I unabashedly love the 1986 heavy metal and satanic panic horror movie Trick or Treat. Not to be confused with Michael Dougherty’s now iconic, but then underrated 2007 anthology film of the same name or the more understandably forgotten about 1982 slasher parody Trick or Treats, this 1986 offering from then actor turned novice filmmaker Charles Martin Smith hits a perfect sweet spot of 80s nostalgia for me. Impeccable 80s aesthetics and themes? Check. A bunch of unexpected cameos? Check. The leading man featured heavily on a successful sitcom? Check. Gratuitous sex and violence? Check and check. A production backstory full of clever trivia tidbits? Check. An iconic slasher villain? Oh, boy, you better believe that’s a check. Long out of print on DVD (where it admittedly had an endearingly awful looking and poorly framed transfer), Synapse Films has finally released Trick or Treat on 4K Ultra-HD, Blu-Ray, and DVD for a new generation of potential fans to discover, and for genre buffs like myself to immediately add to their collections. I like to think I manifested this re-release. I prayed to the gods of metal for it every day for years. (Note: that may or may not be true, but I’m just really happy it exists.)
High school outcast Eddie “Ragman” Weinbauer (Family Ties’ Marc Price) is really friggin’ bummed, man. The metal loving nerd has just suffered a major loss: the death of his rock idol Sammi Curr (Tony Fields), who died in a “mysterious” hotel room fire. The megastar was supposed to play a Halloween show at the local high school, until the morality police, those dopes in Congress who hate metal, and, you know, the death thing derailed it. One of Ragman’s only true friends, a local radio DJ (KISS legend Gene Simmons, doing his best Wolfman Jack impression), offers the young man some solace. The DJ loans Ragman the original acetate copy of Sammi Curr’s final recording, Songs in the Key of Death, which is set to premiere on Halloween. Ragman eagerly throws the record on, and strange things start to happen to the bullies that wronged him and other people in his life. Ragman discovers that the record contains subliminal messages that speak directly to him, and that he has unwittingly become a conduit through which Sammi Curr can continue his deadly metal mission of destruction.
The first time I ever actually heard the iconic phrase “death to false metal” was in Trick or Treat, even though it was originated by genre stalwarts Manowar. I wasn’t a huge metalhead at the time (or now, although I have been known to dabble in it), but the vibe of that line and how it plays into the ludicrously fantastical slasher plot of Trick or Treat has eternally endeared itself to me. In an era where hair metal ruled the radio and MTV, Sami Curr (one of the most on the nose names for a satanic aligned rocker ever) represented the true headbangers of the era. Or maybe he didn’t. I wasn’t old enough at the time to really appreciate whatever Trick or Treat was trying to say about “modern music” (I was, like, six, dude) or the moral panic it caused among conservatives. What I cared about was getting a lively, enjoyably silly experience that always deftly straddled the line between serious slasher and self parody.
Trick or Treat was produced by Dino De Laurentiis’s company DEG, which by this point, after a string of high profile failures, was on borrowed time. The casting of Price in the lead was meant to court some mainstream appeal, but he didn’t have the same name value as some of the other actors on Family Ties. Cameos from the likes of Simmons and Ozzy Osborne (as a televangelist speaking out against metal in a memorable sequence) helped to add some street credibility. It was the first time behind the camera for character actor Smith, who had previously appeared in the likes of American Graffiti, Starman, and Never Cry Wolf, and would go on to direct more family themed fare like the original Air Bud and the Dolphin Tale movies. Released at a time when the appetite for slasher flicks was slowly starting to wane, everything about the construction of Trick or Treat – complete with a teen friendly, MTV ready sense of marketability – reads like the machinations of a studio that was keen to crank out a low budget hit.
And while the film, like many DEG productions of the era (Maximum Overdrive, King Kong Lives, Million Dollar Mystery), never set the world on fire, Trick or Treat holds up perfectly today as a delightful genre time capsule. Martin commits fully to the premise and heightened tonal awareness of the script, which included credited input from genre veteran Joel Soisson and uncredited polishes from future X-Files and Final Destination writers James Wong and Glenn Morgan, the latter of whom also makes their only acting appearance as Ragman’s loyal, but dorky best friend, Roger.
Everyone on screen and behind the scenes is fully aware of the inherent silliness of Trick or Treat, and they gleefully lean into cliches and tropes genre fans have seen plenty of times before. (A scene where Ragman is outrunning his bullies through the high school hallways only needs the Benny Hill theme to be a work of honest comedic gold.) But in the case of Martin’s film, the thing they are subtly lampooning is ripe for parody itself. Complaints about heavy music being demonic or damaging always hit the same points themselves, never saying anything new or substantive. It’s a film that’s dumb as a box of rocks, but it also never speaks down to the audience or punishes them for liking what they like.
The tunes of the evil Sammi Curr, provided by the band Fastway (which along its varied existence included members of Motörhead, Humble Pie, Flogging Molly, and Ozzy Osborne’s band), were sufficiently catchy, making the soundtrack and modest hit in comparison to the film’s modest flopping. But the real star of Trick or Treat is the man playing Curr, stage legend and sought after dancer Tony Fields. Best known for appearing in the Michael Jackson videos for “Thriller” and “Beat It” and a turn in Richard Attenborough’s big screen adaptation of A Chorus Line in 1985, Fields brought a unique physicality and undeniable star presence to the character of Sammi Curr. Snarling, growling, and glowering with malicious glee, Fields cut an imposing figure that should’ve launched him into the upper echelons of horror movie villains. Rightfully, Fields steals the show and delivers an iconic, star making performance. Sadly, Fields died in 1995 at the young age of 36, a result of AIDS related cancer. One of the best features on Synapse’s disc is a heartfelt tribute to the actor, who deserved a lot more recognition that he received during his lifetime.
The rest of the 4K release is equally impressive, particularly the massively upgraded look at sound. The remastered 2.0 and brand new 5.1 sound mixes hit hard (even though I’m still partial to the old school soundtrack it was originally presented with). The 4K transfer is more gorgeous than this film might deserve, probably because it was overseen by the film’s cinematographer, Robert Elswit, who would go on to win an Oscar for There Will Be Blood, in addition to filming the likes of Magnolia, Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and The Town. (Yet another reason to love the talent that went into making something that was shrugged off as schlock at the time.) Martin provides a gregarious and informative commentary track (moderated by fellow filmmaker Mark Savage), and there is an outstanding retrospective set of interviews with a large amount of the cast and crew that gives a wonderful and sometimes humorous overview of the shooting process.
It’s an embarrassment of riches for a film that has always felt like an undiscovered gem to me. It’s effortlessly watchable popcorn movie fare that could be watched as seriously or ironically as one wants to with equal satisfaction. Since I discovered its existence a couple of decades ago, it has been one of my go to movies for when I just want a silly bit of entertainment. I would make references to it more if I knew people who have actually seen it. Maybe now, everyone else can get aboard the Trick or Treat train.
Trick or Treat is now available on 4K UltraHD Blu-Ray, regular Blu-Ray, and DVD from Synapse Films.
