Black Roses (1988)

Director: John Fasano

Starring: John Martin, Ken Swofford, Sal Viviano

Demons hypnotize the general public by posing as a rock and roll band.

There’s never been a rock band in the small town of Mill Basin, but that’s about to change with the announcement of Black Roses having chosen the town for their first concert. While the students are super excited, their conservative parents are concerned about the influence rock music might have on children.

Matt Moorhouse is a poetry teacher, and when the students suddenly appear ‘different’ after the band’s first concert, he suspects there might be more than meets the eye. His suspicions are soon confirmed when students become rebellious. And then people start dying…

Matt is a very likable character and probably the only character I really rooted for. As a bonus, he is portrayed by the handsome and hunky John Martin.

The creature effects might not be the greatest, but they clearly tried very hard and the end result is very entertaining. I have so much respect for the 80’s, where they had to rely on make-up, prosthetics and practical effects to bring creatures to life (as opposed to CGI).

I also enjoyed the soundtrack. ‘Black Roses’ is in the vein of ‘Trick or Treat’ (1986) and although that film was much better, ‘Black Roses’ is good enough in its own right.

Would I watch it again? Not in a hurry, but at some point I’d like to see it again.