Quickie Review of the New Trick 'r Treat Movie

Every Halloween, dozens of movies are released to gain the attention of horror enthusiasts. Most of them are seen, and lately, most of them are PG-13. Ugh. While most of them provide some mild form of entertainment, they are usually major let-downs (Drag Me To Hell was amusing, but could have shot to cult status if an rated R mindset during filming was pursued, and don't get me started on The Unborn). Trick 'r Treat is a major exception.

I'm not going to say much here, because this movie has already received much attention, and has already reached 'cult' status in it's two year run. That's right, Trick was made two years ago, under the studio of Warner Brothers. Warner shelved it for unknown reasons, then finally released it direct-to-dvd. It's for this reason why I'm writing about it, as most people don't hear much about movies that go straight to buy without being in theaters first. Written by X-Men 2 and Superman Returns scribe Michael Dougherty, it screened at a few festivals and reached high appraise from horror fans. And with good reason.

I bought Trick 'r Treat in a blind buy (meaning I hadn't even seen a trailer for it when I decided to buy it, much less seen it already before buying it) due to the simple reason that I heard an internet rumor that the blu-ray release might be limited. Being a collector of limited items, I thought I had better grab a copy before they (supposedly, this has yet to be seen,) sold out. Now on my days off from work, I decided to prep up for the season by watching some horror flicks, and it just so happened that my copy of Trick showed up in the mail. I hadn't really intended to watch this movie so soon, but none of my other titles were appealing to me, so I opened it and popped it in. I'm so glad I did.

The movie starts out in really familiar horror territory, setting up, going for the first kills, and roll opening credits. Yawn. It does take a while to get the ball rolling, but it is by no means is it boring. This movie is loaded with neat-o little twists, doesn't go over-board on the gore, and keeps the script sharp. There are no obligatory "Who's there?" or "This isn't funny anymore!" comments, which is so refreshing, I would've recommended the movie on that basis alone. There are some seriously disturbing scenes, most of them involving children, but that really adds to the creep factor in the movie. It does keep the old-school horror fans happy as well; there's boobs, blood, and cool music. And it's rated R to boot.

While certainly not the best horror movie, it is the best horror flick to come out in years. Like I said, smart, fun, and incredibly entertaining. A couple of small issues I had with it was the kids element, and not enough screen time for the most interesting characters. Children are prominently featured in the movie, and are involved with of the most disturbing/violent scenes, but don't worry, they never really take it too far. As far as the screen time for certain characters, this movie was labeled at one time as "The Pulp Fiction of horror movies", and that's very true. There are four stories that are intertwined with eachother that leads to a really cool end result, hence, only so much time can be allotted for each person. That being said, it does not retract from the final product.

Do yourself a favor, and rent or buy this movie. Even if your not really a horror fan, this should provide you with an excellent source for getting in the mood for Halloween. If you do, please let me know what you thought of it.

Thanks for reading.