After more than a decade as a successful actor in films like American Graffiti and Starman, Charles Martin Smith moved behind the camera. He made his directorial debut with 1986's low-budget horror flick Trick or Treat.

High school student Eddie Weinbauer (Marc Price) deals with bullies and abuse at school, so he takes refuge in the Heavy Metal music he loves. This leaves Eddie devastated when his rock star idol Sammi Curr (Tony Fields) dies in a fire.

Eddie ends up in possession of the only copy of Sammi's unreleased final album. It turns out this record causes mayhem and Eddie needs to stop it.

Those of us who grew up in the 1980s remember the era's "Satanic Panic", as ordinary people started to believe devil-worshiping cults blossomed everywhere. Given its often dark and violent imagery, Heavy Metal music became a target for this nuttiness.

In this way, Treat acts as a product of its time. Not that its basic themes couldn't work in any period, but the movie definitely attempt to tap into the silly fears that rock records would turn innocent teens into crazed Satanists.

Did Smith do anything interesting with the premise? Not especially, as Treat misses opportunities to become something more than a supernatural horror tale.

That said, Smith does bring unusual sympathy for bullied Eddie. The movie paints him less as a stereotypical geek and more as someone shunned because he’s different.

Given his own history with nerd roles, Smith seems to connect to the part. As such, Eddie becomes more three-dimensional than the standard stereotypes.

With these factors at the fore, Treat launches in a promising manner. However, once the movie develops into its horror themes, it rapidly loses steam.

At some point, Treat embraces the standard “nerdy kid gets empowered and blossoms until it goes too far”. Eddie grows more self-confident – and jerky – but backs away when he sees the damage done.

This theme feels trite and Treat doesn’t develop it in a compelling manner. The more the film delves into supernatural domains, the less interesting it becomes.

Which seems like a problem for a horror movie. If Treat can’t pull off the scares, then it appears likely to sputter.

And sputter it does, though I don’t think Treat ever turns into a bad flick. Heck, by the fairly low standards of 1980s horror, it fares reasonably well.

But working better than the typically awful frightfests of the era doesn’t become high praise. It just means Treat offers something better than terrible.

Best known as Skippy from Family Ties, Price knows his way around a nerdy character, and he does fine in the part. He does what the script needs and accomplishes these goals pretty well.

Best known as a Solid Gold dancer and part of the Chorus Line cast, Fields flops as Sammi, unfortunately. The role demands someone intimidating and who exudes evil, which Fields can’t do.

This reaches its nadir when we see Sammi perform on stage. Whereas Sammi should seem dark and menacing, he prances around like… well, like a Solid Gold dancer.

Fields’ inability to replicate the “Devil Metal” attitude makes the scene unintentionally amusing. Fans who remember Billy Squier’s career-damaging music video for “Rock Me Tonite” will experience déjà vu when they watch Fields flounce around the stage in the silliest possible manner.

Of course, Treat does attempt some laughs, as Smith intended to make a satirical flick. Some of that comes across at times, such as when we meet a Bible-thumping televangelist.

In ironic stuntcasting, Ozzy Osbourne plays the role – and manages the worst Southern accent on record. A few other moments lean toward tongue in cheek social commentary.

But these don’t add up to much, so Treat lacks the satirical slant that Smith apparently thinks it provides. It’d probably work better if Smith had opted for a more broadly comedic feel, but as it stands, the end result rarely delves into that side of things.

At times, Treat can seem interesting as an artifact of its era’s silly uproar about evil hidden messages in rock music, and it remains not bad for 1980s horror. Still, it doesn’t seem especially memorable either, so it winds up as watchable but too spotty to become a winner.

Footnote: small tag with Ozzy appears after the end credits.

Trick or Treat appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The Dolby Vision image held up well after nearly 40 years.

Overall sharpness looked good. Some softness impacted interiors – especially when Spooky Smoke came along for the ride – but the majority of the flick appeared accurate.

I saw no signs of jagged edges or moiré effects, and the flick lacked edge haloes. Grain felt natural, and outside of a couple specks stuck on some effects elements, print flaws failed to appear.

The movie’s palette leaned natural, albeit with some reds as a semi-dominant tone at times. The colors seemed fairly peppy, with a nice boost from HDR.

Blacks offered good depth and shadows showed appealing clarity for the most part, with the main exceptions from those smoke-filled shots. HDR brought extra punch to whites and contrast. This was a solid presentation of a low-budget 1980s horror flick.

In addition, the movie’s remixed DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack worked surprisingly well. Taken from a stereo source – which also appeared on the disc – the soundscape opened up in a much more natural manner than I expected.

Usually 5.1 remixes tend to come across as “broad stereo”, without great use of the other channels. In this instance, however, the soundfield became involving and boasted positive specificity.

