TRICK OR TREAT

(director: Charles Martin Smith; screenwriters: story by Rhet Topham/Rhet Topham/Michael S. Murphey/Joel Soisson; cinematographer: Robert Elswit; editor: Jane Schwartz Jaffe; music: Christopher Young/Fastway; cast: Tony Fields(Sammi Curr), Gene Simmons (Nuke), Marc Price (Eddy), Ozzy Osbourne (Rev. Gilstrom), Lisa Orgolini (Leslie), Elaine Joyce (Angie), Doug Savant (Tim Hainy, school bully), Glen Morgan (Roger Mockus), Charles Martin Smith (Teacher); Runtime: 97; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Michael S. Murphey/Joel Soisson; Lorimar Home Video; 1987)

“It plays out as an inane comic horror treat.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

An absurd premise keeps this Charles Martin Smith(“Stone of Destiny”/”Air Bud”/”Dolphin Tale”) directed film, the actor’s first directorial effort, from hitting any high notes. It’s based on a story by Rhet Topham, and is written by Topham, Michael S. Murphey and Joel Soisson.

Heavy metal rocker Sammi Curr (Tony Fields), dressed like a Kiss member, dies in a mysterious hotel fire. His distraught nerdy small town teenager fan Eddy (Marc Price) plays his unreleased album backwards, given him by a DJ, and that not only brings back the rocker’s subliminal satanic messages but brings Sammi back to life. Sammi now seeks revenge on his hateful critics and follows through in real life with all the evil he’s been spewing in his songs over the years. We are led to believe the evil rocker receives power surges from his electric guitar, which gives him the power to act out his vengeance by killing with electricity. On Halloween, the dismayed teen tries to figure how to return the rocker to the other world and stop this insanity before it really explodes.

It plays out as an inane comic horror treat, that might appeal to those who go for the heavy metal music sung by Fastway.

There are cameos by Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons (of Kiss).

REVIEWED ON 2/17/2015 GRADE: C+