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Michael Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat has finally made it to the store shelves and online renting sites after being delayed for almost two years. Let’s make it clear; I’m quite biased when it comes to horror films. I find most plots just ridiculous and unbelievable. Many horror films have horrendous acting, poor scripts and unrealistic chase scenes. Trick ‘r Treat does have some fine acting, a decent script and almost believable chases. This does not exemplify that this film doesn’t have any flaws however. This could be an excellent silly Halloween scary movie for horror film lovers, but before you consider it, perhaps you should consider several issues.
Trick ‘r Treat is claimed to be “The best Halloween film of the last 30 years”. Being that this quote was by wizarduniverse.com, I took it with a grain of salt. This is a quality, interesting horror film but is by no means any more special than half of the other scary movies over the last year.
The story follows 4 different classic horror tales all interwoven to somehow come together in the end. The movie follows a high school principle, DYLAN BAKER, which turns into a vicious serial killer; 3 teenagers that has a Halloween prank turn deadly; a predator looking for virgin blood; and a grouchy old man, BRIAN COX, haunted by a devious little trick-or-treating demon. These 4 stories actually come together brilliantly to bring an end to larger unsolved mystery.
Each story begins without any means. I had trouble following why the audience should follow or even care about the characters in each story. After a slow start, and awhile curiously pondering the story taking place, things start to get interesting and then quickly come together. None of it is truly scary but rather intriguing. There are times of little jumps and scary music to go along to what were made to be scary moments, but the movie is really more about the story at hand rather than taking cheap jabs at the audience. Thank you!
There are definitely several flaws in the individual stories, but none of which that really take away from the movie. This is horror genre after all folks. It’s going to have unrealistic ghoulish characters, ghosts and the undead. With so many different types of nightmares coming to life, it’s hard to believe this could take place in our world. Trick ‘r Treat is however supposed to be about these classic tales in order help create one ultimate Halloween time movie. The slow start however makes staying interested tough until well passed the half-way mark.
It was exciting to see Anna Paquin play an innocent 22-year-old virgin, well… so we think, and Brian Cox plays a wonderful cranky old man. Unfortunately, don’t expect some violent gorefest that has become more and more popular in recent horror movies. This is rather light-hearted compared toward much of the competition.
Winner of the Audience Choice Awards at Screamfest, this probably won’t be a bad choice for a late night Halloween flick, but should not be sold as one of the greatest. Trick ‘r Treat is more along the lines of a comedy horror genre film. The production quality is high. The script is never outrageous or forced. Most and foremost, the ending was original. Hell, the whole movie is original while telling unoriginal classic Halloween tales and perhaps that makes Trick ‘r Treat worth it.
