Synopsis: In Trick ‘r Treat, five interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: an everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband; and a mean old man meets his match with a demonic, supernatural trick-or-treater.
As is tradition with every 31 Days of Horror, I close out the month with my favorite Halloween anthology. Not much needs to be said beyond the synopsis pulled from IMDB. To me, this film is the perfect collection of tales for Halloween night. When the veil between the two worlds thin and all matter of ghoulies roam the earth. I enjoy everything about the cult classic Trick ‘r Treat. It happens to be the movie I recommend the most around this time of year. There’s a killer stalking his prey, werewolves, ghostly children and a supernatural being that ties it all together via interstitials. It’s jam packed with Halloween lore. It’s one of those flicks that has a little something for everyone and completes itself by beginning exactly where it ends. Tying the story up perfectly in a nice neat little bow.
Trick ‘r Treat takes you on a journey through the Halloween experience during every stage of life. There’s the introduction to the holiday via Steven (Dylan Baker) passing down traditions, father to son. There’s the unsupervised teen years with the kids collecting pumpkins to take to the quarry. Followed by Anna Paquin’s sequence basically showing Halloween in your 20’s, where the whole holiday revolves around sex. Then there’s the final sequence with Mr. Kreeg (Brian Cox) being your twilight years. The time when the holiday starts to lose its luster. Then there’s the pumpkin headed, orange pajama clad child demon that brings this all together. Sam is the ultimate (somewhat lovable) antagonist who just wants people to respect the traditions. He is the ultimate personification of the holiday itself.
If you haven’t seen this film or even if you have, do yourself a favor and watch it again, it’s definitely worth the time. I own several copies in various formats but I’m pretty sure you can find this one streaming somewhere.
Before I go, I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read and interact with me this October. It’s a labor of love and I’m glad I’m able to share it with you. I’ve seen a lot throughout the years but still have barely scratched the surface when it comes to genre films. There’s so much out there and tons of hidden gems that just beg to be found. I’m not exactly sure how but I’m looking to continue this deep dive into horror film so keep your eyes open and I’ll surface with something again soon. In the meantime you can find me writing about all the new horror right here at PunchDrunkCritics.com
Happy haunting and have a safe All Hallows’ Eve!