Directed by Michael Dougherty
Starring Dylan Baker, Rochelle Aytes, Anna Paquin and Brian Cox
Already? It's October already? It feels like just yesterday when I was setting out my ghost stakes and Freddy Kruger window decoration, but now, here we are again, with all kinds of witch and superhero costumes dotting the aisles and glorious horror flicks...um...flickering on the TV. All in all, it's glorious, and I'm happy the best holiday of the year is approaching.
Which brings me to Trick 'r Treat, the movie in question today. It's a pretty substantial cult favorite in the genre, maybe even THE biggest cult favorite of the past decade. It was filmed in 2007 and summarily sat on the shelf for two years, a fact that actually doesn't surprise me. If I were a big-time movie producer, I wouldn't know what to do with this movie, either. No big name stars (this was before Anna Paquin's "Twilight for adults" TV show hit it big), a pretty out-there concept and mostly INCREDIBLY dark subject matter doesn't lend itself well to mass consumption.
Upon its official release to DVD shelves in 2009, it exploded in popularity - at least with a few people. I don't share the sentiment. I enjoy the film, but it's not what I would call fantastic; it's really more middling, with occasional glimpses of greatness. Still, for a classic example of "lean and mean," look no further. It's INCREDIBLY lean at only 82 minutes, cutting out pretty much every bit of extraneous bullshit from its four primary stories, occasionally bobbing and weaving in and out, and some great sicko stuff that should stick out in your mind long after watching it. Enough backbiting. THE MOVIE.
As already mentioned, Trick 'r Treat is an anthology flick, all based around one hell of an October 31st in some unnamed town (as far as I can remember). There's admittedly a very creepy opening scene where Leslie Bibb gets murdered the hell out of, and this is summarily followed by Segment #1 - "The Principal." Our star hero is Dylan Baker playing, you guessed it, a principal, and an extraordinarily homicidal one at that. This segment has a couple genuinely creepy scenes in the form of Baker's relationship with his son, but viewed in the grand scheme of things, this segment is really a setup for what is to come later. As such, it's a little forgettable.
Next up is "The School Bus Massacre Revisited," and for my money this is THE segment of the flick. It actually made me feel a little nostalgic, since films featuring a group of kids are at an increased premium these days, and anything that reminds me of the Goonies and the Monster Squad is very welcome. The segment tells the story of a group of trick or treaters who go to the site of the titular massacre to play a prank on one of their friends - a prank that summarily comes back to bite them in the ass. There's lots of great stuff to be had here, including a very creepy, satisfying ending.
Moving right along, we get "Surprise Party," a.k.a. the Segment With Anna Paquin. Yup, ol' blue eyes herself plays a woman whose virginity is mentioned all too often for it to actually be her inability to have sex, with everything building toward a shock climax that, while I can't say that I saw it coming a mile away, felt like a letdown simply due to the idea that a swerve was so expected. It does, however, feature the return of the Principal from the opening segment, who gets his just desserts in a move that should make the WWE universe rise to their feet.
The finale is titled "Sam," starring the cute little guy that you see in the film's poster. Sam himself has enjoyed a fair bit of popularity online since this movie hit DVD, and for good reason - he definitely has an unnerving presence about him. The segment is about a Halloween-hating man named Kreeg (Brian Cox), briefly seen in "The Principal," who finds himself locked in a death battle with Sam, a would-be trick-or-treater who just might be the living embodiment of Halloween. It's an extended segment of cat-and-mouse, but it works well, mainly due to the outstanding acting of Cox and Sam himself. This segment is followed by a finale that ties everything together. For what it's worth, it works really well.
Now for my judgment. I've already stated that I don't like this movie as much as many on the interwebz do, and the reason lies in the satisfaction factor. There are definitely PARTS of this film that feel satisfying, but I'm fairly old school when it comes to anthology films. In that I want my single stories to have a definite setup and payoff. "The School Bus Massacre" definitely does, and bits of "Surprise Party" and "Sam" also do. For me, though, the constant shucking and jiving between stories is a bit off-putting. Call it the Lick Ness Monster "Maybe I'm just an Idiot" syndrome, which is getting to be a statement that I've echoed repeatedly every week to the point that it's rapidly joining my ever-expanding cliche list.
Having said all that (cliche #7,000), there are definitely some things to enjoy in this movie. Sam is completely unforgettable, as are a couple of the story endings and the overall atmosphere of the movie. For those reasons, this DVD is definitely worth checking out. It's dirt cheap these days, anyway.
*** out of ****. A bit of a challenge by anthology film standards, but well worth some October viewing.
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