Trick 'r Treat

Trick 'r Treat is a 2007/2009 American anthology horror comedy film written and directed by Michael Dougherty and produced by Bryan Singer. The film stars Dylan Baker, Rochelle Aytes, Anna Paquin and Brian Cox. It relates four Halloween horror stories with a common element in them, Sam; a mysterious child trick-or-treater wearing shabby orange footie pajamas with a burlap sack over his head. The character makes an appearance in each of the stories whenever one of the other characters breaks a Halloween tradition.

Plot
Interwoven stories demonstrate that some traditions are best not forgotten as the residents (Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Dylan Baker) of a small town face real ghosts and goblins on Halloween. Tales of terror reveal the consequences of extinguishing a Jack-o-Lantern before midnight and a grumpy hermit's encounter with a sinister trick-or-treater.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Sam is an interesting and iconic horror anti-villain character.
 * 2) Wilkins, Laurie, Rhonda, and Kreeg are all good protagonists for their respective stories.
 * 3) Macy, Sara, Chip, Schrader, Danielle, Maria, and Janet are all good side characters.
 * 4) The atmosphere is very foreboding and eerie.
 * 5) Pretty effective scary and disturbing moments.
 * 6) The music is very well done.
 * 7) Amazing special effects.
 * 8) The costumes, makeup, and sets are all well crafted.
 * 9) The visual look of the film screams Halloween.
 * 10) Solid performances from the cast, especially for Dylan Baker, Rochelle Aytes, Anna Paquin and Brian Cox.
 * 11) The writing is pretty decent, and it connects the four stories very well.
 * 12) Michael Dougherty's direction is amazing.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) There are a couple of plotholes. like old Mr. Kreeg has a photo of himself and the kids on the Special Ed bus in the same Halloween costumes they were wearing when they died. He barely escaped the quarry alive, then disappeared. It's very unlikely that he would've developed the film or that someone would've given him the photo at a later time.

Reception
Despite being delayed for two years and having only a limited amount of screenings at film festivals, Trick 'r Treat received much critical acclaim and has since garnered a strong cult following. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 81% based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 7.32/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A deftly crafted tribute to Halloween legends, Trick 'r Treat hits all the genre marks with gusto and old fashioned suspense.". Bloody Disgusting ranked the film ninth in their list of the "Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade", calling it "so good that its lack of a theatrical release borders on the criminal.".

Chris Stuckmann earned the film an A.

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Trivia

 * The film was originally slated to be released in October 2007 for a Halloween release. Warner Bros., without explanation or reason, pulled the film from the schedule and no reschedule date was announced. One reason might have been that Saw IV (2007) was slated for release around the same time and Warner Bros. did not want to compete against it in fears of a big opening against them. Another possible reason the film was buried by the studio was that it was possible fallout from the box office disappointment of Superman Returns (2006), which was co-written by Trick 'r Treat writer/director Michael Dougherty and both produced and directed by Bryan Singer, whose production company produced this film. There was brief talk that the film would finally be released around Halloween 2008 and possibly early 2009 but neither release ever materialized. The film was finally released straight to DVD in October 2009.