Tomorrow is Halloween and that can only mean one thing: It’s Trick r Treat night! Every year, I start my marathon with The Exorcist and I end with my all-time favorite horror movie. For the past few years, I have saved the day before Halloween for this anthology masterpiece.
Trick r Treat is an anthology of five stories that, though played out of order, are all connected. Each story includes Sam is a trick-r-treater in a burlap sack mask, orange footie pajamas and his signature pumpkin lollipop. He observes the happenings of Halloween and only steps in when the traditions of Halloween are broken.
The first story is of a young couple turning in early from Halloween fun. Emma (Leslie Bibb) decides to stay up and clear their yard of all of their decorations while her husband sets up a porn video for them to watch together. She makes the mistake of blowing out her pumpkin before Halloween is over, a big Halloween no no, and this is seen by little Sam. Emma must now face the consequences of breaking the rules.
The second story begins with a fat kid named Charlie smashing pumpkins. He gets caught by his school principal, Mr. Wilkins (Dylan Baker), stealing all of the candy from his bowl. Wilkins then makes Charlie sit, gives him a candy bar and chats with him about stealing. Soon, Charlie is vomiting blood and chocolate all over the porch before finally dying. We soon discover that this isn’t Mr. Wilkin’s first kill and he doesn’t intend for it to be his last.
The third story is about a group of popular kids at school that take a savant girl to the rock quarry under the guise that they were going to leave pumpkins in memory of the children that died in the “Halloween School Bus Massacre” where a group of mentally challenged kids were chained to their bus seats and the bus was driven over the edge of the quarry to kill them. Supposedly the parents paid the driver to do it. What the kids intended to do was to scare the savant girl as a Halloween prank. What they got was punishment from the kids perished in the bus.
The fourth story is about a virgin, Laurie (Anna Paquin) who has trouble meeting boys. Her sister and her gorgeous friends are heading to a party deep in the woods and each of them has a date. Laurie stays behind to find a date of her own. With no such luck, Laurie finds herself followed by a mysterious cloaked man who we witnessed murder a woman earlier. What this stranger doesn’t realize is that there is more to these women than he thinks.
The fifth story is about an old grumpy man named Kreeg (Brian Cox) who lives at home alone with his dog. He is to Halloween what Scrooge is to Christmas by scaring away trick or treaters and stealing their candy. Kreeg finds himself fighting for his life against little Sam who proves to be vicious and sadistic. Kreeg suffers a broken wrist and several cuts and bruises before Sam takes off, having punished him for not handing out candy to trick or treaters. We then find out that Kreeg was the bus driver during the massacre and those kids are back for revenge.
Considered a horror comedy, Trick r Treat is one fun and messed up film. I would say that it is easily the most creative horror film in the last several years. It has been a very long time since an anthology was made that was really worth anything (Tales from the Hood, The Twilight Zone, Creepshow) but I can honestly say that I think Trick r Treat is the best anthology to date.
Little Sam is adorable but has a dark streak that I wouldn’t want to come face to face with. So tomorrow night, make sure you keep the traditions of Halloween or you might find that your punishment is more than you’re willing to take.
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