TRICK 'R TREAT: The Quintessential Halloween Movie

Why Trick 'r Treat demands to be your mandatory Halloween night viewing.

By: Josh McCormack

Happy Halloween, folks!

The final hours of October are upon us and trick or treaters are starting to knock on their neighbors' doors begging for candy. The cold air is more noticeable than ever and local department stores await the start of November so they can finally start promoting their new line of holiday decorations.

However, for horror movie buffs like myself, this end of the spooky season comes with just a tinge of sadness. In just a few more hours the rest of the world will have little interest in the twisted and macabre and marathoning horror movies will be something we once again do in the privacy of our movie poster laden bedrooms.

If you're like me, you want to end your personal Halloween movie bonanza with a bang and if there's one movie you gotta end the season with it's Michael Dougherty's masterpiece, Trick 'r Treat.

Now a lot of you are probably planning on watching John Carpenter's Halloween tonight and who could blame ya? It's a bonafide classic, a horror masterpiece in every sense of the word. But if you're looking for a film that encapsulates the traditions, the aesthetic, and the overall atmosphere of an American Halloween, there's no substitute for Trick 'r Treat.

Many of the horror fanatics reading this blog post probably know about Trick 'r Treat, but for those who don't let me run it down for you; Trick 'r Treat is an anthology horror film made up of five or so horror stories, each of them set on the same Halloween night in the same midwestern town. Each of these stories deal with different traditions on Halloween, from the lighting of jack-o-lanterns to the allure of tantalizing costumes. And in each of these stories, practically all subgenres of horror films are checked off in an 87 minute horror flick that consists of zombified school children, sexy werewolves, and serial killers just to name a few.

Does it sound awesome? That's because it is. Discovering Trick 'r Treat less than a decade ago was like finding a Halloween movie wherein a director threw in everything I loved in horror movies into a blender and made the most delicious, seasonal concoction (better than pumpkin spice lattes, even). But even with all these great elements, what makes the movie better than your average direct-to-video horror garbage is the care and precision taken behind the scenes. Writer/ director Michael Dougherty (who worked on the first two X-Men films and would later go on to direct Krampus and Godzilla: King of the Monsters) has a clear love for every aspect of the holiday. Dougherty's rules for Halloween seem so well-established and finite that it's odd of me to think these aren't rules that have always been associated with the holiday before the film's release. The movie also looks incredible, perfectly capturing the feeling of All Hallow's Eve in practically every frame. Some of these images are so deeply etched in my brain that they're the first things to come to my head when I simply think of the word Halloween.

The cast Dougherty assembled for Trick 'r Treat is also fantastic. Renowned character actor, Brian Cox, absolutely steals the show as the old curmudgeon with a dark past in the film's climactic segment. Anna Paquin is also wonderful, giving an innocence and alluring sense of mystery to the seemingly pure Laurie, who winds up having a huge impact in the film's second half. Dylan Baker's wonderfully charismatic and darkly funny performance as the serial killer/father/school teacher also deserves a shout out. But it's the child actors who really make the biggest impact in Trick 'r Treat, all giving the nuance and displays of fear that you would see in a seasoned thespian. Samm Todd as the "weird girl", Rhonda, is the highlight, pulling off one of the few genuinely emotional scenes in the film.

But you can't talk about Trick 'r Treat without talking about its iconic ringleader, Sam. Sam is somewhat of a cult movie hero at this point, never rising to the ranks of a Freddy Krueger or a Jason Voorhees in the public eye, but he's practically begging for the same attention. His simple design (round potato sack over his bulbous head with a decaying orange onesie) and iconic weapon of choice (a jack-o-lantern lollipop, bitten in half), Sam steals practically every frame he's in. A lot of this is due the wonderful makeup effects work which gets full attention in the film's incredibly badass final sequence, a battle between Sam and Brian Cox that shows the extent of Sam's supernatural powers.

There's a lot of great choices for Halloween night viewing, but Trick 'r Treat is the movie that will scratch that seasonal viewing itch more than any other. Ever since seeing it, it has become my mandatory Halloween night movie. This movie is to Halloween what A Christmas Story is to the holiday season. Which I guess would make the original Halloween the equivalent of It's a Wonderful Life or somethin', I dunno.

I know it's last minute, but find Trick 'r Treat wherever you can (hell, even Pirate Bay if you have to, but you didn't hear me say that) and bask in its short and sweet, horrific glory. Trust me, you won't regret it.