Trick 'r Treat is as Good as a Pillowcase Full of Halloween Candy and Much Better for You!

So I finally watched Trick 'r Treat, the long-canned Halloween fright flick that's been garnering excellent reviews and positive press for several years now. Despite the overwhelming reactions from fans at conventions and special engagements, it never received a real theatrical release and got dumped on DVD and Blu-ray a couple of weeks ago (notice the release date in the poster above).

So did it live up to the hype? In a word, yes. Trick 'r Treat is just fucking awesome. It's an anthology pic written directed by Michael Dougherty (the dude who also wrote and directed X2 and Superman Returns), and it pumps some much-needed fresh blood into the Halloween horror genre.

It's a lot like the Creepshow series, so much so that it even uses comic book-styled opening credits. However, Trick 'r Treat eclipses those classic 80's flicks, despite the lack of the genius talent of George Romero and Stephen King. What separates it from Creepshow, or any horror film in recent memory, is Dougherty's inventiveness and disregard for audience expectations. There are 4 stories, and only one of them was at all predictable. He uses your own horror knowledge against you, and just when you think you know what's going to happen, he surprises you with something plausible but unexpected and deliciously grisly.

Don’t' get me wrong, this isn't in the running for the title of greatest horror movie ever made. It's inventive, but Night of the Living Dead or Texas Chainsaw Massacre this is not. Instead, it's a quick, surprising and immensely fun little horror flick from a Hollywood bigwig (which is perhaps the most amazing thing about the movie). So if you're even half as sick as I am of the vastly overrated Saw franchise dominating the entire month of October, stay home and pick up a copy of Trick R' Treat. You will not be disappointed.

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