TRICK OR TREAT (1986) (Red Shirt Pictures 4K Ultra HD Review + Blu-ray Screenshots)

TRICK OR TREAT (1986) 

Label: Red Shirt Pictures

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: R

Duration: 97 Minutes 12 Seconds 

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround, DTS-HD MA 2.0 Original Theatrical Audio with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: Dolby Vision HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 

Director: Charles Martin Smith

Cast: Marc Price, Tony Fields, Gene Simmons, Ozzy Osbourne, Leslie Graham, Glen Morgan, Elaine Joyce, Doug Savant 

Synopsis: Rock ‘n’ roll will never die, in this 1980s cult favorite that stars Marc Price (Family Ties) as Eddie Weinbauer, a teenage outcast who idolizes Sammi Curr (Tony Fields), a heavy metal superstar. After Sammi dies a violent death, his spirit returns to help Eddie get even with his high school tormentors. In doing so, Sammi begins to gain control over Eddie’s life and brings him deeper into the world of the occult. When Eddie realizes that he has become the tool of Sammi’s vengeance, he attempts to stop him, and the horrifying events that follow leave no one unscathed.

Trick Or Treat (1986) is gonna be one of those reviews wrapped in a nice warm layer of teen-nostalgia for me, I'm a rocker from way back and in the mid 80's I was a teen coming of age and totally into metal and horror, so this was catnip form first bite. I clearly remember first watching this one on VHS at a party at a classmates house, if I am not mistaken it was my first teenage, no-parents around, drinkin' beers and having fun sort of get together. I don't remember much about the party other than I watched this entire movie laying on the floor in the living room, that Jodi the girl hosting the party got really upset about something and ran crying into the nearby woods, and someone was annoyingly dropping Skittles into my can of Old Milwaukee and it started foaming over - that's literally all I remember about the party, and that's enough, because I love this freakin' movie! 

In Trick Or Treat we have a teenage metal-head named Eddie Weinbauer (Marc Price, Skippy from TV's Family Ties!), he's a bit of a loner and is completely devastated when he find out his shock-rocker hero Sammi Curr (the late Tony Fields) has just died in a mysterious hotel fire - you know he is because he goes into his room and tears down nearly all his metal posters in an anger-spree! Sammi Curr was a hometown kid made good, having attended the same school as Eddie years earlier, Lakeridge High School, so that his hero was incinerated in a fire is a major bummer. 

Mourning his metal-hero Eddie heads to the local radio station to seek comfort from his friend, a rock DJ named Nuke, played by Gene Simmons (Red Surf) of rockers Kiss, who gives the teen Curr's last, and as of yet unreleased, final album, giving him the only existing copy, an test pressing. With this exclusive slice of vinyl in his hands he runs home and gives it a spin, accidentally discovering a series of backwards messages hidden in the grooves. Strangely, the messages seem to be aimed at specifically at him, sort of helping him get his revenge on a group testosterone fueled bullies at school, lead by typical 80's asshole (sort of a James Spader-lite type) named Tim (Doug Savant, Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence). 

Under the demonic influence of Curr from beyond the grave Eddie begins to change for the worse, becoming a bit of a mean-spirited asshole himself, almost killing douche-nozzle Tim in metal shop, but realizing the evil-influence Eddie tries to separate himself from the evil record, but the rocker manifests himself one night in Eddie' room, appearing in a zap of electricity like he's Horace Pinker from Wes Craven's Shocker (1989). The movie culminates with  the evil-rocker appearing at the school's Halloween concert at his high school Alma mater with the kids believing it's part of some weird  Sammi Curr tribute show, and Eddie trying to stop it before he kills everyone.

