Trick ‘r Treat (2008)

I’ve just had a theatrical experience, and I don’t really know how to put this down properly, so bear with me as I free form my thoughts on the film that I just witnessed. I just got home from the opening night of the LA Screamfest, and what an opening it was. Trick ‘r Treat was fantastic, and I need to get this out of the way right now. Warner Bros. is shooting themselves in the foot for not releasing this film. What they’re shelving it for makes absolutely no sense to me. This is what horror fans have been waiting for (unless you’re a Saw/Rob Zombie fan in which case you’re not allowed to enjoy quality films). Writer/Director Michael Dougherty has something very special here, and he manages to do something that almost no horror films in recent memory have managed. He mixes suspense, action, gore, terror and comedy seamlessly without tipping too far in one direction. Trick ‘r Treat is the film we, as horror fans, have been waiting for. And, we’re going to keep on waiting.

Rating:

This is usually the place where I would set up the story and try my best to get the idea of the film across to you, the reader. Well, I can’t really do that for Trick ‘r Treat as the surprises are built into the story, and everything has a pay off at some point in the film. What I can say is that there are four (five if you want to get super technical) interwoven stories, which play out using the same characters in the same town (think Grindhouse, how the two films used the same elements, or Pulp Fiction). Supernatural elements play a background role as the audience learns that not everything is what it seems, and almost everyone in the small town has a much darker side.

Rant time. I loved this film. I was a little worried when things slowed down at the fifteen-minute mark, but once all the stories started paying off, the film kicked back into high gear and never looked back. The acting is phenomenal; from Brian Cox (who has yet to disappoint this humble reviewer) to Anna Paquin down to the kids playing the trick or treaters, everyone in this film was phenomenal. A special nod goes to the masked kid you’ve all seen on the posters. If you think that picture is creepy, you ain’t seen nothing yet. The kid has strong ties with the masked kid in The Orphanage, but Trick ‘r Treat takes the subject down an entirely different path.

I know that when many viewers finally get a chance to see this film, we’re going to hear a lot of moaning about there being “a ton of jump scares” or “the gore was weak in (insert scene)”, and I call b*llsh*t on all the haters. Right now. The jump scares work, the tension is pitch perfect, the gore is used where it should be (no more, no less), and everything hits its mark. And, yes, for the boob men, there is a set of tits for you. See? Everyone wins. Also, there’s a TON of homages to look out for, but instead of taking the easy way out and COPYING (I’m looking at you Zombie), Dougherty takes the hide road and gives subtle nods to the classics that came before.

I wish I could remember some of the great lines in the film, but I don’t want to do Trick ‘r Treat disservice by paraphrasing. Warner Bros. stop being stupid. Release this film immediately. Trick ‘r Treat never gets cheesy, but manages to be engaging, and often times comical without going overboard. Where this film succeeds, and other modern films that have been over-hyped don’t, is that along with all the horror and gore, it actually makes you interested in the characters. Yes, in the short running time each story gets, you can find at least one character to root for (except for Brian Cox’s story, there’s only one person you can ever root for in a Brian Cox film, and that’s Brian Cox). The fact that you connect with the characters makes the film that much more enjoyable up until the very last frame (at which point, you know the film’s over, but you wish it would just keep going). The only bad thing I can say right now is that I’ll never be able to see this incredibly grade-A effort for the first time again.