This meant effects popped up in logical spots across both front and rear and blended well. The track created a largely natural impression of the settings and action that didn’t give off the usual “remixed old soundtrack” vibes.

Audio quality also held up well, with speech that seemed concise and distinctive. Music offered nice range and reproduced the rock tunes well.

Effects delivered positive clarity and accuracy, without much distortion along for the ride. Really, I couldn’t complain about anything here, as this turned into a well above average 5.1 remix.

As mentioned, the movie also brought the original DTS-HD MA stereo track, and it worked fine within its confines. Effects spread and moved across the front well, and the music broadened in a positive manner too.

Audio quality felt largely commensurate with what I heard from the 5.1 mix. That one might seem a bit more robust, but the differences remained negligible.

Normally I prefer original theatrical audio, and to be sure, I thought the 1986 stereo track worked fine. Nonetheless, I liked the 5.1 remix so much that I’d recommend it instead.

As we shift to extras, we find three entries under the disc’s “audio commentaries” domain. First we get a track from director Charles Martin Smith.

The filmmaker conducts this chat with moderator/filmmaker Mark Savage. We get a running, screen-specific look at his move to the director’s chair and his approach to the film, cast and performances, photography, editing, music, various effects, stunts, sets and locations, audio, and aspects of his career.

Smith provides a likable and engaging presence as he gets into his work. This becomes a brisk and informative discussion.

Next we get “audio interviews” with writers Michael S. Murphey and Rhet Topham. Conducted by Michael Felsher, this track offers separate conversations, first with Murphey and then with Topham.

Murphey’s portion of the reel ends at 54:50. Topham’s goes the rest of the way and concludes during the final credits.

Both chats take on similar topics. We hear about the writers’ careers as well as the development of Treat, aspects of its screenplay and related subjects.

Though both men offer good notes, Murphey proves the more engaging, mainly because he also acted as producer so he comes with a broader perspective. Expect lots of interesting thoughts here.

For the final piece, we hear an “audio conversation” with authors Paul Corupe and Allison Lang. They discuss the "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s as well as Treat and other movies in its genre.

For the most part, this becomes a pretty good history of the factors that influenced Treat. Corupe and Lang toss out some inaccurate info at times but they nonetheless deliver a generally positive chat.

Video programs follow. Rock & Shock goes for one hour, 21 minutes, 16 seconds and offers notes from Smith, Felsher, co-writer Joel Soisson, music supervisor Stephen E. Smith, construction foreman Tom Jones Jr., assistant set costumer Francine Decoursey, costume designer Jill Ohanneson, special makeup effects Everett Burrell, composer Christopher Young, and actors Marc Price, Elise Richards, Glen Morgan, Gene Simmons, and Larry Sprinkle.

The documentary discusses the 1980s cultural climate, the movie's origins and development, how Smith came to the project and his approach, cast and performances, costumes, sets and locations, various effects, stunts and action, music, deleted scenes, the movie's release/reception and eventual legacy. Inevitably, some of the material repeats from the audio programs, but "

In the Spotlight spans 15 minutes, seven seconds. It comes with info from those who knew actor Tony Fields: sisters Rene Moore and Rita Leppien, mother Frances Fields, aunt Judi Eernisse, cousin Wendi Counta, and friends Gwyneth Bruch and Patti Miller.

We hear their memories of Fields' life and career. Inevitably, these leans fluffy, but it nonetheless offers a warm remembrance of the late actor.

Next we find a 26-minute, 31-second episode of Horror’s Hallowed Grounds in which host Sean Clark visits various Trick or Treat locations. While not one of the best Grounds shows, we still get a decent look at the places used for the film.

A music video for Fastway’s “After Midnight” follows and mixes movie clips with lip-synch band performance. It seems dull but stands out because it uses actor Tony Fields as “lead singer”.

Fields replaces actual Fastway vocalist Dave King and the video only lets us see guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke, as it depicts a drummer and bassist in silhouette. These factors make it odd.

The disc comes with a mix of ads. We get two theatrical trailers, two TV spots and three radio spots.

A Vintage EPK spans five minutes, nine seconds and involves Smith, Price, Simmons, Fields, Soisson, Murphey, and actor Ozzy Osbourne. While it's nice to hear a little from the otherwise absent Fields and Osbourne, "EPK" sticks with promo fluff.

Finally, we find a Still Gallery. Presented as a running montage, it includes 262 images and can be viewed either with movie audio or with comments from photographer Phillip V. Caruso.

The compilation brings a good assortment of behind the scenes shots, publicity elements and ads.

By the standards of 1980s horror, Trick or Treat seems decent, but it never rises above that level. While it comes with some interesting moments, it doesn’t connect in a consistent manner. The 4K UHD comes with very good picture and audio as well as a strong roster of supplements. While the movie seems meh to me, fans will like this high-quality 4K UHD release.