Trick 'r Treat Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: An anthology of four interlocking tales that coincide on Halloween in a small Ohio town.

Review: It's October again which means it's time for horror movies all month long. Oh but wait, I'm always reviewing horror movies all year long! Well, I knocked out the "Halloween" franchise last year so this year I will try to touch on films that take place on Halloween to get into the spirit, and what better way than to start things off with one of the best Halloween-themed films out there: "Trick 'r Treat." I never understood how this awesome film was delayed for years and only had a direct-to-DVD release; talk about embarrassing. So many have missed out on this rare gem, but, thankfully, it's gaining a strong following who appreciate that this should be up there with the many horror greats and is probably the second best Halloween-themed film besides the original "Halloween;" in some respects, this is the superior film.

Before delving into the creative and fantastic presentation of the stories, I want to first discuss the overall look, tone, and atmosphere of the film which is one of the best aspects to this movie. The moment the film gets rolling you see a truly classic Halloween-look to the town that brings out the nostalgia and harkens back to the heyday of Halloween in the USA. The decorations, the celebration, and that cold, autumn-vibe are simply amazing and the scenery is tearfully beatiful. Honestly, at this point, other countries are doing Halloween better since they practice the holiday to its fullest potential instead of being a little bitch about every fucking little thing. There is a moment in the film when they say it's 8 o'clock and that the festivities are just beginning--recently, Halloween is over in most towns the moment it gets dark (are you fucking kidding me?!). This film made Halloween look like how it was when I was a kid with everyone running around for all hours of the night without fear. In my mind, this is the epitome of what Halloween should look like in every town and more people need to be back out there celebrating instead of being babies waiting for Christmas to stroll around. Okay, enough of my bitterness...

One of the best features about this film is that all the individual stories are intertwined at various points as they play out in this little town. This is something I've mentioned before as a downside to most anthology films, because they don't take the initiative to work in some kind of link to their entries no matter how simplistic. I love the crafting of the story to incorporate moments where you see other character's perspectives of the other character's stories as they all come together; sometimes it is simply a character passing by for a second, but it is so enjoyable. In a way, the stories aren't even entirely separate as they're all constantly progressing until it is their time to take the focus for 10-20 minutes. To start things off as a makeshift wraparound, we are introduced to a couple calling it quits for the night as the husband warns not to mess with Halloween traditions and the nagging wife does not comply. Lurking in the background is Sam, short for Samhain, who is this little Halloween deity, of sorts, that runs around in the background for the stories; I loved this idea of an embodiment to the holiday itself that wreaks his own brand of havoc and serves as an ongoing link to each story. Not taking kindly to the wife's decision to take down the decorations early, Sam dispenses with the wife in a gruesome way adding her head to the display!

Earlier in the night, and across the street, we see some punk ass kid smashing pumpkins and eating way too much candy until he runs into the school principal. The principal, Steven Wilkins, is played wonderfully by Dylan Baker who channels a successfully creepy and sinister feel as a quiet and unassuming murderer. Wilkins has poisoned the candy to take care of our dear punk ass in order to carve his decapitated head as jack-o-lantern with the aid of his young son and protege. We see a large grave at one point that might be filled with many bodies implying that this is a yearly tradition or perhaps he's knocking out the school bullies or something. Wilkins also sees his old, cranky neighbor screaming for help, but he ignores this as we our left with a suspenseful build up for later when we see this neighbor tackled by something. Finally, during this tale we have the introduction of a group of kids collecting jack-o-lanterns, a group of sexy young women trying to find dates for a party, and Sam ominously trick or treats at Wilkins' home.

