Trick 'r Treat is a 2007 anthology horror film. The movie was produced by Legendary Pictures and Bad Hat Harry Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Trick 'r Treat was written and directed by Michael Dougherty.
The story is we see four interwoven stories throughout the night of Halloween in the town of Warren Valley, Ohio. During these stories we seen one peculiar trick-or-treater dressed in orange pajamas and a sack over his head. His name is Sam and he's here to enforce the rules of Halloween.
Why It's Underrated
The main reason why Trick 'r Treat is so underrated is because it mostly goes under people's radar. I mean the film's been around for over ten years and I've only seen once on television. I don't know if there are more showings like it appears on HBO or something but the main thing is it's not shown on TV enough and often times nobody really talks about it.
My Thoughts
One of the aspects that makes Trick 'r Treat great is the character Sam. We don't know much about other than if you don't follow the rules of Halloween Sam's gonna pay you a visit. So he's definitely got a mysterious factor going for him. What also makes him great is what he looks like underneath the mask. I won't give it any but it was definitely a surprise. Seriously his face is nothing I've seen before in a horror movie.
Now since this takes place on Halloween does it give off a Halloween feeling? Simply put yes. The movie has everything related to Halloween. From the jack-o-lanterns to the costumes to even the origins of why Halloween was even made and how it transitioned to the holiday we know and love. Hell the movie is so into Halloween we have a clever easter egg to 1978's Halloween in the story "Surprise Party" and 1998's Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island can be briefly scene in the story "Meet Sam". Which is awesome.
With the movie being anthology this means we get quite a few stories and each one of them are done great. If I had to pick one I would say "The School Bus Massacre Revisited" is my favorite. It has great child actors, a great backstory, and there's just this claustrophobic feel about it that creeped me out and I'm not even claustrophobic. However while "Surprise Party" is good it's build up to it's ending (which takes a turn nobody saw coming) does leave more to be desired. Overall all of the stories are well done and you'll have a blast watching them.
Another thing I found enjoyable about Trick 'r Treat is the performances. Like I said about "The School Bus Massacre Revisited" the child actors of Britt McKillip (played Macy), Isabelle Deluce (played Sara), Alberto Ghisi (played Chip), and Jean-Luc Bilodeau (played Schrader), and Samm Todd (played Rhonda) we're all great in their roles. Which is also a shocking thing to say because usually child actors aren't that great but these kids were. The other great performances were Dylan Baker as the crazed principal Steve Wilkins. He really brought out this characters crazed obsession with Halloween. Then we have Brian Cox as Mr. Kreeg. He essential plays the Scrooge of Halloween and he plays the part to perfection.
The final thing I'll give Trick 'r Treat credit for is Michael Dougherty's directing. The guy brought so many great and wonderful made shots. Each frame from the cinematography is so beautiful when it needs to be and creepy when it needs to be.
My final rating is Great
Accomplishments
Trick 'r Treat won not one but two awards those being
Screamfest Horror Film Festival (2008)
Audience Choice Award
Toronto After Dark Film Festival (2009)
Silver Audience Award
Now I'm willing to bet those awards are great accomplishments in their own right but I feel the movie's biggest win was gaining a cult following. Without that cult following and that one time the movie was played on AMC, I would have never known about this movie. But thanks to both of those factors I found a great horror flick to enjoy whenever the Halloween season rolls in.
Alright everyone that's all for me. Come back next time on Monday, October 21st when I tell you the story of lost footage from the 1997 sci-fi horror movie Event Horizon. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.
The main reason why Trick 'r Treat is so underrated is because it mostly goes under people's radar. I mean the film's been around for over ten years and I've only seen once on television. I don't know if there are more showings like it appears on HBO or something but the main thing is it's not shown on TV enough and often times nobody really talks about it.
My Thoughts
One of the aspects that makes Trick 'r Treat great is the character Sam. We don't know much about other than if you don't follow the rules of Halloween Sam's gonna pay you a visit. So he's definitely got a mysterious factor going for him. What also makes him great is what he looks like underneath the mask. I won't give it any but it was definitely a surprise. Seriously his face is nothing I've seen before in a horror movie.
Now since this takes place on Halloween does it give off a Halloween feeling? Simply put yes. The movie has everything related to Halloween. From the jack-o-lanterns to the costumes to even the origins of why Halloween was even made and how it transitioned to the holiday we know and love. Hell the movie is so into Halloween we have a clever easter egg to 1978's Halloween in the story "Surprise Party" and 1998's Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island can be briefly scene in the story "Meet Sam". Which is awesome.
With the movie being anthology this means we get quite a few stories and each one of them are done great. If I had to pick one I would say "The School Bus Massacre Revisited" is my favorite. It has great child actors, a great backstory, and there's just this claustrophobic feel about it that creeped me out and I'm not even claustrophobic. However while "Surprise Party" is good it's build up to it's ending (which takes a turn nobody saw coming) does leave more to be desired. Overall all of the stories are well done and you'll have a blast watching them.
Another thing I found enjoyable about Trick 'r Treat is the performances. Like I said about "The School Bus Massacre Revisited" the child actors of Britt McKillip (played Macy), Isabelle Deluce (played Sara), Alberto Ghisi (played Chip), and Jean-Luc Bilodeau (played Schrader), and Samm Todd (played Rhonda) we're all great in their roles. Which is also a shocking thing to say because usually child actors aren't that great but these kids were. The other great performances were Dylan Baker as the crazed principal Steve Wilkins. He really brought out this characters crazed obsession with Halloween. Then we have Brian Cox as Mr. Kreeg. He essential plays the Scrooge of Halloween and he plays the part to perfection.
The final thing I'll give Trick 'r Treat credit for is Michael Dougherty's directing. The guy brought so many great and wonderful made shots. Each frame from the cinematography is so beautiful when it needs to be and creepy when it needs to be.
My final rating is Great
Accomplishments
Trick 'r Treat won not one but two awards those being
Screamfest Horror Film Festival (2008)
Audience Choice Award
Toronto After Dark Film Festival (2009)
Silver Audience Award
Now I'm willing to bet those awards are great accomplishments in their own right but I feel the movie's biggest win was gaining a cult following. Without that cult following and that one time the movie was played on AMC, I would have never known about this movie. But thanks to both of those factors I found a great horror flick to enjoy whenever the Halloween season rolls in.
Alright everyone that's all for me. Come back next time on Monday, October 21st when I tell you the story of lost footage from the 1997 sci-fi horror movie Event Horizon. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.
No comments:
Post a Comment