Trick or Treat (1986) 4K UHD Review

Synapse Films

Blu-ray Release: March 11, 2025 (following a limited edition October 2024 release)

Video: 1.85:1/2160p (HDR10/Dolby Vision)/Color

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo and 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH

Run Time: 97:12

Director: Charles Martin Smith

Eddie Weinbauer (Marc Price) is a teenage outcast who idolizes heavy metal superstar Sammi Curr (Tony Fields). 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. (From Synapse’s official synopsis)

The concept of rock ‘n roll horror began sometime around the release of Brian De Palma’s The Phantom of the Paradise (1974) and Jim Sharman’s Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). Arguably, Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977) fits the mold, assuming that we’re counting pure soundtrack vibes. But real heavy metal horror films – as in horror movies about heavy metal and hard rock music and musicians – hit its stride rather quickly in the mid ‘80s around the release of Beverly Sebastian’s Rocktober Blood in 1984, followed by a small collection of similar, easily confused titles, including Claudio Fragasso’s Monster Dog (1984), Krishna Shah’s Hard Rock Zombies (1985), Charles Martin Smith’s Trick or Treat (1986), John Fasano’s Black Roses (1988) and Rock ‘n Roll Nightmare (1987), Steven Baio & Johnny Vanokur’s Hard Rock Nightmare, Luca Bercovici’s Rockula (1990), and Mark Freed’s Shock Em Dead (1991).

Having seen most of these films for the sake of the podcast (check that out right here), I think that Black Roses is the platonic ideal of a heavy metal horror movie, given the participation of a real band performing real heavy metal music while wearing monster make-up. But it’s a tight race between it and Trick or Treat (that’s Trick OR Treat, not Trick ‘r Treat or Trick or Treats – those are both different films), which feature similar plot points, creature designs, school setting, and the participation of a real band (Fastway), not to mention that both films end on climatic concerts attended by high schoolers. 

It has some advantages over Black Roses, mainly its more substantial De Laurentiis-level budget and cameos from genuine rock stars Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons. They’re pretty short cameos, especially Osbourne’s (I am loath to admit that Simmons is pretty good), but they were central to the home video market advertising. Trick or Treat is also more of an outcast vs. bullies high school horror movie in the vein of Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1977) and Eric Weston’s EvilSpeak (1981), not to mention all of the slasher movies about loners and geeks killing their tormentors, while Black Roses is essentially a creature feature and told largely from the point-of-view of adult characters.

One could make timely connections to serious matters, like school shooters and violent hazing, but the filmmakers were definitely plugging into then modern news cycles, like the Satanic Panic and bubbling controversy over lyrical content in pop music (the film premiered the same year that Tipper Gore co-funded Parents Music Resource Center). I actually see particularly strong connections between Trick or Treat and Jack Sholder’s Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2. It was only after I made this connection that I realized that both films were released in 1985 and that Trick or Treat was co-written by Elm Street 2’s second-unit director Joel Soisson. X-Files regulars and future co-creators of the Final Destination franchise, Glen Morgan (who appears in a supporting acting role) and James Wong, also completed uncredited rewrites at some point.

Following this, his directorial debut, Charles Martin Smith’s career path as a filmmaker took a sharp turn into family films, several of which were built around animal performances, including Air Bud (1997), Dolphin Tale (2011), and A Dog's Way Home (2019). His 2008 drama, Stone of Destiny, was also nominated for Scottish BAFTAs, but most readers will remember him as an A-list actor with appearances in George Lucas’ American Graffiti (1973), Carroll Ballard’s Never Cry Wolf (1983 – perhaps the reason he liked working with animals as a director?), and Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables (1987). 

Video

Trick or Treat was practically inescapable on US VHS tape, but its life on DVD was disappointing. The only option was a full frame, barebones disc from budget label Platinum. The movie had a better showing in Germany and Austria, where NSM put out a special edition DVD and (separate) Blu-ray edition in 2014, both with a soundtrack CD included. Synapse, in collaboration with Red Shirt Home Video (or the other way around, I’m not sure), announced their 4K UHD/Blu-ray release way back in 2023 (not atypically for the company) and delivered a limited edition three-disc set in October of 2024 containing a BD copy, the CD soundtrack, three different slipcase options, a collector’s booklet, six double sided collector’s cards, and a double-sided poster. All 6,666 copies sold out quickly and, now, they have released a standard edition, 4K only collection.

The 1.85:1, 2160p 4K transfer was taken from the original 35mm camera negative, mastered in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible), and approved by Paul Thomas Anderson’s favorite cinematographer (and future Oscar-winner) Robert Elswit. Since I can’t get screencaps from a 4K disc and because the SE doesn’t have a Blu-ray copy, the images on this page are taken from the German Blu-ray and are here only for editorial purposes. Elswit’s photography, competent filmmaking, and a better-than-average budget ensures that Trick or Treat has the dynamic detail, shade, and color ranges that make a 4K upgrade worthwhile. Detail and textures are complex, but not overly-sharpened, and the image is clean without sacrificing texture or inherent impurities, like film grain.

Audio

Trick or Treat is presented with original 2.0 stereo and 5.1 remix options, both in uncompressed DTS-HD Master Audio. The menu refers to the remix as brand new, so I suppose it’s different than the 5.1 track that appeared on multiple European DVD and Blu-ray releases over the years. For this review, I mostly stuck to the original track, though the remix does offer a nice bass boost. Dialogue is consistent without a lot of distortion and a low, natural sound floor. Incidental effects are quiet and supernatural sounds are aggressive, but the music is the key element here – both Fastway’s original metal songs and Christopher Young’s instrumental synth score – and it sounds very nice, even without the 5.1 remix’s extra LFE bump. Some of the music features odd stereo effects, but these are in keeping with what I’d expect from overproduced, heavily reverb-i-fied ‘80s metal.

Extras

• Commentary with Charles Martin Smith – This track is moderated by Australian filmmaker and director of Marauders (1986), Mark Savage, who grills the director on his career, breaking into directing from acting, learning the ropes on Never Cry Wolf, real world heavy metal controversies, working with the cast and crew, and hiring Fastway to do the soundtrack.

• Audio interviews with writer/producer Michael S. Murphey and writer Rhet Topham – Red Shirt Pictures’ Michael Felsher speaks with both writers separately about the Satanic Panic and making of the film, including loads of amusing behind-the-scenes anecdotes.

• Audio conversation with Paul Corupe and Allison Lang – The last audio-only extra is a conversation between two of the authors featured in Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s (FAB Press, 2016, edited by Kier-La Janisse and Corupe), who explore the history of the Satanic Panic and similar metal music related moral panic.

• Rock & Shock: The Making of Trick or Treat (81:17, HD) – An extensive, entertaining, and really informative retrospective documentary featuring interviews with Smith, 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 actors Marc Price, Glen Morgan, Elise Richards, Larry Sprinkle, and (briefly) Gene Simmons. 

• In The Spotlight: A Tribute to Tony Fields (15:08, HD) – Friends and family share stories of the late dancer and actor (who plays the satanic Sammi Curr).

• Horror's Hallowed Grounds: The Filming Locations of Trick or Treat 2022 episode (26:31) – A 2022 location tour with series host Sean Clark.

• “After Midnight" music video by Fastway (3:47, SD)

• Vintage EPK (5:10, SD)

• Two theatrical trailers, two TV spots, and three radio spots

• Still Gallery with optional audio interview with still photographer Phillip V. Caruso

The images on this page are taken from the German Blu-ray – NOT the 4K UHD – and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.