Disc Reviews
Trick or Treat Blu-ray Review
Halloween starts very early this month with relatively new boutique label Toy Robot releasing 80s all but forgotten cult Rocker Trick or Treat – Yes! Not to be confused with the Pumpkin Boy lead horror of the 2000s Trick R’ Treat.
No, this is the mid-80s metal slasher of sorts. Teenage high school metaler Marc Price finds himself picked on by the Jock faction of the school, and this is around the same time that his heavy metal idol, Sammi Curr has recently died. With a quick visit to cameo guest star Gene Simmons and one magic yet-to-be-released last metal record from the dead Curr later and soon Marc has tapped into hidden messages from playing records backwards and opens a whole can of fun revenge against the Jocks at school. But then Sammi keeps going further, and the playful pranks soon become deadly.
A third-act massacre at the Halloween school party is in the making, and only Marc can take his legend down.
This was a video hit back in the day. Tony Fields had an iconic persona on the front cover of the VHS. The film wasn’t particularly successful, but it is one that has become a cult favourite. If anything, there are some very distinct parallels with John Carpenter’s Christine – instead of the loner nerd having a car, it’s a dead Heavy Metal idol.
There are some very impressive extras on this single disc. Directors’ commentary, a 90-minute making-of documentary, and various audio interviews, and a delightful tribute to Metal God Demon actor Tony Fields who passed away in his 30s in the 1990s. Throw in publicity materials and a tie-in music video, and you have a pretty decent set of supplemental material to chew on.
Trick or Trick is definitely derivative of many films around it at the time, but it’s still a welcome addition, and this disc is a reason to keep an eye on what Toy Robot bring us in future!
Steven Hurst
SPECIAL FEATURES:
– Audio commentary with director Charles Martin Smith, moderated by filmmaker Mark Savage
– Audio interviews with writer/producer Michael S. Murphey and writer Rhet Topham, moderated by Michael Felsher
– Audio conversation with Paul Corupe and Allison Lang, authors of Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s
– Rock & Shock: The Making of Trick or Treat
– In The Spotlight: A Tribute to Tony Fields
– Horror’s Hallowed Grounds: The Filming Locations of Trick or Treat
– After Midnight, music video
– Stills Gallery featuring optional audio interview with photographer Phillip V. Caruso
– Theatrical Trailers, TV Spots, Radio Spots and Press Kit
Trick or Treat is released on 5th October