Black Roses (The Last Drive-In)

Film Year:  1988

Genre:  Horror, Comedy

Director:  John Fasano

Starring:  John Martin, Ken Swafford, Julie Adams, Carla Ferrigno, Frank Deitz

The Movie

Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans may recognize John Fasano as the screenwriter of Zombie Nightmare (which also starred Frank Deitz) and also director of the RiffTrax featured film Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare (which also featured Deitz and Zombie Nightmare star John Mikl Thor).  A year after both those films he directed this movie, which has a band called Black Roses coming to a small town and playing three nights of concerts.  The parents of the city are furious, desiring the band be banned from playing for "satanic music."  Little do they know that Black Roses is actually a real satanic cult and is actually using their music to turn the teenagers of each town into literal demons.

Black Roses is a bit of an "on-the-nose" satire of the scrutiny heavy metal music met in the 80's.  It takes the criticism of "the devil's music" and takes it literally, having the music literally be an act of corruption for all who listen to it.  It's a very base premise, but it sets up some wildly entertaining stuff, as our young cast subtly moves from normal teen to threatening force of hell throughout the film.  While acting is about to be expected for a Troma release (and the entire cast of "teens" is pushing 30), the cast compiled for these sequences do quite well with the chaos they're spreading.  And the movie certainly does get chaotic as the premise gets more out of control the further in, almost to the point of just being gratuitous murder and mayhem, and some sex thrown in for good measure.

I'd almost say that the movie demands to be bigger, because there is a certain something here that could be expanded upon if it had more money.  That being said, I also concede that the film does run the risk of losing its charms if that were to happen.  There some neat make-up and puppet effects spread throughout the film, all of which aren't exactly realistic but a lot of fun to watch and add a lot of personality to the film.  Things like the climax do stumble around a bit, with hokey sound effects that amount to a "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots" style punch fight between our hero and a demon. and the demons being terrorized by a fire feels absurd as one would picture actual hellbeasts would be at home in flames.

Black Roses has a lot going for it though and it's a low budget charmer.  I had a blast watching it and I'd watch it again.  It's a pretty good ride if you're into movies distributed by Troma that are a little bit rock and roll.

The Drive-In

I think it goes without saying that last year's Valentine's Day counterprograming double feature was a triumphant success, with the absolute power pairing of Tammy and the T-Rex and The Love Witch helping fuel it.  It makes sense that The Last Drive-In returns this Valentine's Day for another double feature for those who like their love holidays full of blood red colors.  First up on our Valentine's Day is a bouquet of Black Roses, which unlike last year's offerings isn't really a horror movie underlined by romance.  It does have a fair bit of sex in it, which probably counts for something.

The film seems to have been selected by Joe Bob's guests tonight, the Boulet Brothers!  I had never heard of them before this episode but they are a pair of drag queens who host a horror-themed reality show called Dragula.  I don't watch many reality competitions anymore, but the Boulets are very entertaining guests with a lot of colorful things to say.  They discuss how they got their start, which is just as raunchy as you'd hope, and share tidbits on the making of Dragula.  I have no idea what half of what they're saying means, but their show sounds crazy.

Joe Bob and the Boulets also discuss the film of course.  Joe Bob is interested in relating behind the scenes knowledge and talks about the origins of several castmembers, including his resume listing of actors up to and including the late Julie Adams, who isn't in this movie for very long but most will know and love from one of the greatest monster movies ever made, Creature from the Black Lagoon.  He is also a little obsessed with the fact that Carla Ferrigno, wife of bodybulder and TV's Incredible Hulk Lou Ferrigno, is in this movie and he doesn't understand why she's in this movie.  The Boulets talk more about what is onscreen, like the creature effects and what they think looks good or not.  They get into a discussion of the effect of a record demon that sucks a guy up into a speaker, which looks like a puppet that more-or-less resembles Shin Godzilla.  They're a bit split on the effect, but they all seem to agree that they love the sequence.

Black Roses isn't too much of a romantic movie for this years festivities, which is a downer, but according to Joe Bob's Drive-In Totals it does feature "Gratuitous Walt Whitman," so I'm going to give it a pass.  Joe Bob will tie in more to the holiday with tonight's second feature, Frankenhooker, so stay tuned for a horror themed romance to remember.  But one of the reasons Black Roses is worth remembering as an episode is that it concludes with a metal music video featuring Joe Bob, Darcy, and the rest of the Drive-In gang.  It's a treat that isn't to be missed.

Joe Bob's Rating

⭐⭐⭐