The Red Circle

By Tom Nix // 10.07.09

There are a LOT of Halloween movies. Hell, there’s a whole franchise that bears the holiday’s name. Lots of movies are made that use the night of October 31st as a backdrop to all kinds of supernatural slaughter and maniacal mayhem – witches, werewolves, zombies, vampires, and all sorts of other ghouls are allowed to walk along the living to case a whole bunch of damage to those that still have a heartbeat. But, with all of the history and traditions of all Hallow’s Eve, very, very few of those movies are made that take the time to incorporate WHY these things happen only on that specific day. TRICK ‘R TREAT is one of the best Halloween movies ever made simply because it is thoroughly and totally ABOUT Halloween. Yes, there are psycho killers. Yes, there are ghouls, and beasts, and poisoned candy bars. But all of these things are told from the perspective of the holiday itself. Despite some of the films shortcomings, it makes for a unique experience in the arena of horror – and for that it should be duly praised.

The film is essentially a throwback to the anthology series of the 80′s (Think Creepshow, but with a little of The Monster Squad thrown in) and the EC comics of way back in the day. It tells four intertwining stories along the evening of Oct. 31st in a small, sleepy town in Ohio. These stories, while as a whole are pretty archetypical, present these iconic tales lit by the flickering soul of a Jack O’ Lantern. Every twist and turn are expertly handled – unlike the recent ZOMBIELAND (Editors Note: REVIEWED HERE), there is a ton of subtext going on here – welcoming second and third viewings. In fact, this feels like a movie that was specifically made to be watched every Halloween on a big screen TV, with the sound turned up and the snacks and beer widely distributed.

Which brings us to the storied history of TRICK ‘R TREAT: Shot in 2007 by first time director Michael Dougherty (You know him as the guy who co-wrote X2 and SUPERMAN RETURNS), on a $12,000,000 budget, the studio had no idea what to do with it. And so it got pushed back from its Oct. 5th, 2007 release. And then it got pushed back again. And then again. The story picks up two years later, when Trick ‘r Treat made its way straight to DVD after a few showings at varied film fests around the country. Looking at the 100% Fresh Rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and the glowing reviews coming from all corners of the globe, it could be construed that Warner Brothers shit the bed on not releasing this in theaters.

I, however, am perfectly happy with TRICK ‘R TREAT being a straight to video release. This is where this movie belongs. It needs to be that movie that only has one copy at the video store. It needs to be the film that some fifteen year old finds at random amongst the other horror titles. It deserves to shove and fight its way into the repertoire of great horror films that high school and college kids watch every month. While it’s a shame that a movie as great as this never got the fanfare it deserved from WB, the home theater is where TRICK ‘R TREAT lives and breathes. It’s certainly a movie that I will, without fail, add to my yearly Halloween festivities. It’s something of a minor classic.

And here I am, 600 words in, and I haven’t even started talking about the specifics. And this is a good thing. There’s nothing that happens in this film that minor spoilers would ruin – there is no major final act reveal – but I’m content with being as vague as possible. This is a movie you need to see, and this is a movie you need to see with no prior knowledge of the world it sets up.

Unfortunately, the world is both the strongest and the weakest part of TRICK ‘R TREAT. You have to come into this movie armed with an above average knowledge of Halloween lore. If you don’t know who Samhain is, or why people wear masks on Halloween, or why Jack O’ Lantern’s are so important to your personal health, this movie may confuse you a little bit. There’s a few hints and setups in the credits, but this movie feels like it really needs to be seen with the proposed tie-in graphic novel due out this month. This doesn’t really diminish the appeal of the flick, though as the individual stories themselves are so strong and self contained, that understanding a little more about the TRICK ‘R TREAT universe would just serve to make you love the film even more.

In truth, the only complaint I have about the film is its length – It’s just too short. Clocking at just over 85 minutes, some of the storylines feel like they just don’t get their ideas across. The Dylan Baker Serial Killing Principal storyline in particular feels just a little too truncated. It gets the general idea across, but that character has a lot more going on than what is eventually shown to the audience. It’s kind of damning praise that the worst I can say about the film is that the characters are too interesting, and I wish we had more time with them.

And it’s a little bit of a shame because the cast of this movie is impeccable. Dougherty uses actual real kids in the Trick or Treaters storyline – something totally taken for granted by modern filmmaking. In most cases, these would be high schoolers played by twenty-somethings. This movie doesn’t undervalue how much age-appropriate actors can bring to the story. Every scare and plot point is derived organically out of the characters motives, and that is a rare thing, especially in horror.

The biggest downer surrounding TRICK ‘R TREAT (and I’m sure Dougherty feels the same way) is that this was intended as the first in a series of yearly anthologies, made by different directors, to fill in the blanks of the world that Dougherty has set up. October has, for the last six years, been the pissing ground for the SAW franchise, and with the right studio involvement and support, we could instead be seeing more movies involving Anna Paquin’s Little Red Riding Hood riff and Little Sam, the pumpkin boy. This might be one of the most depressing franchise non-starters in recent memory.

At the end of the day, TRICK ‘R TREAT is an amazing little movie that manages to take a lot of stories done before by a lot of other movies and turn them on their heads by focusing on the significance of Halloween as the doorway to all of the things that are hiding just beneath the shadows.

8.9 out of 10

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