Four interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: an everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the one guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank, and a bitter old recluse receives an uninvited guest.
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Reviews
To me, this movie is perfection.
Don't listen to the negative reviews
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Short and Simple Review by WubsTheFadgerFirst off, the films story is an anthology which has various story's that intertwine in a very clever and smart way. The story's are not that scary but do have some dark humor that is often hilarious. Some of the story's are stronger then other while a few of the story's are a little weak. All in all, this film does a great job connecting all of the story's.The acting is all around good. Dylan Baker, Anna Paquin, and Leslie Bibb all perform well. Brain Cox gives the best performance near the end. He displays so much emotion ad is an understated talent.The pacing can be a little slow in some of the story's but it is mostly fast. the runtime is very short. the film is only one hour and twenty-two minutes.The gore and use of practical effects is great. I just wish that this film was scarier.Pros: Good use of the anthology system, connecting story's, good acting, Brain Cox's performance, good use of dark humor, and a short runtimeCons: Some weak story's, some weak acting, slow pacing in some story's, and the film is not that scaryOverall Rating: 6.3
This year (2017) I finally caved in and watched Trick 'r Treat . . . and what a straight up boring movie it was. Not a single story was entertaining. I am perplexed that this is rated so highly and everyone seems to be crazy about it - quite honestly, it feels like they just jumped on the bandwagon because it's 'cool' to like Trick'r'Treat, same with Halloween. Sam and the dog are cute, that's the only good I can say.
Trick 'r Treat, for such a well-known Halloween staple, had a surprisingly slow and stuttering start. Directed by Michael Dougherty, it was originally slated for an October 2007 theatrical release but got pushed back. It was screened at various film festivals between late 2007 and late 2009, including at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, before it was officially released on video in October 2009.Honestly, it's hard for me to believe that this movie didn't have a theatrical release, but clearly the fans have picked it up and ran with it. Dougherty announced in 2009 that he is planning a sequel but it's been slow going. But, according to Bloody Disgusting, he's planning to dive back into production when he finishes up his current project, Godzilla: King of the Monsters.It's an extremely well done anthology, with all five stories centering around Halloween and the traditions surrounding it. There's a school principal who moonlights as a serial killer, a legend of a school bus massacre, beautiful women taking part in an interesting nighttime ritual, a grouchy neighbor who finds his home invaded, and a man trying to convince his wife of how awesome Halloween truly is.** SPOILERS! **I loved this collection, honestly a lot more than I thought I would. I realized that I had been avoiding this film for a long time. Something about it just struck me as cheesy, both because of the name and, truly, because of the character of Sam, the little scarecrow-like creature with the burlap sack over his head. (I still thought Sam was a little bit cheesy but after subsequently watching Dougherty's 1996 short film, Season's Greetings, I like him a lot more.)The stories are all woven together SO incredibly well. There are many instances of overlap — probably more than I even noticed on first viewing — that really tied the whole thing together. Too often horror anthologies are just a string of seemingly random short films, the only relation being the genre they belong to. But Dougherty paid attention to the most minute details things like having a werewolf howl in the distance in one short, and circling back around to it in a later story. The stories are happening at various points in the night, but it bounces between all of them, making the whole thing feel very cohesive.The film had the most nostalgic feeling to it for me — it really EMBODIES Halloween. It walks that fine line between being technically a horror movie but not actually being all that scary but not in the sense that it failed, more in the sense that it has the perfect air of the holiday to it, of the traditions surrounding it, of the legends and the lore. It's tough to describe, really, but it felt like childhood in a way. Despite all of the terrible things happening, I wanted to live in that small Ohio town — glowing jack-o-lanterns adorning each yard, a lively parade pulsing through downtown, costumes and candy everywhere. It had an extremely homey feeling to it. It brought me back to being a kid and whispering about urban legends or jumping at something rustling in a bush while trick or treating.Each story had a sort of cruel humor to the individual twists. There were times when it almost felt like a children's Halloween movie (in the best way) until you were abruptly reminded of how adult it really is (the girls partying in the woods stripping out of their "sexy Cinderella" and "sexy Little Red Riding Hood" costumes, for instance).The one scene that really did freak me out — that tapped into a sort of long-standing fear of mine — is when it briefly shows a woman making out with a masked man in an alleyway during the parade. He reveals his sharp fangs and winds up killing her and then just props up her lifeless body on the sidelines of the festivities where no one was the wiser. I think that's part of the reason that Halloween feels so dangerous, so electric, to me — when everyone's in a costume and everyone's striving to be as realistically scary as possible, people tend to overlook what would be horrifying in the light of day.And then there's Sam, the weird little kid made of stringy pumpkin pulp. I liked him tagging along to each story, being ever-present. It's amazing how recognizable he was even before I knew anything about the movie, really. But I especially liked how once he got his hands on a candy bar, he was good to go. Like dude, I FEEL THAT. You see the message written in blood all over Mr. Kreeg's bedroom — "trick 'r treat, give me something good to eat" — and you think it's some diabolical play on words, that he's actually looking to eat some flesh. Hellll no, kid just wants some CANDY. I appreciate that.Overall, a freaking great Halloween anthology. Is it going to scare the crap out of you? Likely not. But Halloween is as much about the nostalgia, the hearkening back to childhood fears, than jump scares or psychological thrills. Watch it!
I, as well as I'm sure many of you, became interested in investing 88 minutes of my time to watch this movie based solely on the reviews that I had read on this site. Review after review, claiming this to be; THE GREATEST HALLOWEEN MOVIE OF ALL-TIME, THE GREATEST HALLOWEEN MOVIE OF THE LAST 20 YEARS, and THE GREATEST HORROR MOVIE TO NEVER HIT THEATERS EVERYWHERE. How could this movie possibly fall short of at least being worth my time??? Trust me, IT DOES!This movie takes a terrible stab (yes, pun intended) at the old, "multiple stories that intertwine into one," story telling model. Sounds great, right? WRONG! It felt to me, as if somebody was sitting around watching PULP FICTION and thought, "Hey, I could do that with a low budget Horror movie," but failed miserably.Not one of the five stories that this movie attempts to intertwine into one, did I connect with in any way. Not one character in this movie, did I feel any emotional attachment with or interest in. Not once did I feel myself tense up, or brace for a moment of scare. Not once was I scared. And not once when the movie was trying to tell an interwoven story, did I feel that the writing was anything but desperate.To me, Trick R Treat was a sad attempt to create an interwoven story out of multiple story lines that were poorly constructed. I love B-Horror. I truly do. So you can imagine my excitement when I found a B-Horror movie that was being called THE GREATEST HALLOWEEN FILM IN 20 YEARS! However, this move was an absolute swing and a miss!