Mixed screenings? Wha? I kicked myself for missing a screening in August '07, and I only wanted to see it then 'cause I heard it was pretty great from screenings.

Enjoyed it. Does what it says on the tin. Nice to see a Halloween movie that feels tonally like Halloween movies used to. It was also good seeing Dylan Baker playing essentially the same role as he did in Happiness.

B+

You are definitely wrong. I heard nothing but extremely positive word from screenings throughout the two years it was sitting on the shelf. Certainly not bad.

Look at my entire statement. If it did that well, then why the heck did it sit for two years and eventually end up going Straight to DVD? With all the crap Horror movies that have been released in the past 24 months to Theaters it must have not had that many good reviews.

How do you sell it? "It's really a pleasant horror movie that's also graphic and mean-spirited... but funny!"

Also, the studio had a fallout with the director. Kinda.

Trick R Treat is certainly not the first film with a lot of theatrical potential to be shelved or hurt a lot by the studios.

I entered a competition to win this today.

I'm not really that interested in it, hence why i'm not buying it at full price just now.

Hey, this done pretty well

94,717 units sold in first week. That's above average for direct to Dvd horror.


Mind you, the source is the-numbers.com....so take this with a pinch of salt. Think it's pretty much a guess!

But, Wrong Turn 2 sold 92,000 units, Return to House on Haunted Hill 85,000 in their first weeks.

According to the same website.

I liked it. A lot.

Could've used better editing (is there a reason the Brian Cox segment is essentially separated from the others?), but it was gross and gory and loads of fun.

Anna Paquin (actually all of the wolf girls, really) is über-hot in this.

Dan oh Dan

spoiler alert!!

8/10 -> B

Oh my, such a wonderful movie. It reminded me of those great Halloween Buffy episodes, both in plot and in spirit.

I's visually great too.

Watched this at long last today.

It's flawed, but also very entertaining. I loved the atmosphere. Every shot is composed with care and overflowing with fall/Halloween imagery. And the action sequences are tightly constructed and intense.

However, I thought the pacing was sluggish and every segment could have used more development and... "flavor." The Anna Paquin-centric chapter, for example, is mostly just scene after scene of her moping around/complaining leading up to a kick-ass finale. There needed to be more forward momentum and overall sense of purpose.

Still, though, it's definitely worth seeing, for the glorious Halloween imagery and a couple terrific scare set pieces.

B

Hmm, I sure didn't edit that spoiler tag into my post. Why was it needed? Spoilers are ALLOWED in this forum.

Yeah, always have been. Just edit it out now then.

You cant use imdb to gauge reactions for movies dating back 20 years ago vs today's films. Are you suggesting that Rocky is less of a movie than The Wrestler and Million Dollar Baby because Rocky's grade barely hangs at 7.9. IMDB tends to downgrade movies that are much older. I also love Creepshow alot but I did enjoy Trick or Treat

Depends on how big the discrepance is.

But in your particular case, and that without any reference to IMDB, Rocky is way inferior to those two films, yes. In fact, its 7.9 is a lot higher than was it deserves.

IMDb has gotten increasingly lenient when it comes to new films, probably as more "casual" viewers begin grading. I remember when a 7.5 was enough to qualify for the Top 250.

A-


I have recently rewatched the movie (around Halloween time of course) and it's still a blast. It's really too bad we'll probably never see a follow-up somewhere down the road.

Trick 'R Treat is very much a Halloween movie in spirit. It bears similarities to the best episodes of Tales from the Crypt and The Twilight Zone. During its sadly scant running time of 82 minutes it presents us four interwoven stories set on the Halloween night: one dealing with the murderous high school principal, another with a group of girls who try to get the only virgin of their group laid at last, yet another with a group of mean kids playing a prank and the last one with an old man with a deep hatred for Halloween who gets taught a lesson. While the stories are told mostly separately, there are connecting bits and pieces here and there. During these stories the viewer encounters Halloween monsters of all kinds from vampires and ghosts over werewolves and serial killers to a murderous pumpkin monster (yep, you read that right). The tone is kept light throughout with the movie presented as a live action horror comic book (including some comic panels during the opening credits), but it also delivers on the suspense when needed. There are a few nice twists one of which really aking the viewer aback (I'm sure you'll know which one I mean when you see the film).

The cast which includes Anna Paquin, Dylan Baker, Brian Cox and Leslie Bibb does its work well and is certainly in for the ride. The movie never takes itself too seriously (did I mention the pumpkin monster?) is full with some pitch-black humor (there'll be a lot of dead kids in this one) and doesn't hold back on the gore either (the R-rating is well-deserved). From its pre-credits opening to the very finish it's an overall exhilarating ride. Not all stories are equally good, but none is bad. It's not a horror masterpiece, but the best Halloween-themed horror film in a very long time (or maybe ever? I'm not so big on the Halloween franchise actually) and actually just one of the better horror movies released these days. I'm also sure that it has a lot of rewatchability value and should become a Halloween cult classic, especially since the film is also clearly a monument for the holiday itself. This really has deserved better treatment than what it got!

Oh and if I had to pick my favorite of the four stories I'd probably go with Anna Paquin's (which even more ironic now considering her role on True Blood) closely followed by Dylan Baker's as the principal.

boring. people who don't understand horror shouldn't write/direct horror movies.

This was really good. But really fucking weird.

Probably one of the more enjoyable Halloween movies I've seen.

B+/A-

Watching this now. This is one of the best Halloween movies ever. Such an amazing time. I'm so glad I got a chance to see it theatrically a few years ago. A

Trick 'r Treat

Thought I'd watch this to get in the horror movie mood as it's October, but boy this is shit. It tries so hard to be clever but it falls flat. And it's not scary in the slightest. It isn't like other movies, though, so there's that, which kept me from dozing off.

D

I remember when I first saw this I was kind of disappointed by it, because I didn't think it lived up to the hype it was getting at the time, but re-watching this over years I do appreciate it more and more. It's not great, but it's the prefect film to watch around Halloween. Dougherty really nails the Halloween atmosphere and imagery IMO. Also, when the violent stuff does happen it is pretty tense and effective. I'd say the weakest part of the film though are definitely the characters which don't really get enough development for you to become invested in or sympathize for, but it never ruined the movie for me. The werewolf scene is still one of my favorite transformation sequences ever and I'd love to see more of Sam in the future.

B