The F*cking Black Sheep: Trick or Treat (1986)

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

THE BLACK SHEEP is an ongoing column featuring different takes on films that either the writer HATED, but that the majority of film fans LOVED, or that the writer LOVED, but that most others LOATH. We’re hoping this column will promote constructive and geek fueled discussion. Dig in!

“Wake up sleepy heads, it’s party time!”

TRICK OR TREAT (1986)

 DIRECTED BY CHARLES MARTIN SMITH

Hell yeah friends, with Rocktober officially underway, it’s high time we look forward to All Hallow’s Eve with a bang. A mother*cking head-bang, that is!

One of the coolest and most stylish Halloween-related horror flicks very few people seem to talk about, at least anymore, is the riotous 1986 rock-shocker TRICK OR TREAT, the feature debut of director Charles Martin Smith. But don’t get it twisted, this movie is beyond badass, and it's a f*cking travesty it hasn't been released on DVD yet. One of the reasons it's so killer is in the way it takes a relatively simple high-school revenge tale and injects it with the thrilling electricity and raw ferocity of the overpowering music to which the story is set against, heavy metal. The flick not only uses, to great effect, original mid-80s metal cuts from the band Fastway, but the menacing music and its murderous means are precisely what becomes most integral to the plot. The method IS the madness! With killer cameos from rock icons, Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne – one heartfelt, the other hilarious – TRICK OR TREAT is at once a lost mid-80s horror jewel, as well as one of the best Halloween horror flicks that do NOT include Michael Myers. Discounted, dismissed and deeply disrespected, here’s why TRICK OR TREAT is a F*cking Black Sheep!

It starts with the story conceit, which amounts to arguably the most original Halloween horror flick since Carpenter’s 1978 classic. Written by Rhet Topham (976-EVIL), Joel Soisson (PIRANHA 3DD), and Michael Murphy (THE SUPERNATURALS), an overtly, however dark, comedic bent backdrops the proceedings. A lovable loser named Eddie (Mark Price, aka Skippy from Family Ties), who loves nothing more than his heavy metal collection and favorite rock icon, Sammi Curr (Tony Fields), is badly bullied at school. A real dick-face named Tim (Doug Savant) strips Eddie’s towel in gym class and shoves the poor kid into the girl’s workout room. Eddie’s nude Polaroid is snapped and soon he’s the laughing stock of the school. At home, Eddie learns Curr died after succumbing to a fast and hard lifestyle, which sends him into a depressive tailspin. Eddie’s homey, Roger (Glen Morgan, who not only did script rewrites, but would quit acting after this film and become writer/producer of The X-Files, FINAL DESTINATION, etc.), tries to cheer him up, but to no real avail.

Eddie visits his DJ pal, Nuke (Gene Simmons, who turned down the role of Sammi Curr to pay homage to his childhood hero, DJ Wolfman Jack), who gives him the final recording of Curr. Nuke tells Eddie to wait to play the record at midnight on Halloween. Eddie can hardly wait. One of the creepy-cool parts of the film is the way in which Eddie decodes the hidden messages on the back-masking of Curr’s album, “Songs in the Key of Death” (riffing on the famous Stevie Wonder album). The Satanic connotations we’ve come to understand about subliminal music – a la Manson and The Beatles’ Helter Skelter – is not only ahead of its time, cinematically, it’s also quite unnerving to listen to as well. Anyway, it soon becomes clear that Sammi’s vengeful spirit is resurrecting through his music, using Eddie as a conduit to the real world, before ultimately materializing as a disfigured rock-zombie. There is great dramatic tension between Eddie and his unconditional love of Sammi, and Eddie’s ability to recognize wrong from right and act, however upsetting to Sammi, according to his conscience.

One of the things I’ve always loved about TRICK OR TREAT is how, for the first half-hour, it does not feel like much of a horror film at all, but rather a compelling music-centric teenage-angst film. I mean, Halloween doesn’t even occur until about halfway into the film, when a crucial Halloween dance becomes a central set-piece for Sammi to unleash his sinister wrath. Therefore, as in the best horror films, the terror unfolds naturally, secondarily, as it derives from the dramatic setup of the first act. And thanks to the splendid casting of Price as Eddie the outcast, we immediately relate to him, feel bad for the way he’s poorly treated, and want desperately to see him triumph in the end. Even when Eddie starts to become cooler in the eyes of his peers, it comes at the cost of, if not turning into a ruthless killer, at least complicit in aiding and abetting one. That is, Eddie becomes more complicated as the film progresses, and no matter the outside influences, must find it in himself to do what’s right

As for the musical menace, there are at least two scenes that stand out as deserving more credit than they have over the years. First, let’s contextualize the music. The soundtrack is comprised of original songs written and performed by the band Fastway, which included former Motorhead guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke, and Flogging Molly lead-singer Dave King. Word is W.A.S.P. front-man Blackie Lawless was up for the role of Sammi Curr and was even willing to compose the soundtrack. However, once producers said he’d have to lip-synch to Fastway’s music, Lawless proudly declined. As for Ozzy, he hilariously shows up playing against type as a TV reverend railing against heavy metal as the devil’s music. To see him play the part with deadpan glee, buttoned up in a long-shirt and tie with tightly cropped hair is too rich for even the non-metal fan to sneer at. Shit’s pure comedic gold!

With that said, it’s the macabre musical menace that makes the movie so damn memorable. Two specific scenes standout in this regard, and frankly, we’re not sure either could be filmed nowadays. The first instance comes when a sexy nubile begins to play the accursed cassette tape in her car alone. The sensual score begins to arouse the young lady to the point of masturbatory bliss. As she begins touching herself to the metal soundtrack, glowing neon-green energy starts to emanate from the cassette. The poor gal is seduced by the sinister sounds until she finally opens her eyes and peers at what sits before her: a slavering Zuul-like beastly quadruped with a thirst for fresh blood! It’s a jaw-dropper if ever there was one!

But if the quasi-rape scene’s a jaw-dropper, the dance-scene denouement is an absolute head-shredder! In what is clearly the coolest and most violent moment in the film, Sammi finally returns to the stage during the school Halloween dance. As most people assume it’s just some knucklehead in a Curr costume, Sammi’s undead visage cranks the high-wattage intensity to volume 10! This mother*cker starts shooting electric lightning bolts from his plugged-in guitar, viscerally shocking to death a parade full of bullying bastards and innocents alike in one fell swoop. It’s where the music and the means (electricity, energy) converge in the most organic way imaginable as relates to the overarching plot. Eddie gets his revenge on behalf of Sammi and does so through the very music that inspired the entire story, to begin with. Sounds simple, I know, but this is a testament to a well-written screenplay that sets us up and knocks us down by the final reel.

All in all, TRICK OR TREAT deserves to have a better reputation among not just horror fans, but Halloween horror flicks as well. One of the reasons it’s remained in obscurity is the rights and licensing issues surrounding the music. In 2006, Anchor Bay tried to release a 20th anniversary DVD, but couldn’t get the rights to do so. This has helped to keep kept movie out of the public eye. But make no mistake, with a badass, charged-up 80s metal soundtrack, an anarchic rock-n-roll vibe, a solid central performance, at least two electric stints of germane violence, and Ozzy F*cking Osbourne, TRICK OR TREAT is a F*cking Black Sheep!

GET TRICK OR TREAT SOUNDTRACK HERE