What seems like a millennium has passed since the first trailer for Trick 'r Treat, and now all of the anticipation has finally halted to a complete stop with the movie finally sitting comfortably in the disc tray of my DVD player. It came out sometime last week, so by now, everyone, including your mom, has written a review for Michael Dougherty's Halloween themed horror film. I won't go all crazy here with details, as I am sure most horror fans have had their fill of reviews for this movie and already know what needs to be known outside of personal opinion.However, this is a film that had some major expectations to meet, and it is a film that seems to have divided many a horror fan...maybe not so much divided, as it is more a film that is not overwhelmingly loved by everyone, nor disliked either. I have completely avoided reviews for the sake of keeping my brain free of spoilers, but I do know that people either like, dislike, or are just kind of underwhelmed, by Trick 'r Treat.
Trick 'r Treat is an anthology film, but is not told in a direct
"this is this story, and this is that story" kind of way, it is more of a Pulp Fiction narrative where characters intertwine and may make decisions that can affect other characters. While the stories are far from original, each one calls back to a different era for me, it is nostalgic in a way - first of all, it is an anthology, something that is not quite as prevalent in movies now, as they were when I was a little gangsta. So that alone pulls on my young little heart strings right there and may cause me to have my nostalgic blinders on firmly.But it's more than just the anthology thing that gets me all giddy inside...in fact, if I could describe the inner makings of Trick 'r Treat in terms that are as simplistic as possible, which in turn, would explain what I like so much about the movie, it would be:
The Trick 'r Treat
Fill a 20 oz Gibraltar glass with ice so it is just over the top
Add 1 oz of Amazing Stories
2 oz of Tales from the Crypt
6 oz of Creepshow
Add a splash of baby blood (or you will catch a roundhouse)
Shake for 7 seconds
Garnish with a cherry and E.C. Comics orange flag
Straw, and serve
Those are ingredients that I love, the ingredients that along with the Halloween aspect - may even cause me to turn a blind eye to some of the issues that the movie does have. And it does have some issues, as I said, the stories are completely unoriginal, and all are things I have read in Creepy or Eerie magazine, or seen in
movies and TV shows like Tales From the Darkside/Crypt, and Creepshow. Still, I love those moral tales of terror where someone is punished for their wrongdoings or their mistreatment of others...so even if I can call exactly what is going to happen before it happens, I still get a kick out of it. You could maybe pass it off as classic storytelling, myths and legends are the makings of these stories found within Trick 'r Treat and you aren't always getting a side of original with you order of classic as you may know.If you think you would enjoy The Trick 'r Treat concoction I made for you, you may enjoy the movie as I did. If you enjoy the holiday of Halloween as I do, once again, you may enjoy the movie as I did. If not, then you may not enjoy the movie, but I don't know, cause I'm not you, now am I? If I was you, how could I hug and hold you dearly? I could get all into the characters, and be more specific with plots, breakdown what I liked about the film technically, and blah, fucking blah. What it all comes down to, and if this makes sense, Trick 'r Treat is not a perfect film, but in many ways, it's a perfect film for me.
does it say i'm not a horror fan if i had never even heard of this until last week?
ReplyDeleteMatt, they may also have picked my own brain for this one. Absolutely loved it.
ReplyDeleteOnly complaint? The Canadian accents on some of the actors - maybe Ohio has a large population of former Canadians, but I doubt it.
I'm pretty sure I was only made aware of the film thanks to your posts over at Paracinema: the Blog a few months back. So, thanks for that.
ReplyDelete[i was gonna finally start my blog off with a review of the film, but the last thing the 'net needed was my mediocre-to-poor musings]
I've got the feeling you and I are very Borg on this one, hive mind sharing one thought. I loved this film, and instantly it became a halloween classic that I will revisit year after year. The vide bit had reminded me of staying up late at night reading an issue of Creepy or Eerie under the covers by the light of my Batman flashlight. (I'm not as old as that makes me sound, I promise.) I've told everyone I've seen since then to check this one out, and I've been shocked to hear some people didn't really like it (cough, Samurai, cough), but to each their own, more Trick r' Treat goodness for me.
