SHOCK 'EM DEAD (1991) is a cheesy indie comedy horror and an entry in the 'heavy metal' sub-genre of horror filmmaking. Some such films are quite enjoyable, such as TRICK OR TREAT, but sadly that's not the case with this B-movie. It's about a loser fast food employee called Angel Martin who tries to join a rock band as a guitarist but gets turned down. He turns to a voodoo priestess for help (as you do) and ends up selling his soul to the Devil in exchange for fame and fortune. All very familiar and mildly amusing, but this is a film that tends to avoid genuine horror content in favour of cheesy glowing eye FX and plenty of softcore nudity from the supporting female cast members. Traci Lords figures predominantly on the advertising but has a limited token love interest role. Lots of action and silliness going on here, but not much meat or depth when it comes down to it, and of course it's aged quite badly over the years.

Lindsay Roberts (an appealing portrayal by luscious onetime 80's porn queen Traci Lords) manages a rock band that's on the verge of making it big. Complications ensue after Lindsay discovers that cocky and flamboyant new guitarist Angel Martin (a solid performance by Stephen Quadros) has sold his soul to dark forces in order to ensure that his talent will prevail.

Director/co-writer Mark Freed really delivers the terrifically tacky'n'trashy goods with this jaw-dropping piece of perfectly putrid junk: Plenty of choice clunky dialogue ("That's negative energy, man!"),big poofy hairdos, copious gratuitous female nudity, an absurd script, chintzy (not so) special effects, some deliciously dreadful acting (Tyger Sodipe in particular contributes a laughably hokey turn as an uproariously unconvincing "old" voodoo woman),gloriously ghastly songs, and an absolutely insane story that thankfully isn't played completely serious. The pulchritudinous presence of several hot babes helps a lot: Enticing Karen Russell, ravishing redhead Laurel Wiley, and cute perky brunette Gina Marks. Aldo Ray grumbles his way through his final film role as grouchy pizza joint owner Tony while Troy Donahue pours on the smarm as a sleazy record company executive. A total schlocky hoot.

How times have changed: back in the early 90s, I had an unhealthy obsession with horror, my Mega-Bass Walkman only played metal, and LA bad-girl Traci Lords was my pin-up of choice.

These days, I listen to my metal on an iPod!

If like me, you have a lifelong love of scary movies, get excited by the sound of a wailing guitar, and even more so by the sight of a certain impossibly pouty ex-porn star, then Shock 'Em Dead should prove to be be a suitably fun way to pass the time.

The luscious Traci Lords plays Lindsay Roberts, manager of rock band Spastic Colon, who are desperately in need of a good guitarist; when geeky pizza parlour employee Martin (Stephen Quadros) fails to impress the band with his widdling, he sells his soul to the devil in exchange for a cool new persona (he gives himself the name 'Angel'),godlike skills on a double-sided guitar (six strings are for pussies),incredible wealth, and a trio of sexy sluts to cater for his every whim. After another audition with the band, Martin gets the gig and rock-star status finally looks like it is in the bag; the only problem is, Martin must regularly feed on the life-force of others to remain alive...

A heavy rock reworking of Faust, the plot for Shock 'Em Dead isn't exactly original stuff, but although it's an oft told tale, the film still succeeds thanks to director Mark Freed's good natured, tongue-in-cheek approach to proceedings, which wisely opts to ladle on the cheese (indeed, in one scene in the pizza establishment, a whole bowlful of the stuff gets overturned) rather than to try and go for genuine scares.

During the course of the film we get some very silly rock songs (the kind of thing you might hear from parody metal band Steel Panther),plenty of boobies, some silly comedy, a few dodgy special effects (green glowing eyes and shonky transitions achieved through slow fades),and some knowingly bad performances from its game cast (which includes 50s hunk Troy Donahue, and genre regular Aldo Ray).

I give this daft slice of B-movie nonsense a very reasonable rating of 6.5/10 for being so delightfully absurd, but refuse to round it up to 7, as I would normally do, due to the complete lack of skin from Ms. Lords (she made this film only four years after giving up porn; I expected more).