I have always loved heavy metal horror and this is one of my favorites. It was the unlikely directorial debut of actor Charles Martin Smith (Starman) and written by writers Glen Morgan (who plays Eddie's best friend in the movie) and James Wong who went onto work on the X-Files and the Final Destination series, the movie is chock full of 80's cheese but in a really enjoyable way. I don't know who thought to cast Skippy from TV's Family Ties as a teen rocker, but they're geniuses. Back in the day I thought it was odd, having remembered him as Skippy from Family Ties, but that's all part of the charm, his dweebiness is something I could relate to as I was a bit of high school outsider myself, totally metal but also sort of a dork, it's good casting if you want a misfit. 

The cheese factor is strong with this one, but the gore is seriously lacking with hardly any blood of any kind, there's some gooey horror with a teen girl being molested by a demon while listening to a cassette tape of Curr's music, a scene that also offering some nudity, so that's appreciated, but if they had managed to squeeze some more gore (and a bit more nudity) it maybe would have pushed it to the next level. What it lacks in gore it more than makes up for in makes up for in ridiculous fun, such as a montage of the bullies chasing Eddie through the school, tripping them up with mop buckets and chairs, sending one flying into stairwell at full speed, and causing bully Tim to burst into the teacher's lounge and spray the teachers with a fire extinguisher, fun 80's stuff like that always brings a smile to my face. This movie totally met me where I was at in '86, Eddie's roomed festooned in W.A.S.P., Ozzy Osbourne, Twisted Sister, Anthrax, Lizzy Borden and Judas Priest posters, and LPs from Megadeth, Savatage, Motley Crue, Exciter - damn, that WASA my bedroom in '86! I love Eddie's somewhat awkward style, his hair is a shaggy mess, he's mixing in some punk with his metal via that Alternative Tentacles t-shirt, and that soundtrack! On top of those flourishes that appealed to me we have a atmospheric score from Christopher Young (Drag Me To Hell), but the real banger is the tunes from English hard rockers Fastway, featuring former Motörhead guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke, and was their last album to feature original singer and future Flogging Molly singer Dave King, every damn track is a total 80s hard rock banger.

REVERSIBLE ARTWORK 

Audio/Video: Trick Or Treat (1986) gets a region-free 4K Ultra HD from Red Shirt Pictures, presented with a 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative mastered in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) and approved by Academy Award-winning Director of Photography Robert Elswit (There Will be Blood), presented in 2160p UHD, framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. Wow, I've watched this for far too long in a pan and scan 1.33:1 framed DVD for years, and what a revelation! Grain structures are nicely intact and refined, texture and detail impresses, and the colors aided and abetted by some tasteful HDR10 Dolby Vision color-grading are highly satisfying, offering punchier highlights and deep inky blacks with refined contrast and depth. There are some source material limitations, the lighting in a few shots is not ideal, so shadow detail can suffer a bit, but this is still light years above what's been available previously. 

Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround or the 2.0 Original Theatrical Audio mix, both are rock solid, coming through clean and well-balanced, dialogue is delivered with aplomb, and the score and tracks from Fastway sounds absolutely killer.   

This release is stacked with extras, we start off with an 

Audio commentary with director Charles Martin Smith, moderated by filmmaker Mark Savage, plus two interview tracks that play like a commentary, those being an Audio interviews with writer/producer Michael S. Murphey and writer Rhet Topham, moderated by film historian Michael Felsher; plus an Audio conversation with Paul Corupe and Allison Lang, authors of Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s. These are all terrific, and I love that they tackle the film from different perspectives, so combined they really offer a broad, deep-diving examination of the film, it's production, behind-the-scenes and anecdotes, and putting it into context of the Satanic Panic of the 80's. 

The centerpiece of the extras is easily the feature-length Red Shirt Pictures produced making of/retrospective doc Rock & Shock: The Making of Trick Or Treat - An all-new retrospective featuring director Charles Martin Smith, actors Marc Price, Glen Morgan, Elise Richards, and Larry Sprinkle, writer/producer Joel Soisson, costume designer Jill Ohanneson, assistant set costumer Francine Decoursey, construction foreman Tom Jones, Jr., special make-up effects artist Everett Burrell, music executive producer Stephen E. Smith, composer Christopher Young, and a special appearance by Gene Simmons. This sucker runs 81-min in length and gets into all teh facets of the film, from the Satanic Panic and the PMRC movements that inspired it, the writing of the script, casting, locations, reception, memories of working with the late Tony Fields who dies far too young, and much more.

