Some anniversary screenings put the movie back on the screen and trust memory to do the rest. Smodcastle Cinemas is taking a considerably louder approach. On Friday, Oct. 30, the Atlantic Highlands theater will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1986 heavy-metal horror film Trick or Treat with star Marc “Ragman” Price in the room, a live band playing through the film, stand-up comedy, commentary, stories, autographs and an encore after the credits.
The event begins at 7:30 p.m. and is built around the part of Trick or Treat that made the film a cult object in the first place: horror and heavy metal refusing to remain separate genres. Price, who played teenage metal fan Eddie Weinbauer, will serve as master of ceremonies, open the night with a stand-up set and provide live commentary during the screening. The published event description also promises behind-the-scenes stories about co-stars Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons, along with a meet-and-greet autograph session.
The soundtrack gets out of the speakers
The night’s defining move comes from Midnite Hellion. The New Jersey metal band will step into the fictional world of the movie as Omniarch, Sammi Curr’s band, and perform Fastway material live along with the film. After the screening, the band is scheduled to continue with an encore set of its own.
That changes the event from a cult-film screening into something closer to a reconstructed rock show. In Trick or Treat, music is not background decoration. It is literally the mechanism of the horror: Eddie receives an unreleased record by his dead idol Sammi Curr, plays it backward, and discovers that the record is capable of bringing something much worse than a hidden message into the room. Fastway wrote and performed the movie’s songs, giving the fictional Sammi Curr a real soundtrack that became inseparable from the film’s reputation.
Forty years of metal, horror and satanic-panic absurdity
Released Oct. 24, 1986, Trick or Treat was directed by Charles Martin Smith and starred Price opposite Tony Fields as Sammi Curr. Gene Simmons appears as radio DJ Nuke, while Ozzy Osbourne makes one of the movie’s best jokes by playing the Rev. Aaron Gilstrom, a television preacher warning America about the moral dangers of heavy metal. The casting turns the cultural panic surrounding metal in the 1980s back on itself: the musicians supposedly corrupting the children get to participate in the satire.
The movie was never a giant theatrical hit, but time has been unusually kind to its premise. Its collision of high-school alienation, fandom, records, horror, celebrity worship and heavy-metal culture now reads like a time capsule with its amplifier still plugged in. The 40th anniversary gives Smodcastle the excuse to celebrate that history without putting the film behind glass.
Why Smodcastle makes sense
There is also something fitting about doing this at Smodcastle. The Atlantic Highlands theater has increasingly treated repertory cinema as raw material for live events rather than simply programming old titles. A familiar movie can become a Q&A, an all-night gathering, a theatrical performance or, in this case, a concert happening in synchronization with the screen.
That approach makes the audience part of the anniversary rather than an observer of it. Price is not being brought in simply to introduce the movie and leave. Midnite Hellion is not playing a few songs before the lights go down. The entire evening is designed to interrupt the usual boundary between the film and the people watching it.
Trick or Treat: An Evening with Marc Price is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Smodcastle Cinemas, 82 First Avenue in Atlantic Highlands. The event features Marc Price, Midnite Hellion performing live with the film, stand-up comedy, live commentary, an encore set, and a meet-and-greet autograph session.
The official Smodcastle event page is the place to check for current ticket availability and any final event instructions before attending.
A 40th anniversary can easily become a museum label attached to something people already know. This one is doing the opposite. Trick or Treat was always about the idea that rock music could escape the record and become dangerously alive. On Oct. 30, Smodcastle is arranging the evening so the soundtrack escapes the movie, too.
The film will still be there. Marc Price will be there to tell the stories around it. A New Jersey metal band will be playing through it in real time. The useful question for the eventual event-night dispatch is not whether a 1986 cult movie still holds up. It is what happens when a room full of people decides it should be allowed to get louder with age.
Event Details
| What | Trick or Treat: An Evening with Marc Price |
|---|---|
| When | Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, 7:30 p.m. |
| Where | Smodcastle Cinemas, 82 First Avenue, Atlantic Highlands |
| Also | Marc Price as MC with stand-up and live commentary; Midnite Hellion performing Fastway material with the film plus encore; meet-and-greet autograph session |
| Calendar | Add event to calendar |
SOURCE NOTES
• Smodcastle Cinemas — Trick or Treat: An Evening with Marc Price
Official information and listings verified against public pages on September 4, 2026. Observational passages are based on the reporter's advance dispatch. Event details are subject to change; check organizers before travel.