"Trick or Treat" will always be a sentimental favorite of mine. I personally went through the long hair, “Iron Maiden” t-shirt phase and I was able to relate to the film. I remember the whole religious backlash against heavy metal at the time, the backwards messages some bands put on their records (I ruined a lot of LPs trying to reach Satan) and the whole censorship hoopla that came with this brand of music. "Trick or Treat" echoes that era to a T.

The first hour of this flick had me grinning like a metal head sniffing glue. The story is told through an array of slick shots and hard hitting metal tunes…. I was in “style” heaven. The lead Eddie (Price) is a 3-dimensional character and is very likeable. I felt for the dude. The film’s build-up is rock solid and the situations are all presented with a pinch of wicked humor. Witnessing Eddie contact the spirit of Sammy (Fields) and getting supernatural help with his “social” problems was very engaging and sometimes kind of creepy. Yes, the film had me by the jewels. During that first hour, we do get a useless (and unbelievable) love subplot and a tacky demon popping out of nowhere for no valid reason other than to justify its presence on the box cover, but I was able to let that go.

It’s when the dead rocker is let out of the bag during the last act that the flick loses its edge. It becomes a watered down version of the later Elm Street films. For all his posing and growling, Sammy winds up being a big pussy (nice dance moves though). He’s easily tricked, his killing methods are all electricity related (meaning there’s zero gore) and he even gets tortured by a freaking toilet at some point (hilarious). Add to that, a stretched out finale that doesn’t cap off when it should and you get a last half hour that‘s still mindless fun, but that just doesn’t measure up to the superior, drawn out first hour.

Marc Price (Eddie), who’s well known for his portrayal of Skippy on TV's “Family Ties”, showcases a very natural and credible performance. I bought it! Tony Fields (Sammy Curr) mostly underplays the part of the dead rocker and it works. He does have a few over the top moments that made me chuckle but overall, he’s top notch. Lisa Orgolini (Leslie) is cute but her part is badly written. She does what she can. Doug Savant (Tim) is very effective as the a-hole jock. Talk about perfect casting!

Dancer Tony Fields (Sammy) died on February 27, 1995 from cancer. He was one of the original “Solid Gold” cast members. That’s a real bummer, I liked the guy. RIP Tony.

Special Effect artist Kevin Yagher plays the lead guitarist in Sammy’s band.

Director Charles Martin Smith plays the high school teacher in this flick he also played in "Deep Impact", "Starman" and "The Untouchables".

Screenwriter Rhet Topham knew a guy who lost his marbles. The dude used to say that the Iron Maiden mascot “Eddy” was telling him to do bad things. That’s where Rhet got the name for “Trick or Treat’s” lead character.