 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 1988 release Black Roses. Yes, the hair metal 80s hair metal Horror film and I don't do this often, but I'm gonna dedicate this review to someone I've done it like once or twice before but I have to dedicate this one to Brianna Whipple on Twitter, she's Brianna Mater. She is a horror writer I know her most as a horror journalist who writes things for a rumored magazine, which you know, I've Love rumored magazine and been reading for about 13 years. I've been a subscriber or something like that But anyway, I'm dedicating this one to her because this is the type of film that's right up her alley Don't know if she's seen it yet or not. I'd assume she probably has but She is very Committed to 80s hair metal metal look and culture and I have never seen a person that dedicated to it and I have a lot of respect for that, you know Do what you love and commit to it and that's what she's doing So this is dedicated to her because I have a feeling that she'll enjoy black roses if she's seen it or hasn't I have a feeling she's into it Anyway, directed by John Fasano who did a rock and roll nightmare and the jitters written by Cindy Surreal who didn't write any other scripts not that big of a surprise here This is a trauma film and as people may know it feels like a trauma film What I mean by that is it's very face value with pretty much everything There's not a whole lot of subtextual anything to the film and anything that could be subtextual They make a point to make not subtextual to just like be right in your face And they're like we'll just have the characters tell you what should be subtext But that's trauma and obviously they've been doing it for decades So it's working the other thing is it always has this kind of like goofy playful feel to trauma films And this one definitely has that which obviously it should with what the premise is for it Interesting piece of information here actor Frank Dietz who played the character of Johnny Who I felt like was gonna be like the main character when it was first introduced and then he Really didn't end up being in it as much as I thought he would he kind of like disappeared for a large chunk of the film Honestly, he had a big enough role in it, but I thought he was gonna be like the main main character But anyway actor Frank Dietz who played Johnny was 46 when the film came out now, I'm sure people who've seen this can definitely tell that because As a teenager in high school He looked like he was 40 40 something. I mean look I am 40 years old and he looked older than me He looked in the film older than I look now. I would say almost exactly I mean the hair is probably different like he was not balding. He had wonderful locks Good for him, but yeah, I definitely look younger than he did when he did the film It's one of those things though like in the 80s they did that a lot where people playing, you know People in high school were always a lot older and it's just something we accepted back then and I mean for that reason I still accept it now The opening scene with the demon band, which I really love that that start to the film It's a lot of fun That took actually three weeks to shoot that it was the longest they spent in production on one entire scene and Yeah, you can probably see why I mean a lot of prosthetics involved a lot of Artistry and how they were shooting it and getting the music in there and it was it was a fun way to start So I'm I'm glad they took the three weeks to execute it properly And then I like how basically they come full circle at the very end of the film by going back to that opening scene To show you what ends up happening Starting with the concert is fun, especially since the band members look like odd demons But why didn't they actually save that for the end to kind of build up to it? I guess they did in a sense But as I was watching the film I was wondering why did they show any demon aspect first because most films wouldn't do that But then again, this is trauma. So I guess I answer my own question by saying that it's trauma So but most films would probably start with the band just being the band and then eventually they'd start Looking like demons, but in this film. They actually do end it where the demonic State of Damien the lead singer ends up being way more grandiose. So it does like one up itself in that sense So that's fine the animated vines and sparkling title in the road in the beginning as these very nice cars kind of roll over it is amazingly cheesy and 80s and I love that as how the title comes up Because a lot of those films back then they would just like pop the title up with just like normal font It's just like okay. It's black roses, but the fact that they went the extra mile to have it like this animated sparkling Title with all like these animated vines on the road Nice touch nice touch trauma. I'm a fan The tie-in with the Walt Whitman quote about evil propelling people works as a way to get the point of the film through very very early Initially, it actually feels like it's okay because even though the characters are literally telling you what could have been subtext It feels natural though because they're in that class forum discussion about forum. Sorry forum Format that more house talks about when he's like, okay Let's get in a forum and they all get in the circle and start, you know talking about these types of things So it feels natural because when I was in high school We did that like we literally did that where we put our desks in a circle and talk about a book or poetry or whatever So it works But then I feel like after that they just start to get to in your face about what could have been subtext And they're just telling you exactly what is going on exact like with Mayor farnsworth where he's talking to the community and he's saying well, isn't this just like when you were young and you had You know a band that your parents said was you know, the devil's music and it was gonna turn you bad and all this stuff And he starts name naming like, you know Elvis the Beatles all that stuff Which it's a good point, but you can bring it up in a much different way That's not just like character telling you exactly what it is. It can be brought up in different ways But then again, this is trauma. That's really not what trauma does. They're very face value They just throw it at you and they're