ReplyDelete(Semi incredibly vague spoiler ahead so dont read ahead if you haven't seen this picture, but I have to mention this) If i have to be violently murdered, I want go out like Dylan Baker's character, at least the few moments before would be nice.
I'm leaving you a comment to say I'm not reading this :)
ReplyDeleteI, like you, want to remain spoiler freeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
I can definitely see 6 oz's worth of Creepshow (1 & 2) in here. I really want to see this!
ReplyDeleteLook at all of these comments! Thanks you sexy beasts!
ReplyDeleteLoaf: ! That is crazy that you hadn't heard of TrT until recently! I need to put you on a diet of hand selected horror flicks sometime...horror is the gateway drug to sleaze and exploitation!
Pax: Picking my brain can go two different ways - TrT was one, the other...no one needs to see!
I noticed a little "aye" in some of the actors voices, and I can always hear an accent coming from Anna Paquin. In my experience, Ohio is mostly populated by corn...not Canucks!
Silence: You're welcome! I'm glad you liked the film. I have been waiting to read something at your blog, so you should post one anyways...there's always plenty of room for more musings!
Bugg: I was surprised that some people didn't like it too, but while watching it, I knew that the nostalgia might not factor in for others as it does for you and I. Like I said in the review, I loved reading shit like Creepy and Eerie when I was a wee one, and TrT is very reminiscent of that time and style of storytelling.
Also, I loved the comic book stuff integrated into the movie - which leads me to mention how great the opening credit sequence was!
*SPOILER* That scene was one of the bigger surprises for me, and one that I didn't actually call before it happened. And I wouldn't mind a little hot Werewolf chick action juts before I kicked the bucket either!
Christine: Spoiler free!! But see it first, then you can read it and comment with your thoughts...and you can do a review of it too! "Trick 'r Treat OMG Dylan Baker is so hot!"
Jennifer:I love both Creepshow movies quite a bit (my Face Book photo is in honor of Creepshow 2!) and if you are a fan of those films, you may enjoy TrT. When you see it, I would love to hear your thoughts on it too!
I still haven't watched this fucking thing yet! I picked this up the day it came out but I just haven't had the time to sit down with it. Glad to hear you liked it - I'll read your review all the way through once I've seen the movie myself.
ReplyDeleteI think you could read my review, Jeff and be safe and 100% spoiler free. In fact, I encourage you to read because it may put you in the right perspective to watch it. Either way, I think you will enjoy it...so watch it already! I would love to hear what you think!!
ReplyDeleteYet another review I am going to have to reproach after seeing the film *sniff* stupid netflix long wait...
ReplyDeleteIt's spoiler and detail free, but I rarely read reviews for movies that I want to see before I see them - so I feel ya! Hope Netflix gets it to you soon...I would love to hear what you think!
ReplyDeleteI watched it online (I have to because I live out of the country), and I loved it too. It had me at the visuals. It inspires me to decorate my apartment with about 101 pumpkins, but light them up with candles and I just might get into trouble as a fire hazard with the Italian Carabiniere...
ReplyDeleteYeah, the visuals are a huge factor in my love for the film and the decorations on the houses were so cool...I kept saying "I wanna live there!" I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed the movie, and thanks for stopping by, Viaggiatrice!
ReplyDeleteOMG! I have always complained that in America, there are so many rules and boundaries to our horror movies...if I wanted to see something modern that was scary, I would go Japan...lol but this movie got me watching right from the start!
ReplyDeleteThe circle story telling has always been a favorite of mine, but you usually see it in action movies. This was an awesome way to present this movie and also made tales we have heard time and time again, in its many variations, interesting!
Oddly enough, my mom mentioned this movie to me. I had seen the cover on Netflix, but wrote it off as a cheesy wanna be movie, talk about judging a book by its cover! I finally watched it tonight and plan on watching Police Academy or something to un freak me out lmao!
Might I suggest Citizens on Patrol?! That's my favorite Police Academy movie! Glad to hear you dug on Trick 'r Treat. It's certainly one that will find a way to my DVD player every Halloween.
ReplyDelete