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| Courtesy of DEG Entertainment Group |
Character actor Charles Martin Smith,
best remembered for his nerdy face in the George Lucas coming-of-age homage to
the 1950s American Graffiti before taking on such iconic roles as Starman
and The Untouchables, is the last person you’d ever consider being
associated with the horror genre. Well
after years of experience in acting in front of the camera, Smith decided to
take a stab at working behind the camera and as fate would have it, his debut
was in fact of the horror genre. Produced
by the DEG Entertainment Group founded by Dino De Laurentiis, the aptly named Trick
or Treat was among the first of a series of films which sought to carve out
their own niche in what became known as heavy-metal horror.
Featuring glorified cameos from KISS
frontman Gene Simmons and Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osbourne in a
hilarious bit as a conservative pundit decrying the evils of heavy metal rock-and-roll
on a talk show, Trick or Treat or Ragman or Death at 33 RPM zeroes
in on Eddie (Mar Price), a high-school social outcast whose only solace is diving
into heavy-metal music. After his music
idol Sammi Curr (Tony Fields), a demonic heavy-metal rock star, dies in a
mysterious fire a local disc jockey friend of Eddie’s named DJ Nuke (an unrecognizable
Gene Simmons) provides him with the last surviving vinyl record released by the
late rocker.
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| Courtesy of DEG Entertainment Group |
Upon playing the record at home,
mysterious paranormal activities occur and further upon playing the record
backwards, it summons his deceased hero’s undead soul who proceeds to wreak
unholy havoc on the school, his bullies and any and all who come into contact
with him. For awhile Eddie enjoys his
newfound powers afforded by his otherworldly “friend”, but soon his idol’s
intentions become more mercurial with more and more people dropping dead in
inexplicably gruesome ways thanks to soon to be Freddy Krueger and Tales
from the Crypt effects designer Kevin Yagher. Soon the film builds towards a high-school Halloween
party that goes terribly awry and will remind many of the infamous black prom
concluding Brian De Palma’s Carrie.
Simultaneously a paean to heavy-metal
music and its listening demographic as well as a horror/comedy of sorts about
the corruptive nature of absolute power, Trick or Treat is a forgotten
80s long-haired metal horror with a most unlikely set of characters involved in
it. Despite numerous rewrites, the film
brought together an enormous amount of technical talents some of whom would go
on to win Oscars like legendary Paul Thomas Anderson cinematographer Robert Elswit. The film also features an original co-written
score by the band Fastway and eventual Hellraiser composer
Christopher Young.
Partially an old-fashioned 80s horror
film loaded chock full with 80s heavy metal tracks including but not limited to
the main character’s room being adorned with posters of everyone from Judas
Priest to Twisted Sister, Motley Crue and Poison, Trick or Trick intends
to scare you but mostly makes you wind up rocking out and banging your long
haired head.
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| DEG Entertainment Group |
Mar Price as the film’s protagonist who
switches freely from being the hero to the villain and then back again, does a
reasonably good job portraying the ostracized dork who wants to be included but
also can’t let go of his love for angry anti-establishment 80s metal. The film’s real star is Tony Fields who all
but brings the undead evil rocker Sammi Curr back to enraged and ferocious life. So frightening is the rocker onscreen, he
arguably makes those he’s paying homage to run for their lives.
Remembered more for being a staple of
the short-lived (but still semi-ongoing) heavy-metal horror subgenre and having
one Hell of a kickass rock and roll soundtrack this side of The Return of the Living Dead, Trick or Treat for all of its technical bravura
mostly faded into obscurity before reappearing on cheap bargain bin DVDs. A shame as what is here is a solid piece of a
largely forgotten subgenre whose popularity is only starting to renew itself
now.
Mostly, while the music world was
reckoning with how to deal with 80s heavy-metal rock and their front men, Trick
or Treat offered up a snarky riposte to those very pundits trying to do
away with what was then a popular and beloved form of rock music. Moreover, it says it is perfectly okay to be
scared by and still have fun with supposedly then-dangerous heavy-metal
music.
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| Courtesy of DEG Entertainment Group |
In the years since its release,
Charles Martin Smith has moved as far away as possible from the horror genre,
doing mostly family friendly fare ala Air Bud and most recently A Dog’s
Way Home. Looking at the actor and
his subsequent oeuvre, you’d never know he started out making a heavy-metal
horror film, but he did and it is kind of awesome.
--Andrew Kotwicki
