★ 7 / 10
_**Colorful, campy hair metal horror**_ A nerdy dude
Wuchak
_**Colorful, campy hair metal horror**_ A nerdy dude in the Hollywood area works at a pizza joint while dreaming of being in a rock band (Stephen Quadros).…
_**Colorful, campy hair metal horror**_
A nerdy dude in the Hollywood area works at a pizza joint while dreaming of being in a rock band (Stephen Quadros). When a strange Voodoo woman encourages him to make a deal with the forces of darkness, he accepts and becomes a killer guitar player with serious edge. But, of course, there’s a sinister price. Can his band, their manager (Traci Lords) and the recording execs handle him?
“Shock ’Em Dead” (1991) is straight-to-video rock/metal horror with a little camp and cheesy effects mixed with some pretty serious evil. It only cost $100,000, which is amazing because it’s quite entertaining despite its low-budget limitations. It’s not as good as “Trick or Treat” (1986), but it’s far superior to “Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare” (1987) which had half the budget.
Quadros is reminiscent of Kevin Bacon and works well as the dark rock star. Meanwhile the flick scores well on the female front with the youthful Lords, Gina Parks (Marilyn), Laurel Wiley (Monique), Karen Russell (Michelle), Kathleen Kane (Pizza Girl #2) and a couple others, e.g. Madison Monk (Jimmi Wolf). Several of these women have no qualms about showing their breasts (although not Lords) so, if that offends you, you might want to pass.
Standing-in for Angel Martin (Quadros), Michael Angelo Batio of Nitro performed the guitar wizardry, which wasn’t sped up, it’s just how great he is. Four original songs were recorded for the movie, written by director Mark Freed and Robert Decker: “Virgin Girl,” “I'm In Love with a Slut,” “Casualty Rap” and “Get a Band.”
“Shock ’Em Dead” was shot in 1990 at the tail-end of the 80’s hair metal movement and totally looks it. A mere eight months after the film’s debut Nirvana released their uber-successful NEVERMIND in late September, 1991, which changed the musical landscape overnight. Hair metal was out and grunge rock was in, immediately dating the flick.
I suppose many people would consider this 'bad' due to its cheesy late 80's hair metal vibe, but it entertains and has some surprisingly well done bits, like the creepy Voodoo woman and elements of the deal-with-the-devil angle. Plus, despite some campiness early on, there are some scary thrills. And the rockin' music ain't bad either.
The movie runs 1 hour, 33 minutes, and was shot in Hollywood, Hollywood Hills (Martin's mansion) and Burbank (Starlight Amphitheater).
GRADE: B-/B
Read full review
★ 4 / 10
Well, they tried.
BandSAboutMovies
The dream of most long-haired nerds in 1990 - well, this one at least - was to shred on guitar and to date Traci Lords. This movie shows you that the only way…
The dream of most long-haired nerds in 1990 - well, this one at least - was to shred on guitar and to date Traci Lords. This movie shows you that the only way to that goal is to find a voodoo woman and sell your soul to the Devil. And if you have to kill people along the way to keep what's yours, that's the price you have to pay.
Stephen Quadros stars as Angel Martin (although his solos are played by Nitro guitarist Michael Angelo Batio), a kid who wants to go from the pizza shop to the Sunset Strip by any means necessary. Today, Quadros is better known as an MMA announcer for a large variety of groups, but back in the day, his drumming was so good that Gene Simmons tried him out for KISS.
Once tendonitis flared its ugly head, Quadros went into acting, appearing in a veritable barrage of B-movie delights. He fist fought OJ Simpson in CIA Code Name: Alexa. He fought demons with spin kicks in Demon Wind. And he was the fight coordinator for the DMX/Jet Li vehicle - yes, this happened - Cradle 2 the Grave.
His co-star is the aforementioned Nora Louise Kuzma, who rechristened herself Traci Lords after the first name she always wanted and the surname of the star of Hawaii Five-O, Jack Lord. In 1986, video rental stores across the country scrambled to erase her films from their inventory - she was underage for every one of her films except for Traci, I Love You, the one film she owned the rights to. Supposedly, she was offered big money to stay in the adult industry - I kind of doubt that with all the problems she caused, but money leads as they say - and went mainstream. Between a music career - her album "1000 Fires" is underrated - and modeling, Lords has remained acting ever since.
Here, she plays Lindsay Roberts, the manager of Spastic Colon, a band of fitness dudes who hire Angel. Unbeknownst to all but him, he can live forever if he keeps taking souls. And of course, he falls in love with Lindsay. I mean, who wouldn't? What woman makes a little hat look as fetching as Traci?
Amazingly, this movie was almost made with Linda Blair playing Lindsay's part. It's the producers had their pulse on exactly what I look for in films! And what I look for is muddy, near shot on video demonic possession films with sex symbols in them!
Troy Donahue - who played Merle Johnson in The Godfather Part II and would also appear with Traci in John Waters' Crybaby - is in here and it's sadly the last film of screen great Aldo Ray. Again - these are filmmakers who may have asked - what do the fat kids of today want to see? They want to see Aldo Ray be belligerent!
Shock 'Em Dead is never going to be on anyone's best movies of all time list. But it's the kind of movie that I'll sneak on if you're too drunk to drive home and crashing on my couch. You'll wake up and say, "What the hell did we watch last night?" And I'll just laugh, having led one more soul to this movie and getting one step closer to being a guitar wizard thanks to Satan.
Read full review
★ 4 / 10
Big hair, boobs but not much else
Stevieboy666
Watched this last night on VHS. The tape's cover gives Traci Lords star billing with a picture of her wearing only her underwear. Well that's a bit misleading…
Watched this last night on VHS. The tape's cover gives Traci Lords star billing with a picture of her wearing only her underwear. Well that's a bit misleading for starters! Yes, she is in it but I don't recall her stripping off (maybe I nodded off briefly). Martin is a loser, wannabe rock star working in a pizza joint. But when he meets a sorceress he makes a pact with the Devil and next his dreams have come true - but at a murderous price. I found this movie to be very cheesy (as expected to be fair!). It had it's moments of humour, not a total suckfest, but the horror aspect was lame and cheap looking. The accent of the actress who played the Voodoo priestess was as wobbly as some of the musical performances on offer. Probably the most shocking thing here was Martin's big hair!. This is one gig I won't be attending again, tape now up for sale!
Read full review
45%
AUDIENCE
· 250 ratings
4.9/10
1.6K
•••
Its done now, thank you. (Avg speed after 5 hrs - 35.7 kbps)