Review: Trick 'r Treat

 

Director: Michael Dougherty

Screenplay: Michael Dougherty

Year: 2007

Hundreds of horror movies are based on Halloween, but not many are able to capture the essence of this day. Candy, costumes, and fun mix with some magic and horror to create the most chilling night of the year. “Trick ‘r Treat” is one of the few movies that manages to capture all of the characteristics of this particular night in an excellent horror-comedy.

In the town of Warren Valley, everyone is getting ready with their costumes and decorations to celebrate Halloween night. Vampires, werewolves, living dead, and killer pumpkins roam the streets, but not all are costumes. “Trick ‘r Treat” is an anthology that presents five interwoven stories, all taking place on Halloween night.

Usually, horror anthologies have a story that connects all of the individual ones, and they have little relationship with one another, which generally makes them feel like a collection of short films instead of a full movie. Michael Dougherty (“Krampus”), the director and screenwriter of this movie, takes a different route with “Trick ‘r Treat” and mixes the stories in a way that they all play out as segments of a single story and they don’t feel like unrelated short films. Also, characters cross-over from stories and are relevant to them, contributing to the cohesion among them.

How Dougherty connects the stories and how characters pop up between them shows the cleverness and the attention he pays to details. Not only on the script but also the visuals show a care that is seldom seen in a horror-comedy, and every take looks polished and flashy. It also helps that the cast does an excellent job with the acting, and it shows that they had fun while making the movie.

In many horror anthologies, one or two stories are added that are substantially weaker than the rest, and they seem to have been added just to stretch the runtime. This is not what happens in “Trick ‘r Treat”, where each story is at least good, whit some excellent ones. And let’s not forget Sam’s character, who makes his way to each story and has his time in the spotlight in the last one, and who is the perfect blend between adorable and frightening.

“Trick ‘r Treat” has built a cult following and has become one of the favorite movies to watch during Halloween for many, and with good reason. Not only is it fun and macabre, but it captures the essence of Halloween night without being too frightening, which allows anyone who enjoys this celebration to have a good time with it. Of all the movies available based on Halloween night, “Trick ‘r Treat” is the movie to watch on it.