy Metal into an entertaining brew. The handling of Eddie's humiliation at the hands of the hated jocks and his feelings of isolation is well done, while the scene where the recently resurrected Sammi Curr lays siege to the high school Halloween party is reminiscent of "Carrie". Throw in cameos from rock legends Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne and a rocking soundtrack from the band "Fastway "and you have a great slice of 80's cinema!As rock-hating TV evangelist Reverend Aaron Gilstrom (Ozzy Osbourne) says after the credits roll "This could kick you off into being an absolute pervert".

The_Void It's silly, not very original and about as far away from 'high quality' as you can get, but all that stuff aside; Trick or Treat is at least an entertaining piece of crap, and I wouldn't have asked for more going into it. The film seems to take influence from 'outsider getting their own back' films such as Stephen King's Carrie (among many others), as well as Wes Craven's popular modern classic 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' as it features an evil entity being brought back from the dead via unusual means. This is all mixed in with a heavy metal soundtrack and themes coming from the insanely silly case involving Judas Priest about records harbouring secret messages when played backwards. The plot focuses on Eddie Weinbauer; a heavy metal loving outcast who is devastated when his favourite rock star dies tragically in a hotel fire. Not content to just let it go, Eddie begins playing one of the dead rockers records backwards, and soon realises that he can communicate with him through said record. It's not long before Eddie is using his new found powers to get revenge on all those that wronged him...Naturally, this film has all manner of plot holes; but you can hardly fault it for that as Trick or Treat makes no attempt to be a 'serious' horror film anyway, and the film is much more fun to watch if you forget about any plot problems. It's clear that director Charles Martin Smith has a sense of humour; this is shown best during a hilarious sequence involving Ozzy Osbourne and a cameo as an anti-heavy metal priest! I cant really say that this film is 'about' heavy metal, but the music style at the centre does play more of a role than simply being a backdrop for the silly story; though if it's trying to make any sort of point, I'm not really sure what it is as the film pokes fun at those that condemn metal; but then features a heavy metal singer as the lead villain. Anyway, it's not too important. The film does feature a few good and interesting set-pieces, though there is a lack of blood and gore as the director seems to prefer dodgy eighties special effects. Anyway, this is hardly a great film and I doubt I'll remember much about it in a few weeks time; but its fun enough and I did enjoy it.