TRICK OR TREAT
1986, DeLaurentus Entertainment Group

DIRECTOR: Charles Martin Smith   
PRODUCER:  Michael S. Murphy and Joel Soisson

STARRING:  Marc Price,  Tony Fields,  Lisa Orgolini,   Doug Savant,  Elaine Joyce,  Gene Simmons,  Ozzy Osbourne.

Eddie Weinbauer has a problem:   As his high school's resident "metalhead", he is picked on constantly.  The jocks harass him in the halls, booby trap his milk so it spills all over him, and throw him out of the locker room stark naked, right in front of the girls who are playing volley ball.   And of course, the girl of his dreams, Leslie, is among the spectators when this happens.

However Eddie (also known as "Ragman") keeps his sanity by writing letters to his rock and roll hero, Sammi Curr.  See, Sammi grew up in Eddie's hometown and went to Eddie's high school, and he made it big.  This gives Eddie hope, and writing to Sammi gives Eddie a chance to pour out his soul, and makes him feel closer to his idol.  Eddie is more than a little upset, however, over the fact that the town council refused to let Sammi play a Halloween concert at Lakeridge High School.

That disappointment is nothing, though, compared to despair Eddie feels upon learning that Sammi has died, the victim of a hotel fire.  When Eddie hears this, he goes into an angry depression, ripping down the music posters from his wall.  When he reaches for the large poster of Sammi that dominates his room, however, he can't bring himself to destroy it.

The next morning Eddie goes to see Nuke, a DJ that was also a personal friend of Sammi's.  Nuke tries to comfort Eddie, trying to tell him that "Sammi did this to himself, he started to believe in his own hype" and that he was "always angry".  Nothing Nuke says seems to make any difference to Eddie, however, until the DJ gives him the master tape of Sammi Curr's last record, "Songs in the Key of Death" (clever, eh?).   Nuke tells Eddie that he is supposed to play it at midnight on Halloween, but that he's made a tape of the recording, so Eddie can have the original, saying that "Eddie would have wanted him to have it."

After enduring yet another cruel prank at the hands of the jocks, Eddie plays the record and discovers that it has some strange powers.  Sammi seems to be communicating with him when he plays the record backwards, instructing him as to how to get even with his tormenters.   Eddie follows the "advice" and does get over on the jocks.  This makes Eddie feel empowered, and it seems the more he listens to the record, the more of an upper hand he gets.  Eddie begins to get nervous, though, when his actions begin to have more harmful consequences, and he decides to stop doing Sammi's bidding.

Sammi has different plans, however, and he doesn't intend to let Eddie off the hook.  You see, Sammi is able to materialize through his music, and he is determined to do some REAL hell-raising!   He further warns Eddie: "You should be loyal to your heros;  They could turn on you."  Will Eddie be able to stop him, or will Sammi have his revenge on everyone in town?

RATING:      

TRICK OR TREAT is actually probably the only metal-connected horror movie that was made by the Hollywood mainstream, and it shows.  The acting is good, the effects are expensive, the film quality is excellent and the plot, while not exactly thought-provoking, is at least well put together.  The role of Eddie could have been cast better (Skippy as a metal head?   Come on!), but overall this movie is excellent.  And casting Ozzy Osbourne as a bible-thumping, rock music hating reverend is a hoot not to be lost on anyone!

The viewer sees Eddie's butt when he is thrown out of the boy's locker room, and there are some glimpses of topless girls in a pool. Later, a young lady falls under a spell and removes her shirt.

SCENES THAT MAKE ME GO "HMMM...,":

1. When Nuke gives Eddie the master tape, he tells him that it's "the only copy in the world."   A few minutes later, however, Nuke says that he's made a copy.   Which actually means that there are two copies, unless I've lost the ability to count!

2. When Eddie "sees" Sammi burning while listening to his album, Sammi's whole head is on fire.   However, when Sammi materializes later in the movie, he only has scars on half of his face.   And his hair didn't burn at all!   Go figure!

3. The singer/guitar player of the band gets zapped by Sammi Curr, but instead of freaking out and running away (or even wondering what happened to their lead singer) the remaining band members simply begin to play a Sammi tune.   I guess they must've been Boy Scouts -- "always prepared"!

DID YOU KNOW...,:

 -   The actor who portrayed Eddie Weinbauer is perhaps best known for playing another misfit, "Skippy" on the Michael J. Fox sitcom FAMILY TIES.

 -   The actor who played Sammi Curr was actually a "Solid Gold" dancer named Tony Fields.  Unfortunately, Tony died in 1995 from cancer.

 -  Doug Savant, who plays Tim Haney in TRICK OR TREAT, went on to portray "Matt" on TV's MELROSE PLACE.

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