DVD Review: Trick 'r Treat
Trick ‘r Treat
Warner Premiere
Runtime: 82 minutes
U.S Rating: R for Horror Violence, Some sexuality / nudity and language
Starring: Dylan Baker, Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Rochelle Aytes, Leslie Bibb
Written / Directed by: Michael Dougherty
Produced by: Bryan Singer
If you’re a fan of Halloween and scary movies, this is one horror film you’re probably going to want to add to your collection. Produced by Bryan Singer (director of X-Men and Superman Returns) and written/directed by Michael Dougherty (co-scripter of Superman Returns), this film provides a great mix of holiday thrills and comic relief.
Trick ‘r Treat takes a Tales from the Crypt approach, interweaving four spooky tales that take place on Halloween night. Each mini story becomes a part of the next as the tales unfold, often with pleasantly surprising twists. Trick ‘r Treat embraces the Halloween spirit by providing several urban legends that, by the end of the film, intertwine in a way that creates one very compelling Halloween anthology.
Witness the story of a high school principal (Dylan Baker) who enjoys murdering kids in his spare time by feeding them poisoned candy; the story of a 22 year old virgin woman (Anna Paquin) who may have just found the perfect man during a lonesome walk through the forest (uh-oh!); a group of teenagers who decide to play a prank on a classmate, only to discover the consequences of doing so are pretty unappealing; and finally, an old man (Brian Cox), (a man who parallels Scrooge in relation to his hatred for particular holidays) discovers that a brutal-pumpkin-demon-child is on the prowl for those who think Halloween is a meaningless day.
The film also comes packaged with an animated short film called Trick ‘r Treat: Season’s Greetings (an animation created by Michael Dougherty) which the full-length feature film is based loosely upon. The animation can be viewed with or without commentary by Dougherty. This short animated film (only a few minutes in length) introduces the character “Sam” from Trick ‘r Treat, the aforementioned brutal-pumpkin-demon-child. Dougherty’s commentary explains his origins as a writer, as well as his desire to create a full-length feature film starring his animated character.
My recommendation: If you’re a fan of horror and of the Halloween holiday, this is an anthology you will want to own. Trick ‘r Treat does a great job of melding each of these stories into one tale. The subtle ways in which each story becomes part of another will be appealing to many viewers. The film also does a great job of not overdoing gore and boring horror cliches, and though Trick ‘r Treat does not try to create an overly intense or super scary atmosphere, it does provide enough spooks and thrills to satisfy most horror fans. In addition to the horror-film moments, Michael Dougherty does a great job of adding comic relief throughout the movie. He truly makes his film capture the spirit of Halloween by reminding his viewers that even though Halloween is supposed to be scary and spooky, it is also meant to be fun.
Video
Trick ‘r Treat can be viewed in wide screen or full screen formats.
Audio
Trick ‘r Treat is presented in Dolby Digital surround sound and offers English, French, and Spanish subtitles for the hearing impaired. The film can be played with English, French, or Spanish audio.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
