With the spooky season upon us and Halloween fast approaching, the need for horror movie recommendations has skyrocketed. To fulfill my civic duty as a film critic, I thought now would be the best possible time to recommend “Trick ‘r Treat” (2007) directed by Michael Dougherty, one of the best Halloween-themed horror movies that isn’t complete schlock ever made.
“Trick ‘r Treat” follows five or so intertwining stories across one Halloween night. The movie flows non-linearly, so you catch every central character at multiple times and places throughout the night. While this movie is riddled with scenes of death and gore, it maintains a comedic atmosphere à la “The Cabin in the Woods,” and it is a prime example of what some people call an entrance-level horror movie. In other words, it’s a good horror starting point for viewers in their early teens or older viewers who have trepidation about the genre. The movie is scary but not dark, and all the intense scenes are lightened by the Halloween atmosphere.
The overarching theme of this movie is the importance of respect both for the ancient spirits and traditions of All Hallows Eve, and for your fellow man. Each death that takes place during the movie occurs for a reason. Someone is getting their comeuppance, but the actions they’re getting comeuppance for range wildly, which is what keeps this movie light and full of surprises. One character is mauled by a werewolf after murdering at least three people, while another is brutally killed by Sam, our enforcer of Halloweenic rituals, simply for blowing out the flame in a jack-o-lantern.
This movie stands out because of its characters and atmosphere. There are a lot of characters in this movie and none of them are who you think they are. Everyone starts out with an aura of normalcy, the group of stereotypical hot women are helping the virgin girl find a man, the crotchety old neighbor is scaring away trick-or-treaters and the teens are telling ghost stories at the supposed haunted rock quarry. By the end of the movie your perspective changes in genuinely unexpected ways. It turns out that the group of hot women are on the hunt for men in far more literal ways, that crotchety old man has a dark past that goes far deeper than scaring children and those teens get a much bigger fright than they had been hoping for. None of the characters are deep or particularly original, they’re just everyday people living in a world full of unworldly beings.
A part of the movie that sticks out to me is the principal and his killing of some kid. This murder manages to be absolutely seperate from anything paranormal while still being thematically Halloweenish. The principal, while giving a middle school-aged boy life advice, convinces the boy to eat a candy bar with a razor blade hidden inside. The kid proceeds to vomit up massive amounts of blood and chocolate until he dies. This scene is so gross and frightening from a personal standpoint, because it’s a human hurting another human in a very realistic way, but at the same time there is this aura of humor because dying from a razor blade in your candy bar is kind of wacky and ridiculous. I love, and think, about this scene all the time.
The stereotypes are familiar even as the story twists them around. The plot of the film is rather simple, but it is elevated massively by the aesthetically spooky sections of the movie. “Trick ‘r Treat” easily could have been a “Critters 4,” where dumb little monsters terrorize a town and people die in funny ways, but it is so much better than that. It’s more comparable to an iconic 80s slasher. If Jason didn’t attack summer camps or Freddy Krueger was just some undead guy who attacked people whenever, those movies would have been forgotten. Aesthetic and niche are what make cheesy horror movies rise into cult classics. It is the Halloweeniness of “Trick ‘r Treat” that raises it to that higher level.
If you’re a horror fan, this is no “What We do in the Shadows” or “Evil Dead,” two silly, irreverent movies written, acted and directed in ways that make them powerful faces within horror while also being worthy of praise outside of the genre. “Trick ‘r Treat” is stylish and atmospheric and the creature designs are interesting, but at its core this movie is campy and not notably clever about that camp. The dialogue is overly silly, the story is fantastic but often lacks continuity, and, for a fan of horror, it lacks genuine scares.
In preparation for the best holiday (and in celebration of an underrated movie), I recommend “Trick ‘r Treat” to anyone longing for Halloween festivities. I think it is best watched with a crowd, but it can really be enjoyed in any situation. Don’t expect a masterpiece of horror—just sit back and enjoy an hour-and-twenty-minute Halloween night as it used to be before the coronavirus hit.
