Trick 'R Treat (Review)

Trick 'R Treat

Trick 'R Treat (2009)

Directed by Michael Dougherty

After many visits to Best Buy, I finally got a copy of Trick 'R Treat. Jeezus, I forgot how much the horror-sphere hyping and blogging can affect my own chances of watching a film I'm hyping.

But I finally watched it on a lazy weekend afternoon with my cousin and we both dug one of the best horror films of 2009.

Yes folks, It's another glowing review of TRT. What can I say? I dug the twists and turns, the star packed cameos (it's Ballard from Dollhouse!) and good ole Sammy, a horror icon in the making.

I'm not going to rehash how Warner Bros butchered the release of this awesome flick, you can definitely find out from other horror sites. But it's just another example of how the big studios have no idea what the hell they are doing.

It doesn't disappoint horror minions. If your willing to sit in and eat all that candy you should have been giving out on October 31st, watch Trick 'R Treat and you'll feel all Halloweeny inside.

Boring Plot-O-Matic

Four 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 one 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.

Awesome Review-O-Matic

I slowly realized short reviews are better than long reviews as we all have one form of ADD or another. So I'm trying something new whereas I try to get my thoughts down in a few hundred words or less.

Let's break this down via the 4 stories that go all intertwining in TRT.

The Principal

Steven Wilkins story goes all zippity doo daa then WTF you are taken one road, we go down the more fucked up one. It's full of all those Threes Company costume and scenario mishaps that make it quite fun to watch. All the horrible Halloween urban legends are in full effect and there's never a dull moment when we follow Mr. Wilkins as he connects with the others.

School Bus Massacre

It's my favorite of the 4 stories because I was the one that tried to scare my younger tweeny cousins back in the day. The foreshadowing is rather obvious but the payoff is still awesome. Each of the kids does a brilliant job of making their stereotypical archetypes obvious in such a short amount of time. Which one are you? Macy (the angel)?, Sara (the witch)? Schrader? Chip (the pirate)? It's all fun because we've all tried to be the scarer and not the scaree. And doesn't all small or suburban towns have local legends we can use on the most scariest night of them all?

Little Red Riding Hood

Laurie (Anna Paquin) is trying to lose her "virginity" with the help of her sister and her friends. This is like our teenager terror focus and it works perfectly. Alas, you may see the twizzler twist coming, but who it happens too is still rather WTF. To top it all off, to see the awesome "transformation" is a sword of Omens moment. Sight beyond sight. Yay. It's a total 360 on the Little Red Riding Hood story indeed.

Sam

The opening of the movie shakes and stirs all the 4 stories into one. But it's Sam, our new horror icon that makes it uber cool. (Be on the lookout for lots of Sam costumes this Halloween). The final story blends the local urban legend with a fight pitting Kreeg vs Sam. The unmasking of Sam (he's on the cover of the DVD box!?? Why?!?!) makes you feel jipped but it's full of crazy wickedness.

The ending puts all the pieces of the puzzle together and as you throw away the candy corn and search for a 100 Grand, it's taste so good. So very yummy.

Trick 'R Treat is the best Halloween movie since Halloween. For an anthology collection, it ranks right up there with Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt. You wonder why nobody makes movies like these anymore. I'm going all Nostradamus here but I think TRT will spawn more anthology horror movies and either that's a good thing or a poisoned candy apple.

So enjoy this blood soaked goodness this Halloween and keep humming the revised Trick or treat jingle...

Trick or Treat
Smell my feet
Give me something good to eat

If you don't
I don't care
Sam will kill you in your underwear

Gore-ipedia

Slice and dice
Gobble Gobble
Severed Head
Kid-a-cide
Ocular trauma
Chocolatus Vomitous Gratuitous

Nude-ipedia

No Anna Paquin boobies but some post meal bonfire boobies

WTF moment

The transformation
Mr. Wilkins kid
Sam's unmasking

The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis

Trick 'R Treat is one of the best horror movies of 2009. What more needs to be said? With Halloween only a week away, you'll never find a better movie to get your fright on. It does live up to the hype and you'll be asking why is this only 80 minutes long. So load up your candy sacks, dress up as scaredy cats and dig the best Halloween movie in the last 10 years.

Just make sure you check your candy for razor blades. Oh that Sam.

Rating:

Check out the trailer.

jaded viewer related linkage:
The Paranormal Activity Effect
NYC Haunted House: Nightmares: Vampires (Review)
Paranormal Activity (Review)

Tags:
trick 'r treat, trick 'r treat review , trick 'r treat trailer , top horror movie 2009, halloween, horror blog

Categories: halloween, top horror movies of 2009, trick r treat, trick r treat review