31 Days of Horror: The Movie-a-Day Halloween Countdown, Day One

October is the favorite month of the year around these parts, primarily because of Halloween, the greatest holiday of all. And so, in keeping with the *bitter defeat* tradition of Halloween observance (not to mention pathological listmaking), this year we present one lesser-known horror movie for each day of the month. These creepy little gems are the ideal way to while away those chilly October nights. Just curl up on the couch, crank up the video machine, and pour yourself a nice goblet of goat's blood. So let's get this ghouls 'n' goblins party started, shall we?

We begin with the appropriately titled Trick or Treat, a 1986 teensploitation horror flick directed by beloved character actor Charles Martin Smith. (Smith—whose only other notable directing credit is 1997's flying-dog classic Air Bud—is a solid member of the "hey it's that guy" fraternity of character actors with instant face recognition and zero name recognition.)


Somewhat less beloved character actor Marc Price (best known as Erwin "Skippy" Handelman on TV's Family Ties) stars as nerdy metalhead outcast Eddie Weinbauer. Eddie, already distraught about constant bullying at school, is nearly shattered by the apparent burning death of his hero, Satanic glam-metal star Sammi Curr. Taking pity on the poor nerd, local disc jockey Nuke (played by none other than Gene Simmons) gives Eddie the only extant acetate pressing of Curr's final recording. Unfortunately, it turns out that Curr's immolation occurred during a Satanic ritual, and as soon as Eddie plays the record backwards—because, hey, that's what kids these days do with that Devil's music—Curr literally explodes from the speakers with really bad facial burns and lots of creepy demonic powers. Many authority figures (including a PMRC-type preacher played by Ozzy Osbourne) and good-looking popular kids get their comeuppance at the hands of Eddie and his resurrected role model, yadda yadda yadda... Skippy fights Sammi, Skippy gets the girl, the end.

Reverend Ozzzy
Despite its goofy premise, Trick or Treat boasts a few decent sequences, most of which involve Sammi Curr's apparent ability to travel via audio and video signals. Yet despite being tied to some decidedly dated subject matter (hair metal, the PMRC, vinyl, and the Sony Walkman, to name a few) the film resonates today because Eddie's character just screams "Columbine." The idea of a nerdy, metal-obsessed, army-jacket-clad loner taking violent revenge on the "normal" kids who torment him at school carries a hell of a lot more cultural baggage today than it did in 1986. If that isn't enough to send you running to your Netflix queue, then maybe this scene will convince you...


Guitar-solo demonic rape still not enough for you? Well how about a smokin' soundtrack by metal middle-weights Fastway? Put it all together and you've got an 80s curio with kickass music, Ozzy and Gene Simmons, and disturbing echoes of one of the worst tragedies of the last decade. You can't lose!