Review of Trick 'r Treat (2007) by William C — 21 Oct 2015

Ah Halloween, the one time of year where the spirits of the dead come alive and it's acceptable to wear nothing but orange. With this season comes of course the steady stream of horror movies which are also quite often not the best watches, and I don't mean their too scary. Trick 'r Treat is a horror movie with a difference and really plays out in a way you would never quite imagine, I personally felt it didn't come off as well as it might think but it is still a worthy watch and not just on Halloween. The movie is set up like a comic book and many scenes are accompanied by some well done comic book pages usually showing the aftermath of what has just transpired before.

The story follows many people doing fairly ordinary Halloween activities but it shakes it up a little and really changes typical things we see in horror movies to create a new and fairly refreshing type of film. We see a slightly weird teacher, a group of girls looking for some fun and many other people who seem to pop up along the way. The plot is very connected and some meet each other or more they walk right past each other leading into another line of the many stories. I found the plot alright and really nothing too special although it is as said before refreshing, the added addition of Sam the little trick-or-treater is pretty fun but also kind of dark and twisted too making this not just a slasher, but also in some ways disturbing.

It is Michael Dougherty who really brings this to the big screen, he develops a short film of his that features Sam and turns it into a feature length horror movie. I like way in which Dougherty sets it up in the way that the streets are always dark but the lighting is fantastic and that warm orange glow feels like an ever present safety around all of the darkness that is going on around it. Although the film may look nice I do feel the movie lacks in the way it still feels like a typical horror movie even though the film thinks it is much different to the ordinary, a lot of the stories play out normally with the odd one changing it up, but even then it isn't always excellently done.

Now I'm not saying this is not a watch I recommend far from it, for all the horror movie fans out there this is especially for you and even those who maybe claim to dislike the genre I feel could still like this one. It's not that the plot is boring that I do not say this is entirely good but only that it just doesn't always play out the best, some of the writing can be a little shoddy and Dougherty also when directing can make the movie feel comedic and yet then make it suddenly turn serious and it doesn't work that way.

So overall if you are looking for horror then I couldn't recommend this more, I am not 100% sure why so many people find this amazing but I can partly see why. The movie is after all different and brings a whole lot of new twists and turns to the party, also the acting is satisfactory meaning some of the characters are fun and you can either kind of like, hate or both given this is a messed up kind of film. In the end though I feel it is little Sam who really stands out, not only because the costume is oddly cute but also that it is such a distinguishable character and one that sticks out after finishing this.