Review of Trick 'r Treat (2007) by Joshua M — 16 Feb 2011

Not bad for a random horror film I found on Netflix. Trick r' Treat follows a bunch of different characters through one disastrous Halloween night in a small town. Overall, very entertaining, but confusing at times, and full of loose ends and plot holes. Now I've heard about Samhein before, in a Supernatural episode and in Halloween 2 (the original, not the shitty remake). Samhein is supposed to be this legendary monster/demon associated with Halloween, but he's just a walking scarecrow in this film; he doesn't really do anything except try to kill Brian Cox's character, seemingly over the fact that he wants some candy (not very badass or demonic, huh?). Samhein doesn't actually seem to physically cause anything bad to happen, he's just there when it does, usually just standing there, being creepy. I had originally believed that he was a bad omen or something at one point in the film (like how he could raise an undead army like in Supernatural), but after I found out that one of the main characters was actually a monster the whole time (not saying which one), I realized that Samhein has basically nothing to do with most of the otherworldly stuff that occurs during the storyline.

My main problem is that while I know about the legends associated with Halloween, this film doesn't really do a good job of explaining about them. It gives a really halfassed intro with graphic novels that doesn't really explain anything in detail. Hell, the movie doesn't even give a reasonable explanation of how the characters can protect themselves from things that go bump in the night; just for example's sake, here's a list of possible things that may or may not protect characters in the film from things that want to kill them: light, jack-o-lanterns, costumes, candy, running away, human sacrifice/killing people, or just believing that monsters are real. Trick r' Treat seems to offer each of these as possible explanations to how to survive if Halloween's monsters were actually real, but it never says if they work, or which ones do, if any, so it just leaves you baffled when some characters live while others get owned.

Additionally, I would've liked to see some characters developed more, particularly Anna Paquin's character, who was pretty cool (and she's a great actress, too). Dylan Baker's character should've gotten more screentime as well, but because his character isn't explained enough. The viewer isn't told why he does the things he does...maybe because he's crazy, but also maybe because he believes the holiday is evil and his actions are just a means to an end (but this doesn't work out well for him anyway, so I'm wondering what the point is). Now I know I've complained a lot, but I still really enjoyed this film...I enjoyed it because I knew about the general backstory of Halloween before I watched this film, so I didn't have to figure out what was going on, since I knew from outside sources. My main problem is with the irrational behavior of the characters (especially the savant girl in the witch costume), but overall, this film is entertaining. I love how the characters run into each other at different points in the film, but this should have been utilized more often and effectively instead of just briefly and generally without purpose.