Black Roses

What can parents do when the “devil’s music” comes to town… literally?

The rising band “Black Roses” hasn’t played out beyond the studio and so try-out their live performance in a small town in the Northeast for several shows. An English teacher (John Martin) starts to notice how the band has a negative influence upon his students and eventually suspects something sinister is going on.

"Black Roses" (1988) mixes horror and heavy metal in the mold of “Trick or Treat” (1986) and “Shock ’Em Dead” (1991). A year earlier the director’s previous movie was the similar “Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare” featuring Jon Mikl Thor, but “Black Roses” is way more effective because it had nine times the budget. “Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare” only cost $53,000 and is unsurprisingly marred by tedious padding, weak writing and characters that aren’t fleshed out. This one’s way better because it had the funds to work out the kinks (yet it’s still very low-budget at $450,000).

The school teacher makes for a good protagonist because he genuinely cares about his students and relates to their perspective. At first, it is argued that 80’s metal is just the current musical fad and is no more of a negative influence than Elvis and the Beatles were in prior generations in which concerned parents objected to them as well. But then the stereotype that metal is the “devil’s music” is hammered home.

Blonde Patricia Strelioff stands out on the female front as jaw-dropping Janey, but there’s also Robin Stewart (Tina) and Karen Planden (Julie). On the other side of the gender spectrum Frank Dietz plays Johnny, but he looks closer to 33 than 17-18.

A “super group” of sorts was amassed for the band Black Roses, consisting of Mark Free (vocals), Mick Sweda (lead guitar), Alex Masi (rhythm guitar), Carmine Appice (drums), Chuck Wright (bass guitar) and Elliot Solomon (keyboards). Four of the songs on the soundtrack are by these guys: "Dance on Fire,” "Soldiers of the Night,” "Rock Invasion" and "Paradise (We're on Our Way)." The soundtrack is balanced out by six cuts from other acts, including Lizzy Borden (“Me Against the World”), King Kobra (“Take It Off”) and a nice ‘n’ heavy number by Hallow’s Eve (“D.I.E.”). The music spans the spectrum of pop metal to extreme metal as it existed in 1987 when the film was shot.

While this isn’t quite on the level of “Trick or Treat” or “Shock ’Em Dead,” it’s certainly entertaining enough if you’re in the mood for colorful 80’s horror mixed with 80’s metal. It’s superior to “Rocktober Blood” (1984) and, especially, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare” (yet “Rocktober Blood” must be given props for being the first flick of this kind).

The movie runs 1 hour, 30 minutes, and was shot in Dundas, Ontario, with the theater sequence done in nearby Hamilton, both a half hour drive southwest of Toronto.

GRADE: B-/B