Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

kitfox30 The worst thing about this movie is it seems no one has ever HEARD of it!! I had seen it dozens of times as a younger person. often at Halloween parties and had a copy taped off TV, (c'mon we've all done that). I was very lucky though, that when i had some extra floating around i was able to purchase a DVD copy from Turner Classic movies, (still trying to get my grubby paws on a copy of "Popcorn") I still, to this day love this movie, it's freaky without being too scary, and fun! I decided to do a swap with my horror-loving niece and she totally loves this movie. We had a Halloween-en party last year where we had 29 other people see it for the first time and everyone enjoyed it. it is truly worth watching, and if you liked it, I suggest "Trick or Treat" with Tony Fields or "976-EVIL" with Stephan Geoffreys.

metalrage666 As a heavy metal fan while I sat through this I found that I was asking myself what is this movie really trying to say.To me it appears as a very disjointed attempt at either showcasing what's wrong with heavy metal, thereby siding with those who oppose heavy metal, or an equally weak attempt to make fun of those same opponents by pointing out that their very opposition to this style of music is as stupid as it is portrayed in this movie.Either that or the whole thing is just having fun with the ideology of heavy metal bands versus sanctimonious America. In any case this is a very silly movie.Glam metal band, Black Roses decide to get out of the studio and perform a number of shows in this smallish American town. It's the kind of town where nothing much happens, it's full of good God-fearing, church going folk and heavy metal is nothing but the devil's music. So despite the objections by a number of concerned citizens about the impending damnation of the towns' youth, the band comes along anyway.Black Roses are an unremarkable straight-up clichéd glam metal group, except that the drummer is none other than Carmine Appice himself. (If you don't know who that is, look him up). The other, very notable exception is that they are in fact demons posing as a metal group and their sole aim is to corrupt young impressionable minds so they can become the bands soulless minions. Sounds simple enough and after a while they begin to succeed by turning many of the teenagers against any kind of authority figure, even their own parents. As a result many adults end up killed through various means and in the end it's general anarchy in the once quiet streets of town.There are subtle changes that take place throughout the movie as the more heavy metal they listen to, the more disengaged with life they become. Eventually the teens go from being energetic, colourful and relatively diligent in school, to more sombre, melancholy, withdrawn, wearing darker colours, different hairstyles and generally adopting the stereotyped heavy metal image. It turns out that many of these teens are in fact now possessed by demons, so throwing people out of windows or running a car over their own parents doesn't appear to bother them so much.The whole thing comes to a relative end, when one of the teachers decides to actually pay attention to what's going on around him and he confronts the band at their gig. He tries to set fire to the stage and so the lead singer reveals himself as the demon he is and this then results in some kind of weird punch-up on stage. I've never seen a person actually manage to land punches on a demon so this is perhaps the weakest demon I've ever seen. The fire eventually takes hold, the demon stands there howling, (although I have no idea why, fire should be its bread and butter), suddenly the teens come out of their stupor and run out of the place. We learn at the end by way of a news broadcast that the band survived the fire, (duh, they're demons), and they're embarking on a tour of London.The whole premise of the film tends to be a self-deprecation of the heavy metal industry along with a big middle finger salute to the PMRC which formed only a couple of years prior to this films release. It briefly showcases the 2 opposing schools of thought on heavy metal music, but with the so-called evil influences being so over the top coupled with the fact that the band are actually demons, it just illustrates the narrow-mindedness of people in real life who like to oppose anything they don't understand for no real reason. When the upcoming Black Roses concert is being debated in an assembly hall, there's the obligatory reading of some "evil" lyrics and naturally the parents are all horrified and opposed. However when an opposite view is presented that this is just music and provides examples of The Beatles & Elvis Presley etc. as equally hated by authority in their time, the parents all nod along in agreement. So just as the teens are brainwashed by the evil of metal, the parents are just as brainwashed by anyone who'll tell them what to do and how to feel. (Sounds just like church).It's not a bad movie as such, but it's hardly a horror movie, it would barely rate as a thriller it's simply too ridiculous, but if you want to hear some generic glam metal and see a bunch of corrupted possessed teens running riot, then don't let the cheesy effects, poor costumes and lame ending turn you away from giving this a go.

The_Void It's hardly surprising that Black Roses is an obscure eighties horror film, as despite a relatively good story and some cheesy special effects; the film doesn't have a great deal going for it. However, Black Roses is fun enough and overall, I'd say it's just about worth seeing. The plot takes its influence from the idea of heavy metal bands with satanic lyrics corrupting their young fans, and by keeping the focus on this idea, the film actually has a bit more substance than the majority of similar movies released around the same time. The style is very much eighties, as the schlock horror blends well with the cheap special effects; and the effects team seems to have taken influence from Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II where the demons are concerned. The plot focuses on a heavy metal band named Black Roses. They decide to put on a concert in a small town, much to the delight of the local kids. Naturally, their parents are left rather unimpressed by the band and their music, and so decide to try and stop the concert from taking place...and they'd be right to, as the band are actually demons in disguise! The film attempts to be both a tongue-in-cheek horror movie and a film about heavy metal, as both the band and the horror are given decent proportions of the screenplay. It has to be said the film succeeds at being neither of the things it attempts to be, as the horror is too silly to be scary and the fact that the band are demons often overtakes the fact that they're a heavy metal band; but most people that see this film won't be too bothered about that. The horror is fairly inventive, and parts of the film that see things such as a monster emerging from a record player are most definitely highlights. The main problem with the movie is the amount of talking, as a lot of the time the parents' attempt to stop the concert becomes the centre focus and it's not all that interesting. The way that the film presents ideas such as the fact that a lot of the Black Roses' fans consider the song writer to be a modern poet are well done, and the band themselves are pretty good too, if you're into eighties metal. Overall, Black Roses isn't worth tracking down and spending a lot of money on; but if you get the chance to see it and you like eighties music and horror, it should suffice.

ryannemetz The town of Mill Basin gets their opportunity to host the hard rock band Black Roses. However, I don't think the band tours anywhere else. Anyways, once they arrive in town, it's hell on earth. The kids soon get demoniacally possessed after listening to too much of this hard rock music. The band's vocalist, Damian, is the main culprit for all of the chaos. Damian's got a cool look. He's dressed in all black and has a cool hair style. This story kind of gets its premise from the problem with hard rock and all of the suicide incidents from real life situations attached to such bands as: Slayer, Judas Priest and Ozzy Osbourne. Black Roses was released in 88', which was right around when these law suits unfolded. This sort of music was really popular then and parents and teachers really were against this entire movement. The story basically takes the premise that if you listen to Heavy Metal, you too, will become a maniac. It sure makes one laugh. The kids in this picture begin shooting their parents and beating up their fellow classmates. The script isn't that great, but the 80's music makes up for it. Time after time, you'll hear LIZZY BORDEN's "Me Against The World." This song is featured at least three or four times. There is also a cool song by the title of "Soldiers in the Night." This song, too, really cranks! The special effects are cheesy, but they seem to work for satisfactory basis. I like the part when a guy gets sucked through a mounted wall speaker, case in point to my summary title. Stay away if you can't handle a juvenile script and head banging music from the 80's. 5/10