Before the next tale takes off, we see what appears to be a vampire dressed up in a dark cloak killing a woman in the town square and seeking more victims...perhaps one of our sexy girls? So those kids that were collecting jack-o-lanterns are obviously planning a prank on another girl, Rhonda, who I guess is supposed to be autistic or something. They eventually find themselves near an abandoned quarry as the leader of the group regales us with the tale of special needs kids that were killed decades ago when their rich parents paid their bus driver to dispose of them one fateful Halloween. Things sort of went wrong when one of the special needs kids broke free and drove them all off a cliff into the quarry, filled with water, but the bus driver managed to survive. This leader explains that they will offer up a jack-o-lantern for each kid that was drowned in the bus crash, but instead they pretend they are being attacked by the ghosts of the dead kids; with Rhonda scared and confused she is nearly immobile as the group hears strange noises. Perhaps through the help of Sam, the zombie form of the special needs kids emerge from the watery bus wreck (which looks awesome by the way), and kill the group with only Rhonda surviving as she coldly leaves the group to their miserable fate; though, I didn't think these kids were that deserving of death since really only the leader was a bitch. Before Rhonda embarks toward home, she sees Sam innocently admiring the show.

The next tale is the shortest, but it is the one told most progressively as we constantly have cuts back and forth to the sexy girls and their party. The main girl, Laurie (oh, I see what you did there!), played by Anna Paquin, is our apparent virgin looking for that special guy, but there is obviously more to it than that. She is slowly being stalked by our vampire-man until he moves in for the kill only to discover a surprise. We realize that all the dates are dead as our sexy girls are werewolves and Laurie was looking for her first meal we can assume. There are a few ironic aspects to this because Laurie is dressed up as little red riding hood, and Ms. Paquin has been playing a vampire for years on "True Blood." I didn't really care for the way the werwolves were depicted because it was implied they look that way under their skin rather than actually transforming from human to wolf. Regardless, it is revealed that vampire-man was Wilkins using fake teeth as he becomes puppy chow with Sam looking on with a sense of glee emanating from under his mask. I should note that I thought Ms. Paquin looked significantly better when half-transformed than not, but I'm weird like that.

Just a glimpse at the sexy girls:

The final story involves that cranky old neighbor, Kreeg, who is the equivalent to the Scrooge of Halloween. This entry actually takes place much earlier in the film since this is during the same time Wilkins is carving his little jack-o-lantern. Since Kreeg is against Halloween so much, it should be no surprise that Sam comes to personally screw with him. After sneaking into his home, Sam uses various supernatural abilities to unnerve Kreeg like materializing jack-o-lanterns and writing "trick or treat give me something good to eat" all over his walls in blood. Eventually the two start to fight almost comically since Sam is so small and Kreeg keeps shooting him with a shotgun. It's shown that underneath Sam's mask his face looks like a pumpkin and he even appears to bleed pumpkin juices ("What were you expecting? PUMPKIN JUICE?!") and seeds. Eventually Sam gains the upper hand and appears to go in for the kill but spares Kreeg in favor of taking his candy. Baffled, Kreeg interprets this as his motivation to get into the spirit of Halloween, again, in a similar vein as Scrooge as we realize he was the bus driver that drowned the special needs kids (which was painfully obvious). We then see the injured Kreeg giving out candy as Sam sets his sights on the couple from the beginning as all of our stories masterfully cross paths simultaneously; the couple walks home, Wilkins' son looks on, and the werewolf girls pass by nearly hitting Rhonda. Just when it appears things are safe, Kreeg hears another knock at the door and is greeted by the zombie special needs kids who exact their long overdue revenge as the credits roll.

Everything about this film just works down to the tiniest detail with special attention toward the scenery, atmosphere, and general sense of indulgence of the material. I have a few minor gripes here and there with certain aspects of the tales, but the only major complaint I have is that the film is too short and could have used another segment to even things out; the film isn't even 90 minutes with the credits...come on! If there ever was essential Halloween viewing, the only films I would say have to make such a list are this film and the original "Halloween." If you're a big fan of the holiday like me you should have watched this movie by now or seek it out as soon as possible. I can only hope they make a sequel at some point, but, as it stands, it doesn't seem like one is anywhere even close to a script phase which sucks. In the meantime, let's get into that glorious Halloween spirit!

Notable Moment: Probably at the end when you see all the stories cross paths at the same time. It only lasts for a split second, but it was cool nonetheless.

Final Rating: 8/10