Black Roses (1988)
I just knew I was in for something quite unique when Troma was presenting Black Roses (1988) to us. Well, I was assured of that when the heavy metal band, Black Roses, led by Damian (Sal Viviano), were demons on stage, stirring up the crowd, a rowdy ballad that had everyone in the building rocking out.
I had watched Trick or Treat (1986) not too long ago for the first time, but as far as the heavy metal horror subgenre of the 80s, I haven't watched very many films. Because the music was my jam, growing up with hair metal and LA rock, all that stuff, films like Trick or Treat, and to a lesser extent, Black Roses, have some appeal. Trick or Treat is a film I plan to revisit and elaborate even more on in the future. As far as Black Roses goes, it has some of the heavy metal horror tropes I figure pop up in most of the films of the subgenre. The rock music will be misunderstood by certain adults, particularly those of an authority, and claims of potentially corrupted youth as a result of the lyrics, presentation, rebellious appeal, and sound perpetrated at the musicians/band responsible. And often those in the band are a threat, dangerous perhaps from certain supernatural powers or conduct typically visited upon teenagers or their parents/teachers/etc. In Black Roses, the lead singer and his band are indeed demonic and the concerns the townsfolk had in regards to a troubling influence actually turn out to be justified in this film's case!
At first, the town counsel and parents had some problems with Black Roses starting their eventual country-wide tour in Basin Mills, but the mayor feels this is a rush to judgment, similar to when Elvis or Chuck Berry, Little Richard or the Beatles were all considered potentially dangerous in terms of sexual/immoral influence music-wise. Eventually Damian convinces the adults his band isn't such a bad influence, waiting until they weren't in the building before really cranking up the heavy metal rock, possessing the minds of all teenagers in attendance.
Eventually one teenager lifts another into a full press and drops him. Another teenager shoots his barber father in the head with a gun after telling him he loved him! Another teenager beats her stepfather in the head with an ashtray, later slitting the throat of a rival for the affections of her teacher (lead hero, John Martin) while waiting in the back of the victim's car. Another teenager backs up his car, hitting his mother intentionally, the impact killing her right in her driveway! Another teenager pushes her high school principal out a multi-story window of his office when his back is turned! An insect-like creature emerges from a record player speaker (!!!) clamping its mouth of teeth down on the face of a seriously shocked Vincent Pastore ("The Sopranos"), whose son was totally out of control. One father has a coronary when a teenage friend of his daughter's sits in his lap, turning him on! In one surreal moment, two hands of a teenager begins to fondle her own breasts for a good minute or so, while some figment in the form of a naked woman appears to a teenager, having sex with him, disappearing afterward from his bed. In a truly bizarre scene, during one of the band's performances, teenagers faces "flash" into skulls without skin. It goes on and on as Black Roses just gets more and more outrageous.
The demon monster Damian turns into is particularly a hilarious sequence as Martin tries to find a way to throttle him with a drum stick before using gasoline to ignite the stage around it. Basically a rubber-suited stuntman, the main demon at the end cracked me up. The budget was definitely spent on monster makeup, prosthetics, rubber outfits. Shot mostly from the stomach up so the demons could be mobile without the effects team giving up their secrets, Martin actually has to fight off two demonic creatures. Martin's efforts to get through to his kids in high school proves difficult when the music alters their personalities causing mischief and mayhem. Soon the town is overrun with violence in streets, murders all over the place, and teenagers just not giving a fuck about rules and parental orders. One scene that had me rather amused featured the barber's son out and about on a lonely street with a girl he is interested in, just wanting to get into some trouble (and "paint the town red"), kvetching about nothing exciting ever happening, balking about the idea of cutting hair like his dad.
As was often the case in the 80s, teenagers were clearly in their mid to late 20s, and they weren't even remotely favorable to high school students. But, I guess, you just go with it. The film has one of those twists at the end, where Damian and his band just left the town despite everything that happened and began their tour without any repercussions for their actions!
This isn't a film you can really hold up with any scrutiny whatsoever or pick apart because the story and characters are over the top. That is the only way the film can work, I think. If you are going to go crazy, go off the rails bonkers. This film does. But it could have been a lot worse. It never quite gets too depraved nor does the film really knock you for a loop with any rough graphic violence. It rides that line without necessarily crossing it as the Italian directors would have.
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