The 15-min In The Spotlight: A Tribute to Tony Fields, featuring interviews with the late actor’s mother, sisters,  aunt, cousin and friends reminiscing about his life, spirit and career. 

We also get an episode of Horror's Hallowed Grounds: The Filming Locations of trick Or Treat with Sean Clark that runs about 27-min  as he tours the North Carolina locations including schools, houses, streets, and the former De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) studios in Wilmington. 

Disc extras are buttoned-up with the 4-min Fastway “After Midnight” Music Video; 2 Theatrical Trailers, 2 TV Spots, 3 Radio Spots; an extensive 25-min Still Gallery featuring optional audio interview with still photographer Phillip V. Caruso with stills, behind-the-scenes pics, and home video and music releases, plus the original 5-min Vintage Electronic Press Kit.

The single-disc standard release 4K Ultra HD arrives in a black keepcase with a Reversible Wrap, tucked away inside is the new 2025 Synapse Films Product Catalog. 

 

Special Features: 
- 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative mastered in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) and approved by Academy Award-winning Director of Photography Robert Elswit (There Will Be Blood)
- Lossless English DTS-HD Master Audio of the original 2.0 Theatrical Mix and an all-new 5.1 Surround Sound Mix with Optional English Subtitles
- 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 film historian 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 - An all-new retrospective featuring director Charles Martin Smith, actors Marc Price, Glen Morgan, Elise Richards, and Larry Sprinkle, writer/producer Joel Soisson, costume designer Jill Ohanneson, assistant set costumer Francine Decoursey, construction foreman Tom Jones, Jr., special make-up effects artist Everett Burrell, music executive producer Stephen E. Smith, composer Christopher Young, and a special appearance by Gene Simmons (81:17) 
- In The Spotlight: A Tribute to Tony Fields, featuring interviews with the late actor’s family and friends (15:08) 
- Horror's Hallowed Grounds: The Filming Locations of TRICK OR TREAT with Sean Clark (26:31) 
- Fastway “After Midnight” Music Video (3:47) 
- 2 Theatrical Trailers (3:37)

- 2 TV Spots (1:08) 

- 3 Radio Spots (2:01) 
- Still Gallery featuring optional audio interview with still photographer Phillip V. Caruso (24:28) 
- Vintage Electronic Press Kit (5:10) 
- Limited edition o-card available on FIRST PRESSING ONLY!

As heavy metal horror goes Trick Or Treat (1986) is easily a top five for me; sure, it could have been bloodier and more gruesome, a few more boobs, but even still it's a rock n' roll blast. On top of that the pace is brisk, and the soundtrack fucking awesome. After years of fans clamoring for it, it's great to see this classic slice of heavy metal horror gets the deluxe treatment from Red Shirt Pictures and Synapse Films finally, I could not recommend this more, this release is a necessity. 

Also, before I get usual emails telling me I should have got the one of the Deluxe Limited Set, I did. I own the B option with the killer Devon Whitehead artwork, the gorgeous set was limited to 6,666 copies, only 2,222 of each of the exclusive slipboxes were made available. Those sets which are now long sold out were 2-disc edition with the 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and a CD soundtrack album with Exclusive limited-edition chipboard slipcase packaging featuring artworks by Justin Osbourn, Sean Longmore and Devon Whitehead, with Illustrated collector’s booklet containing essays by Michael Gingold, Samm Deighan and Michael Felsher, Six double sided collector’s cards, and Fold-out double-sided Sammi Curr fan poster. It is glorious, but fear not, Red Short Pictures and Synapse Films git you covered with standard release versions in separate 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray editions, but they have the same disc extras, just no packaging ephemera and CD soundtrack. 

Screenshots from the Synapse Films Blu-ray: 

Extras: 

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