like this is a simple film. Enjoy it and there is a decent amount to enjoy here Um, I do think that the use of the poetry of like emerson and Whitman Does make sense in this and it is a little bit of a subtextual thing because There's their writings are mainly about, you know, figuring out your place in life figuring out who you are as a human being So that's literally what's going on in the lives of teenagers at that point So it kind of embodies this bit of like the push and pull of them You know being involved with school and trying to be good kids and and be good students But then they also just want to go out and have fun and go to this concert and be influenced by the bad things That this demon band is telling them although, you know at that point It's not actually their choice because they're being controlled by demonic forces Which is a great excuse for messing things up What's more house doing just roaming around the town at night he seems like an extreme creeper now I don't know if they were trying to set that up as in he just got out out of like that town hall meeting With mayor farnsworth, and he just happened to be in the area And then he foiled Johnny's plot to literally paint the town red as he was gonna do But it just seemed weird that he was just out kind of like walking around when it's dark And there's like no one else on the streets. He seems like a real creeper now He seems like even more of a creeper because he's Actively stringing along Julie because he can tell at numerous times in the film that she has this Crush on him, and he does nothing to squash it until she's about to turn into an actual demon and try and kill him And he just like strings her along and it's it literally seems like he's trying to Leave that on that option on the table for himself of like, you know I really shouldn't do this because she's a teenager, but my libido says let's bone this Let's just leave the option on the table for now. Well, I think this through some more like that's literally how He seems as a character, so I know he's supposed to be like the hero, but for that reason Doesn't really feel like a hero to me not at all, but then again, that's fine because it's a tromapho There's literally a part where Johnny is talking and there's no audio this is when they're gonna start their second forum discussion in school with more house and Johnny starts talking and There's no audio like his lips are moving and there's nothing and then finally it cuts in good job Obviously it's a ruse when the black roses dress in white and end up playing ballads at the school That's obviously a show that they're just putting on for the parents and the mayor and everyone to be like look Our music is totally fine. Let us play in your community, which I don't understand Like I guess more house questions that at one point like why would you be here? Playing these concerts and they're just like oh well We want to use this as kind of like a test run like can we catch on other places? And this is like a microcosm for how our career can be and then we'll leave the town if everything's good Which they do in the end and that's after you know They cause all that havoc and people think they killed them, but they didn't but um, yeah It's it's something So they're they're lulled into this false sense of safety the parents are so then they like oh kids Go ahead go to this concert these very nice You know buttoned up dressed in white black roses perfect You see the influence of black roses in the students immediately after the concert. There's no There's no lapse in time. There's no kind of like gradual anything. It's immediate The students are all of a sudden not interested in participating in class or really thinking about anything that matters in life at that point it seems like they're very much whatever about everything and into demonic anarchy in essence and then eventually it gets to the point of killing their parents which I'll talk about The implications of that in just horror in general later. Oh Wow Vincent pastore as Tony's dad the guy I'm not gonna say his name because YouTube Algorithm stuff, but um big P from The Sopranos, you know what I'm talking about So that was shocking to see him and he has the best death in this by the way That speaker creature that comes out and attacks him even though the attack scene goes on too long in my opinion And it's just too drawn out for what it is It's the best death in the film by far in my opinion. Love it And I'm glad it was him who got got to have that fun More house ends up listening to classical music while it was at home drinking a beer just to show that he is the true Opposite to the black roses in this and that he is supposed to be the hero that saves the day for shadowing right there Funny when the kid is throwing his action figures in the fire and while he's listening to black roses and says that who he was Throwing in were the bad guys because it was Batman and Aquaman Obviously not the bad guys But this is meant to just show you that even this very young kid is being turned just by listening to the music of The black roses he's starting to see good and want to do away with it because he's becoming so evil those black roses Why was Johnny wearing a glove when he shot his father? He was literally wearing a black glove when they show the hand with the with the pistol Why was it like I don't think there was a portion in there where he was put a glove on because he literally You'd just gotten out of bed He didn't even have a shirt on and then all of a sudden he's got a black glove when he's shooting His dad in the head. I don't get it. It's very odd But you know, whatever trauma Julie cutting Priscilla's throat was actually a pretty decent kill. That's probably the second best kill in my opinion Morehouse actually is a creep since he was stringing Julie around an area talked about that Julie's demon form is actually pretty awesome now Damien's demon for like full demon form is pretty awesome, too But I would argue that Julie's I'm sure most people feel to me on this too Julie's is way better. Like that her full demon form looks so cool That I kind of wish that that was Damien's demon form because I would have made the fight scene at the end with Morehouse Better in my opinion, but the fight scene with Morehouse and Julie as a demon is pretty awesome I really did enjoy that and I was very impressed