“Staff Picks” is a deeper look into movies that we love here at Video CULTure. Each edition of this column will focus on a single film that we think you should check out, either for the first time or for a long-overdue revisit.
By Patrick Bartlett (Twitter: @alleywaykrew)
I think we can all agree that John Carpenter’s immortal masterpiece “Halloween” is the definitive film for the holiday. I mean… it’s right there in the title, yeah? That being said, I’m not sure if any film truly captures what Halloween (and really the entirety of the season) feels like more than “Trick ‘r Treat”. You don’t even need to just take my word for that. The way that it went from a reasonably big studio project with a legit cast, only to get dumped to home media seems like it should have killed any momentum it had right then and there. Yet it almost immediately found an audience that seemingly grows by the year. It also created images and characters that proved to be instantly iconic. I’m not sure if any film has really had the same trajectory and that really speaks for what a special piece of work this film ultimately is and it should be recognized as such.
It’s kind of impossible to describe the plot of “Trick ‘r Treat”. It doesn’t necessarily have one in the most traditional sense. At the same time, the linked nature of the various segments also set it apart from most anthology fare. It’s pretty unique. I’ll try to lay it out as best as I can though. Essentially, “Trick ‘r Treat” is a bunch of interconnected stories of people who are having the worst possible Halloween for them as characters and probably the best possible Halloween for anyone viewing. There’s murderous psychopaths. There’s zombies. There’s werewolves. There’s a tiny fellow in kind of a bizarre scarecrow costume who seems to care (really intensely) about Halloween tradition. It’s so much that it might seem like too much at times. Overstuffed, if you will, but that’s just not the case here though. The film works because of the way that director Michael Dougherty brings his own, very full, script to life and still leaves the viewers wanting more.
Honestly, walking in, I didn’t really know what to expect from Dougherty. Previously, he was most famously the co-writer of X2 (which was definitely the best X-Men movie at that point and still may be) and Superman Returns, so I had no idea how he would do in the horror genre despite knowing he was a fan from having seen his appearances on Bravo’s “100 Scariest Movie Moments.” Turns out, his horror accumen was even more impressive than I could have even hoped. The way that Dougherty fully imbues the film with not just how the Halloween holiday looks but how it feels is staggeringly impressive, especially given the fact it was his first time directing a film. There’s absolutely nothing about the film that ever makes his lack of experience evident. On the contrary, despite inexperience, Dougherty was clearly not lacking for confidence and that shines through beautifully in the finished product. I’ve addressed before how hard it seems to be for even the most seasoned directors to nail the balance between horror and comedy but Michael Dougherty managed to create a piece of work that is, in fact, howling-ly funny at one moment and legitimately creepy the next without ever tipping his hand as to what’s coming next.
It doesn’t hurt that he has a shockingly impressive cast, especially for a first-time filmmaker. How the hell an unproven talent manages to get respected actors like Dylan Baker, Brian Cox, Anna Paquin, and many others to sign on to play around in prosthetic makeup and fake blood is a secret that I would love to know. Baker probably has the biggest part overall, as he kind of pops in and out of segments without warning and he delivers a hell of a performance in the process. His character is clearly an evil man but he’s not entirely unsympathetic, despite some of the horrible things he’s responsible for throughout the film. I guess that could be said for Cox’s character as well. You can’t help but feel for and root for him in the segment more or less dedicated to him despite everything you’ve seen from him in the film beforehand. Anna Paquin’s character is my favorite and is the focal point of my favorite scene in the whole movie but I don’t know how to discuss it without spoilers, so just suffice it to say that it is highly unlikely that anyone would see the culmination of her story coming without foreknowledge. Also, you have to give a lot of credit to Quinn Lord for bringing Sam to life and helping to create what is already an indelible figure around Halloween every year now. How such a tiny being can be so menacing is such an interesting trick that one can’t help but be impressed.
As much as the cast, Glen MacPherson’s cinematography and Mark Freeborn’s production design are almost characters in and of themselves. The way “Trick ‘r Treat” looks is as important as the characters or any of the stories being told. The color work by MacPherson is next level. The palette is almost as big a part of what makes the film scary fun as anything else. The mix of bright autumnal colors with utter darkness is delightful eye candy. In addition to MacPherson’s visual flair, there’s a playful quality to Freeborn’s design that really helps to cement the tone of the film. Freeborn’s work mixes appropriately gothic imagery you’d associate with classic horror along with standard-issue staid suburban landscapes. It’s such beautiful work that really evokes the horror comics that clearly inspired the film. There’s an almost dangerous feeling to what they bring to the table. Like something sharp is looming in every corner of the frame- like a haunted house that you just can’t stay away from… even if you might leave with tetanus. They helped Dougherty craft a truly visually interesting and intriguing film.
Since I was 12 or 13, I’ve watched John Carpenter’s “Halloween” every year on Halloween… but since “Trick ‘r Treat” was finally removed from the shelf by Warner Bros. and unleashed upon the public, I’ve added “Trick ‘r Treat” to the bill and made it an annual double feature. How could you not really? If you aren’t watching this film at least around Halloween, I feel like you’re missing the point of what Halloween is really all about. That isn’t to say there aren’t other cool movies that take place on or around Halloween but there just isn’t anything else quite like “Trick ‘r Treat”. It takes something special to become so iconic so quickly. In this case, it’s because it’s so evocative of what the holiday is… or at least what it should be. “Trick ‘r Treat” is a truly wonderful blend of horror and comedy that can’t help but bring a grin to any fan of (despite PR to the contrary) what is truly the most wonderful time of year.
To find out where this film is available to stream, click here: Just Watch