[Trick R' Treat]
Plot:Plot:It is said that Halloween is the night when the dead rise to walk among us and other unspeakable things roam free. The rituals of All Hallows Eve were devised to protect us from their evil mischief, and one small town is about to be taught a terrifying lesson that some traditions are best not forgotten.

Nothing is what it seems when a suburban couple learns the dangers of blowing out a Jack-o-Lantern before midnight; four women cross paths with a costumed stalker at a local festival; a group of pranksters goes too far and discovers the horrifying truth buried in a local legend; and a cantankerous old hermit is visited by a strange trick-or-treater with a few bones to pick. Costumes and candy, ghouls and goblins, monsters and mayhem...the tricks and treats of Halloween turn deadly as strange creatures of every variety-human and otherwise-try to survive the scariest night of the year.

Cast:Brian Cox, Anna Paquin, Dylan Baker, Leslie Bibb.

My Thoughts:The perfect Halloween movie.

Review:So after seeing "Trick R' Treat" at it's East Coast premier, I wonder alot of things. Like why the film hasn't been released yet, and why Warner Brothers has apparently just dumped it off of their slate without a care in the world. Although when I saw it, "Warner Brothers Presents" was still put in front of the opening credits...but we officially know that Warner Brothers no longer holds the movie. Anyhow, "Trick R' Treat" follows a variety of different segments and characters.

It's kind of like "Creepshow", only it doesn't stop with one segment and then move on to the other. Instead...it segways in and out of stories, and then ties them all int together little by little until the finale where it completes the act of tieing them all together. Not an easy task, but writer/director Michael Dougherty achieves this with great results. The pics number of happenings, which are set on Halloween night...include an evil emp in a Halloween costume and sack mask terrorizing people who frown on Halloween, a pack of she-werewolves looking for a Halloween night snack at a Halloween parade, a man who murders the neighborhood fat kid, a vampire on the loose at a Halloween parade, and a group of youngsters crossing paths with a bus-load of undead retarded children.

Dougherty gives us a little dose of each story before moving on to giving us a dose of the other happenings in the small town where which the film is set in. I think this is a great new way of telling horror anthology stories, it really flows alot better than the usual, standard, and expected way of telling horror antholgoy stories. And while "Trick R' Treat" may seem like a difficult film to flow easily with so many things going on, it does indeed glide along with skill and finesse, making sure to tell enough of each segment in an alotted amount of time...yet at the same time managing not to lose or confuse the viewer. It is truly a pennacle of exceptional storytelling.

The movie even manages to move forward and backwards in time with it's story, from time to time and still keep the story and characters flowing evenly. The performances are also pretty great, and genre familiars such as Leslie Bibb, Anna Paquin, Brian Cox make appearances in the film...although some are very much short-lived. Coxes performances is a gem as usual, he plays a mean old man who doesn't like his neighbors and refuses to give out candy on Halloween...a decision which he comes to regret much later on. His next door neighbor however (Baker), has some pretty nasty secrets of his own. Including one which ends up with him having the tables turned on his own wickedness in a very brutal (and bloody) fashion.

But it's very hard to say which segment is the best in "Trick R' Treat" because quite frankly...they all are really great. And they all have a sort of moral undertone to them, which is a total 180 considering the film is set on Halloween...a time where all things evil, dark, and immoral are supposed to stalk the earth for one night. In this movie, everyone really gets what's coming to them...and that's basically the gist of it all. The directing and the way "Trick R' Treat" is filmed is also very visually effective, and has a strong Halloween feel and undertone to the movies atmosphere.

The sets are very nicely dressed and decorated, and the costumes are nicely gimmicky...especially the ones that Anna Paquin and her girlfriends wear in the werewolf segment. Dougherty really went all out to give the movie a strong Halloween feel, which actually puts the Halloween scenery of the "Halloween" films to shame. "Trick R' Treat" in one film, did more to make the ultimate Halloween atmosphere within it's set, than the "Halloween" films have done in 8 movies. The movie doesn't go overboard with blood and gore, but it uses just enough and in the proper scenes where it belongs.

So in that regard, it's not a bloodbath but it doesn't really need to be. It's really a thrills, chills, and excitement movie...with strong performances and blood, gore, and violence in the appropriate scenes. But it really hits the jackpot visually and with it's story telling. The stories are creepy, and all conclude nicely, and the sceneries...such as the rock quarry where the undead schoolbus children reside...are very Halloweenie and wonderfully creepy.

The icing on this really great cinematic cake is the strong dose of black humor that the film offers up. It works perfectly and is very well-placed in certain scenes and moments where it hits every note necessary to be effective. The conclusion of the movie does leave some things open-ended, but I can't complain really. So after gushing about this movie, I think I have a theory about why it hasn't been released yet. I think it's too perfect.

I'm not sure what the films rating is, but from what I saw I think it'll get an "R" rating from the MPAA, mostly because of the werewolf segment which involves strong nudity, terrifying images, and lots of gore...and one segment in someones basement where a severed head is carved into a jack-o-lantern in what can only be described as a "Manson family moment."

But I think studios are afraid that if they release this film, it'll be just another notch to point to to damage the argument that only PG-13 horror can make money. My second theory is that they believe today's audiences lack the intellect and attention span to follow an intersecting horror anthology, which breaks from the classic horror anthology style. Either way, "Trick R' Treat" is an awesome film, and it's a shame it's been given the shaft so many times.

Positives:Good performances, great story, great sceneries and set pieces, creepy and suspenseful moments, a necessary amount of blood and gore, black humor that works, and good dialogue.

Negatives:Nothing major.

Overall:Four out of four stars.





( Talk about it in the Forums!)



( Back to the main page)