Hooptober XII | 31/31 | Extra Credit 3/3
There’s nothing in the rule books that says you can’t summon a dead rock icon through a record.
Go, bear these tidings to great Lucifer. Say Faustus doth surrender up his soul, so he will spare him four and twenty years to give me whatsoever I shall ask, to tell me whatsoever I demand, to slay my enemies and aid my friends, and always be obedient to my will.
A poster of Sammi Curr hangs over a shelf full of studded belts, books, and magazines on rock music, and a Judas Priest calendar. Eddie, who calls himself Ragman, is a heavy-metal nerd and a student at Lakeridge High. At school, the jocks relentlessly bully Eddie in elaborate and humiliating ways. He lay on his bed, writing a letter to Sammi Curr, his rock and roll idol, who keeps Eddie afloat, in part because Sammi also went to Lakeridge High and rose to stardom. Sammi was scheduled to perform at the school’s Halloween Party Festival, but his provocative lyrics and controversial persona led the town council to cancel the concert.
On this morning’s news, Eddie sees that Sammi died in a hotel fire. He visits Nuke, a radio DJ and a former classmate of Sammi. Nuke knew the angry kid behind the Sammi Curr persona, and he wasn’t the hero that kids like Eddie made him out to be. But Nuke will still fulfill a wish of Sammi’s — Nuke has the studio demo of Sammi’s unreleased last record, Songs in the Key of Death, and is going to play it at midnight on Halloween. Nuke’s made a tape copy for the radio show, so he gives Eddie the demo.
After another cruel trick from the jocks, Eddie returns home to listen to the Sammi record. As he closes his eyes, he sees images of the hotel fire and hears a voice speaking backwards. All metalheads know about backmasking, so he plays the record backwards. The message is directly to Ragman, and it is a plan to get revenge on the bullies that terrorize folks like Eddie and Sammi. Not only that, but Eddie can talk to Sammi through the record.
Eddie’s all in on the revenge plot. But what will it cost him? What will happen when Eddie wants to stop, but Sammi doesn’t?
This movie has some absolutely killer special effects. So many sick practical effects — not just gore, but possessed stereos, warping TVs, lightning spewing all over the place. They also do some of those animated effects for Sammi’s ghostly doings. Kevin Yagher of Nightmare on Elm Street fame worked on the effects, if that is any indicator.
That said, horror fans will likely complain about the lack of genuine scares. As one reviewer said, “this one plays better as a musical spin on a supernatural teen outsider revenge film like ‘The Craft’ than anything ‘actually’ scary.” But the movie has some honest-to-god laughs, some of them quite dark!
So maybe this movie is more cozy than brilliant, but I had a fun time!
Stray Thoughts / Spoilers
- If my joke at the top doesn’t make sense, director Charles Martin Smith also directed Air Bud.
- Cinematographer Robert Elswitt worked on this — the movie looks quite good!
- I much prefer the international title, Death at 33 RPM. Trick or Treat is so generic!
- Marc Price is such a great lead for this movie. He has a boyish sincerity that makes you empathize with him.
- Gene Simmons shows up as Nuke and does his best Wolfman Jack impersonation.
- Ozzy Osbourne as Reverend Aaron Gilstrom.
- The possessed stereo is so sick! I love the light effects and the hands reaching through the speakers.
- PULLING ALICE NUNN THROUGH THE TV!
- So, the teens like hair metal, but they just don’t like hair metal fans?
- Tim is seriously trying to get laid while the school is on fire?
- — “What are you doing?” — “I’m coming with you!” — “Why?” — “I don’t know!”