Trick or Treat

"What are you afraid of? It's only rock & roll."

1986 1h 37m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 205

HorrorMusicThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Eddie Weinbauer, a metalhead teen who is bullied at school, looks to his heavy metal superstar idol, Sammi Curr, for guidance. When Curr is killed in a hotel fire, Eddie becomes the recipient of the only copy of his unreleased album, which, when played backwards, brings the rocker back to life. As Halloween approaches, Eddie begins to realize that this isn't only rock 'n roll...It's life and death.

“What are you afraid of? It's only rock & roll.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Marc Price
Eddie Weinbauer
Tony Fields
Sammi Curr
Lisa Orgolini
Leslie Graham
Doug Savant
Tim Hainey
Elaine Joyce
Angie Weinbauer
Glen Morgan
Roger Mockus
Gene Simmons
Nuke
Ozzy Osbourne
Rev. Aaron Gilstrom

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Charles Martin Smith
Writers: Rhet Topham, Rhet Topham, Michael S. Murphey
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

40 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Charles Martin Smith, shot by Robert Elswit. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Christopher Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jane Schwartz Jaffe shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Marc Price and Tony Fields and Lisa Orgolini carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "What are you afraid of? It's only rock & roll.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0092112 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Charles Martin Smith directs. Robert Elswit behind the camera. Christopher Young scores. Jane Schwartz Jaffe cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

140 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Charles Martin Smith, shot by Robert Elswit. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Christopher Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Jane Schwartz Jaffe shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Marc Price and Tony Fields and Lisa Orgolini carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "What are you afraid of? It's only rock & roll.".
7IMDB entry: tt0092112 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Elswit
Original score: Christopher Young
Editing: Jane Schwartz Jaffe
Production design: Curtis A. Schnell
Costume design: Jill M. Ohanneson
Makeup / hair: Kevin Yagher
Stunt coordinator: Dan Bradley
Runtime: 97 min · 1h 37m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $6,797,218
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Trick or Treat (1986)

Also by

Charles Martin Smith

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2019-11-02
★ 8/10
Well done mid-80's teen/horror with a rockin' soundtrack "Trick or Treat" (1986) is a coming-of-age horror flick that mixes elements of "Christine" (1983), "Carrie" (1976) and the first two Freddy Krueger movies, but it strangely never attained the popularity of those films, which explains why there wasn’t a sequel. Like "Christine" and "Carrie," the plot revolves around a semi-outcast in high school being persecuted by the popular crowd and the compulsion to get revenge. In this case, metalhead Eddie Weinbauer (Marc Price) enlists the aid of a dead satanic rock star, Sammi Curr, through the backmasking on a special edition of one of Curr's albums. Gene Simmons of KISS appears as a DJ for a few minutes and Ozzy Osbourne has two ironic scenes as a conservative preacher denouncing rock/metal for a total of a minute. Lisa Orgolini (Leslie) and Elise Richards (Genie) are both beautiful and stand out as the two main girls in the story, although they shoulda done more with both. The songs on the soundtrack are by Fastway and are reminiscent of mid-80's bands like Motley Crue, AC/DC, KISS and the pop-side of Priest. They're simple-yet-catchy hair metal ditties with the corresponding hanging chords and anthemic choruses. Fastway’s fourth album TRICK OR TREAT featured these songs and was released just after the movie. Here’s a little history on it: singer David King decided to leave the band after the failure of their third album, which was very different from the first two, being keyboard-drenched AOR. Then the opportunity to do the soundtrack for "Trick or Treat" was presented to guitarist/main-man Fast Eddie Clarke in 1985 (he was the original guitarist for Motorhead). Eddie promptly contacted David King to give him the news and asked if he'd do this album before leaving the band and he agreed. Somehow the catchy simplistic style of this album worked and it unexpectedly became Fastway’s best-selling release. Unfortunately, they were basically screwed over and didn't reap much financial reward so King was intent on leaving for other musical pastures. Eddie's new version(s) of Fastway never recovered their initial momentum. What a shame. They coulda been a contenda if King hadn’t bailed. BOTTOM LINE: While "Trick or Treat" may not technically be as good as "Christine" or "Carrie," it's actually better in some ways and is more rewatchable. The villain, the quasi-resurrected Sammi Curr, is great; he looks and behaves like a mixture of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Blackie Lawless, Nikki Sixx and Dee Snyder (I’d include KD, but he basically just ripped off Gene). Too bad the movie didn't become a franchise because Sammi Curr has the ee-vil charisma to give Freddy Krueger a run for his money. While the set-up of the story is compelling, the second half fumbles a bit and meanders, but this is made up by the rockin' mid-80's soundtrack, the quality protagonist, the kick-axx villain, the two girls and the cameos by Gene & Ozzy. The film runs 1 hour, 38 minutes, and was shot in Wilmington, NC. GRADE: B+/A-

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