Picture copied from here
Trick 'r Treat was a unique film in my personal opinion, and I'm not really sure if I liked it or not. When I first heard of the film a little while back, I was really excited to see a movie that had a strict plot revolving around Halloween legends; plus, I really liked the little guy on the cover (Sam!). Now, maybe it is because I have just seen/read way to many horror movies/books, but this really didn't scare me at all. It did however put a really interesting spin on the myths of Halloween -- like the importance of NOT blowing out your Jack-o-lantern before midnight, and the necessity of checking your candy before you eat it.
Essentially, the movie is made up of four individual tales: a high school principal who is secretly a serial killer (and is mentoring his young son); a group of girls who are trying to find the right guy to indulge in for the night, a group of kids who are playing a dangerous prank on an awkward girl, and a couple who doesn't value the legends of Halloween.
Personally, the only gripe that I have with the movie is the way it is put in order/timed. The movie starts with the end, then switches to the beginning, filters through to the end again, and then kind of starts over (?). Now, I'm a huge fan of the Quentin Tarantino method, but this simply just did not work. One minute, someone would be dead, the next they were up and moving around again, and I just never really could figure out where I was in time.
SPOILER ALERT:
The other issue I have is ironically, with my favorite character Sam (the little guy up front). Here we have this little creature who runs around a kills people when, it appears, they aren't following tradition, i.e. the couple who blows out their jack-o-lantern before midnight. Yet, he randomly pops up throughout the film eating candy and walking around dragging this blood soaked back behind him....just hanging out. Now in the story where the kids are playing a prank, the entire thing is based upon a Halloween massacre that happened to a bunch of disturbed children and their bus driver some years back. Now according to myth, all of the kids died, and no one knew what happened to the bus driver. However, at the end of the movie, Sam goes about attacks the crazy old hermit that lives next to the serial killer out of the blue. Now, here is where I get confused.... After Sam does what he does, we see pictures of the children and the bus driver burning in the old man's fire. So was he the bus driver that tried to kill the kids? Was Sam one of the original kids that died, only to come back to reign terror on his own victims of Halloween? Honestly, I have no idea.
What I do know, is that the scene where Sam comes after the old guy is easily my favorite part. He stabs him in the leg with a candy bar that has razors in it, he's crawling on all the walls and making the guy land in piles of razors and candy...frankly, it's just really cool. Plus, when your kill setting is in a dark room that all of a sudden is illuminated by a bunch of jack-o-lanterns with Trick 'r Treat and give me something good to eat written all over the walls in blood... you just have to hand it the little guy. Genius. Plus, when the guy shoots Sam, and his insides explode with pumpkin innards, I just loved it!! Talk about poetic justice!
Overall, I would rate it a 7.5 out of 10
Easily my new favorite Halloween movie. Sam (full name: Sam Hain) was the spirit of Halloween. He attacked the old man because he broke tradition, wasn't giving out candy, and was mainly just being a mean old bastard. But Sammy stood and watched to make sure that ALL the Halloween goodness was observed. With the werewolves, he made sure they did what werewolves do because, after all, Halloween is the night for the creatures. And yes, the old man was the bus driver. It's one of those urban legend things that morphs out of a true story.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, ok that makes better sense now. I figured that I was missing something important, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I do love Sam's little costume though. He is so cute and creepy!
ReplyDeleteHis head will be our Halloween cake this year. We're making it out of carved pound cake, dyed orange, with orange marmalade in between the layers so it "bleeds" orange too. Might even make fondant pumpkin seeds for it...Just thought of that. His burlap mask will be rolled fondant. It's gonna be cool.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds AMAZING! Def. take pictures because I want to see this :)
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