Blyss's Movie Review for:
Main Cast of Characters:
Marc Price...........Eddie Weinbauer
Doug Savant..........Tim Hainey
Glen Morgan..........Roger Mockus
Lisa Orgolini.........Leslie Graham
Elise Richards..........Genie Wooster
Tony Fields...............Sammi Curr
Gene Simmons...............Nuke
Ozzy Osbourne...............Reverend Aaron Gilstrom
Elaine Joyce...............Angie Weinbauer
Denney Pierce...............Goon #1
Ray Shaffer..............Goon #2
Terry Loughlin...............Goon #3
Kevin Yagher...............Lead Guitarist
Richard Doyle...............(voice)
1986; Rated: R. Genre: Horror; 98 minutes
Rock N Roll, Steal Your Soul?
Ragman, or Eddie Weinbuaer, is a misunderstood heavy metal addicted teenager in high school. He feels like no one can understand the things that he goes through or the things that he thinks about except for his idol, rock star Sammi Curr, who is from the same town, went to the same high school, and who Eddie writes to at least once a week. In the letter at the beginning of the movie, Eddie tells Sammi of his crush on a popular girl named Leslie and how Tim Haney and his friends have finally ultimately humiliated him the previous week after P.E. class. After he finishes up, he goes on to do some of his own laundry and in a few minutes he learns from the television that Sammi has died at thirty eight years old in a hotel fire. Eddie is devastated and he goes to see his best friend, grown up Nuke, a guy who deejays at a local radio station and who has been friends with Sammi Curr for years. He shows Eddie that Sammi was about to release another record and he has the original acetate. He ends up letting Eddie have it because he has made a copy that he will play on Halloween as Sammi had already planned. He then goes back to school where he meets up with Leslie and she asks him to a pool party which just turns into another humiliation, one in which he blames Leslie for a while because of. Eddie goes home and falls asleep listening to Sammi's last record. He sees Sammi in the hotel fire, performing a satanic ritual and then he wakes up and the record is skipping. When he fixes it, he then tries to turn it backwards and it gives him a message. When he follows the message, he is successful. Soon the records turns backwards on his own. Sammi is living in his last record and begins to live through Eddie, helping him get back at the people who have hurt him in the past and even some that have not really hurt him. Will Eddie realize what is happening before it is too late?
This movie is really amusing to me as I look back on my memories of it. I was a teen when it came out on video and I watched this flick over and over. I watched it so much that my mom banned me from watching it because I was singing Sammi Curr's songs from the movie. How funny is that now that I go back and look at this movie? It is practically nothing that should be taken away from a teen when compared to movies nowadays. Quite funny indeed.
I guess as a teen I really liked this movie because I could relate to Eddie. I was a metal head in my own school, but I was not the only one even though a lot of people in my school gave me a hard time for doing so. I liked guys who were in the popular crowd, but unlike Eddie, they never would give me the time of day, everyone thought I was too strange (again, like Eddie).
Now back to the movie....there were a lot of scenes i really enjoyed in this film. I think one of my favorite scenes involved something that was actually not spoken. It was when Tim Haney came to Eddie's house and was screaming at him, wanting to know what he did to Jeannie. We know at this moment that Eddie is possessed by Sammi because he raises his hand and fire shoots out of the jack o'lanterns on the porch! I love that part! Plus the whole concept of the scenes where Eddie is playing the records backwards is great! A whole lot of kids went home in the 1980's and tried to play their records backwards after watching this movie. I know I did. I guess the ultimate scene is the ending after Sammi emerges from a speaker and reappears at the dance where he performs after disintegrating the band leader that was already on stage. That it is the ultimate scene as the ending should be.
If you enjoy 1980's horror, I invite you to take a closer look on this movie. I had it on tape for a while and now I have it on DVD. Great memories attached to a great movie.
I rate this movie: 9!
Blyss