Recent Release Reviewed!!!!!!!!!: Trick 'r' Treat

Well, Halloween's gone now. All we're left with is the slow realisation that the fake blood probably won't wash out of the white shirt, and what to do with that jack o'lantern...it's going to rot.... Anyway, here's one last little Halloween themed post.

TRICK 'R' TREAT

The path of Trick 'r' Treat to any sort of audience was not a simple one. Due for release in 2007, the film was finally released straight to DVD just in time for Halloween this year. Despite the fact that the few early reviews were universally positive, the film kept getting pushed further and further back. Interesting marketing strategy, eh? Whenever I'd hear something about it my interest would be piqued. Then I'd get to the end of the article or review and I'd see that the film had been pushed back...yet again. But now it's out, and I've finally seen it. And it's very good.

The film is similar in structure to the classic George A. Romero/Stephen King collaboration Creepshow, or the less classic Tales From the Darkside Movie, in that it has several interlocking stories. Unlike the older films, however, all the characters are involved in all the stories, rather than having one narrator, and it all takes place on Halloween night. It opens with a couple (Leslie Bibb and Tahmoh Penikett) debating whether or not to get rid of their Halloween decorations, with impressively gory consequences that set the tone for the film. School principal Steven (Dylan Baker) decides to teach a jack o'lantern-trashing kid a lesson he won't forget, Laurie (Anna Paquin) feels pressured by her older sister to find a date for the big party in the woods, a group of kids decide to find the remains of a schoolbus full of murdered special-needs children, and cranky shut-in Mr. Kreeg (Brian Cox) is tormented by a violent supernatural monster that may be linked to his past.

In the studio's defence, it's easy to see that the film is almost impossible to market for anything other than a niche audience. Given that the closest point of comparison is Creepshow, how do you get a Saw audience to watch this? Too scary and gory for the PG-13 crowd, and too funny and strange for the torture porn fans. For fans of older horror, however, Trick 'r' Treat is a definite treat (Oh yes, that pun's intended). It's clever and funny enough to be a reference-filled Scream sort of film, but it never actually goes into parody. Writer/director Michael Dougherty balances the laughs with some genuine scares and some nasty gory shocks. The script is also full of excellent little twists and turns that subvert expectations rather than cheat them.

It helps that the film is cast superbly. Anna Paquin plays the Little Red Riding Hood of her group, and it's strange to think that the film was made before True Blood as a man in a vampire suit stalks her through the forest. Brian Cox has fun as the cranky hermit, all straggly hair and muttered curses. The children in search of the lost school bus are also excellent. Best of the lot, though, is Dylan Baker. Playing the creepy killer school principal, he carefully treads the line of over-the-top mugging and genuinely scary. It's a reminder that he's an underrated actor, and deserves more than the meager screen-time he's often given.

The problem with Trick 'r' Treat is that it's all over a little too quickly. Arguably, it's a good thing that we're left wanting more. However, it would have been nice to give the characters a bit more time (Baker is short-changed, as is Paquin). But it's funny, scary, and it's everything that a Halloween movie should be. Dougherty has said he'd like to make more with the film's mascot Sam as the returning character, and hopefully they'll let him. Seems unlikely.

Creepshow trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oFRi2D7Ph8

Tales from the Darkside Movie trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_V13CAyumU&feature=related