Heavy Metal Music and Horror Films are a potent combination, so I am always surprised that heavy crossover isn’t as a common as one could expect. Still a few movies have done it in different ways. On the newest episode of the Retroist Podcast, I want to talk about a movie that integrates it fully and completely, Trick or Treat. This movie didn’t do great when it was first released back in 1986, but it has since gone on to have a cult status.

I begin the episode by discussing seeing this movie with my friends. They had wholeheartedly embraced metal music, while I was more of a tourist at this point. So there most movie chats about it went mostly over my head. Still, I did find the movie enjoyable and even more so when it was available on VHS. It is my time of horror, a little weird, creepy, but the violence is toned-down. I then discuss the film itself. Talking about how it got made, who made it, the actors, music, cameos and much more.

Trick or Treat is one of those movies that feels like it could only have been made when it was made. It takes all the fears parents had about heavy metal music, mixes them with teenage alienation, and turns it into a great horror story. The music and the fan culture of metal is as the center of the story, which was rare at the time. It is campy, but it has a surprising amount of heart, which is why it still stands out today.