Review: Trick ‘r Treat (2007)

Trick ‘r Treat is a horror anthology that came out in 2007.  It is written and directed by Michael Dougherty, the same guy who wrote X-men 2, Superman Returns, Krampus and X-men Apocalypse.  While those are bigger budget, summer blockbusters, I think Trick r’ Treat may be his finest work…although Krampus was a lot of fun and not a summer blockbuster.  That is one of the things about Trick ‘r Treat and Krampus, they are horror and they are fun.

Trick ‘r Treat is broken in to a total of six parts, but they all connect.  They do take place in the same, fictional town of Warren Valley, Ohio.  The stories are very good by themselves, but wrapped together in a bow.  There were parts of the story I simply thought would end, well like most horror cliches.  But that is where the movie succeeds, it doesn’t do what you think it should.

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Each segment is different, but like I said, it all is in the same place and all parts seem to intersect.  But the main part of the movie seems to center around a figure named “Sam”.  A little…guy who is kind of the keeper or even the spirit of Halloween.  He spends his Halloween punishing those who break or do not follow those traditions.

In this movie there are a couple of different actors who I would not expect to see in a movie like this.  But Brian Cox, who was also in the Ring and Anna Paquin, but I did forget this was pre-True Blood.  Other than Sam, Anna Paquin was possibly one of my favorite parts of the movie, again what happens to her is unexpected and welcome.

Trick ‘r Treat is a very good horror anthology.  It is kind of a throw back in many ways and has very good suspense.   Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall “Fresh” approval rating from critics of 86%, It is a shame that it is the only one.  There are many anthologies, but this one really works.  In this day and age, why is it so hard to make movies?  Back in the 1980s, it seemed like everyone was farting out movies.  Look at Friday the 13th, great series, but there were 8 movies in 10 years.

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Here is info on a possible sequel from Wikipedia.  I am not sure how accurate this information.

Michael Dougherty announced in October 2009 that he is planning a sequel, but later stated that there were “no active development nor an attempt at a pitch.” He went on to say that “[the] more fans continue to support and spread the movie, the more likely it is that Sam will rise from the pumpkin patch once more.” Dougherty helped create a short promotional Easter trailer for FEARnet’s Trick ‘r Treat 24-hour marathon for Halloween 2011; the trailer showed a family’s Easter celebration turning into one of horror, with Sam watching the chaos outside whilst wearing rabbit ears.  In October 2013, Dougherty and Legendary Pictures officially announced a sequel, titled Trick ‘r Treat 2. Dougherty said he plans to “shake it up a little bit” with the sequel.

I see it all over Facebook on different horror pages, Trick ‘r Treat 2 coming in 2017.  I seriously doubt that is true, there is hasn’t been any news since 2013, according to Wiki, but from CinemaBlend…

Trick ‘r Treat 2 doesn’t currently have a release date, but is in the works behind the scenes – so hopefully we’ll hear more about its development and production dates in the coming weeks or months.

Trick ‘r Treat is an underrated movie and it is good old fashioned horror.  If you haven’t, see it soon.  There are some genuinely scary moments.  This movie is perfect to be show on Halloween.

IMDB.com has a rating of 6.8 and I rate it a little higher, 7.6.

About Ray Marek III 699 Articles
I have been watching horror films since I was 6 years old. The story, one Saturday night, my mom and I were watching movies and she fell asleep on the couch. We had the channel set on HBO and the movie we were watching ended and the next one, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge. This was some time in 1986. I watched then entire film, I was sitting on the edge of my seat. When my mom woke, she asked me what just ended and I told her, “Freddy”. That was all I talked about for weeks and finally she broke down and rented more horror films for me. She rented, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre part 2, Re-Animator, Friday the 13th VI: Jason Lives and Halloween II. I watched all and fell in love with horror films forever. 5 Horror Films to Watch Inferno (1980) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) The Beyond (1981) Friday the 13th VI: Jason Lives (1986) Horror of Dracula (1958)