Black Roses (1988)
Directed by John Fasano
Satanic panic, was a big deal in the 80s in 90s. Which of course was reflected in horror. There are a slew of satanic and black magic movies from the era. Black Roses is one of those. Concurrently heavy metal, or hair bands were taking over at the time and it only made sense to mix the two.
Black Roses is about a rock band, by the same name that turns into demons and uses their music to brainwash the teenagers of a small town to commit random acts of violence, even murder…gasp! If any of you know me, you know that my two biggest interests are Slasher Movies and Hair Bands. While this might not be a slasher movie, it does have some glorious 80s Hair Metal. The movie itself is a rather awkward affair haha. While it does have some things going for it, soundtrack is one of those, there are many things kind of clunky.
The special effects range from good to bad all throughout this movie, and it makes me wonder if they switched artists during production? Not sure and I guess I’m not intrigued enough to look it up, haha. What can I say? I have to daughters under 3 years old, so the fact that I’m still doing a 31 marathon is impressive enough. The acting is pretty even, evenly bad. No one really does an amazing job, but its to be expected in a movie like this, and hell it just adds to the charm and entertainment value. That is probably the best way I can describe this movie, entertaining. While the acting is hammy and the plot is absurd, you really never get bored.
The soundtrack, like most heavy metal horror movies of the time is pretty good. Lizzy Borden lends the song “Me Against the World” which is played a few times, and it’s pretty good. Along with Lizzy Borden we get stuff from King Kobra, Tempest, Bang Tango and a slew of Black Roses songs that were written by Carmine Appice. Appice also appears in the movie, which any 80s metal head will enjoy.
Black Roses might not have changed the world of horror, but it was a fun ride and gave some good music to listen to. Who doesn’t want to see a band of Demons playing hair metal and brainwashing teenagers to kill? I’m here for it! I give this movie a C+ it was entertaining, but all in all it is a dumb movie.