with the design of demon Julie very into that In the end the title black roses is actually more about the teens than it is about the band because obviously Damien ends up referring to all the teens that he's demonically turning as his roses as his flowers his black roses So we're going into the film as you assume that the title is about the actual band It's really more about the teens and that they are kind of the seedlings that are being sprinkled with the demonic Nutrients that are that is the music of the black roses to turn into black roses instead of growing up to become white Roses, which is obviously what you know parents are afraid of What a weird final shot of the film with Damien's face and then someone saying evil And then it just stops on it and then everything else goes black. I Mean there are many other ways to end that many more interesting ways to end that or just not weird ways to end that like that So I don't know odd choice in my opinion The awful corny nature of the soundtrack in this film really stands out as being particularly bad Because it stands in contrast to that initial song the hair metal song in the very beginning That is fun and there are other hair metal songs throughout the film So thank goodness the one in the intro wasn't the only one because that's the best music But other than that much like a lot of trauma films The music is just like corny and hokey and just not good The other thing is it doesn't match the film especially when you set the film up as About like this 80s hair metal band You need to have music that matches that basically especially because you lead with playing one of their songs That sets the tone for what the soundtrack should be. I think they kind of messed up on that But you know, they can't just keep doing hair metal throughout it because I think it'd probably be more pricey for them and trauma This is obviously playing off the accusations that have been made many many many times throughout history that Metal music and rock music in general is the devil's music and the lead singer being named Damien is obviously a nod to the Omen The child of Satan named Damien in the Omen, which I've only actually seen the first Omen film I need to see more that's been a while But yeah, this this just plays to that like it's been I Feel like every single decade this comes up again that I keep hearing in the media that parents are calling You know certain music the devil's music again and thinking that you know kids listening to that music is gonna make them go out and Cause them to do terrible things including murdering people And so this film is really taking those accusations that were very active during that time In 1988 and just blowing them out of proportion and saying this is ridiculous So let's make a movie showing you literally how ridiculous that this is I mean that is basically what horror in general does it takes the most ridiculous societal fears Put some mirror up to it and it's one of those kind of fun house mirrors that distorts the hell out of things It makes it ridiculous and that's one of the reasons. I love horror so much So I like that aspect of this film This also plays deeply on the fear of raising children and how that can go poorly for parents Parents end up worrying on are worrying about all the influences within society They can have a tendency to as in their minds take their children down the wrong path, you know parents I'm not a parent myself. So I'm you know speaking through what I what I do know and what I've heard But parents have this anxiety like this at least low level anxiety about their child turning out a certain way You know that you they put so much work and effort into raising the child and trying to do it, right? According to you know, whatever they believe that is Give them good ideals. So they they want to be Very careful about influences that aren't them and that kind of comes through in this film where it's like Well, this music can take them down a wrong path So we'd really like to protect them from it But that how it ends up playing to the actual kids is they're trying to keep me from enjoying life they're trying to keep me from experiencing things that are fun and that I'm interested in and that I really want to do and Really that just turns into they're just trying to make me miserable and we've all been there We were all children at some point And I know you felt that at some point with your parents that you were like They're just trying to make me miserable now, but then when you grow up you realize that's not really the case Sometimes they were in the right. Sometimes they were in the wrong, but you understand it more if you know what I'm saying So anyway, that's all I have to say about black roses. It was fun time So I'm gonna have to rate this in two ways as I do films like this One in the pantheon of all films. How am I rating it and two as a so bad? It's good film. How am I rating it? So in the pantheon of all films? It's a one-star film 100% it's a one-star film, but as a so bad. It's good film It's a solid three-star film in my opinion and if you like so bad, it's good films I would definitely recommend that you check that this out and also Recommend it to other people who are into that stuff, but regardless. I really thank you for checking this out Go ahead and put some comments down here, especially if you've seen black roses and you want to talk about it Let's do that or just like Horror in general. I'm open But do me a quick favor and hit that subscribe button if you can do that for me I would greatly appreciate it. It literally takes you a second. It is very painless It costs you nothing and I appreciate it greatly. I really honestly do that's what keeps me motivated to keep doing the videos Because I'm just doing this as a way to You know having nerdy horror community to talk with because where I live I don't have anyone I can get super nerdy with when it comes to horror So you are my community you are my people basically I'm reaching out So please hit that subscribe button also hit the notification bell button and that way I You'll know whenever I have a new video going up whether it's one of these in-depth reviews one of my Spoiler-free ones for newer films or unboxings or any of that stuff, but regardless. I really do thank you for taking your time to watch This I do appreciate that and until next time keep it brutal