6.8/10
77,916
313 user 227 critic

Trick 'r Treat (2007)

Five interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: An everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband; and a mean old man meets his match with a demonic, supernatural trick-or-treater.

Director:

Michael Dougherty
Reviews
Popularity
4,836 ( 319)
6 wins & 7 nominations. See more awards »

Photos

Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dylan Baker ... Steven
Rochelle Aytes ... Maria
Quinn Lord ... Sam / Peeping Tommy
Lauren Lee Smith ... Danielle
Moneca Delain ... Janet
Tahmoh Penikett ... Henry
Brett Kelly ... Charlie
Britt McKillip ... Macy
Isabelle Deluce Isabelle Deluce ... Sara
Jean-Luc Bilodeau ... Schrader
Alberto Ghisi Alberto Ghisi ... Chip
Samm Todd ... Rhonda
Anna Paquin ... Laurie
Brian Cox ... Mr. Kreeg
Leslie Bibb ... Emma
Learn more

More Like This 

Krampus I (2015)
Certificate: 14A Comedy | Drama | Fantasy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

A boy who has a bad Christmas accidentally summons a festive demon to his family home.

Director: Michael Dougherty
Stars: Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner
Certificate: 14A Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

A loan officer who evicts an old woman from her home finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse. Desperate, she turns to a seer to try and save her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point.

Director: Sam Raimi
Stars: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Ruth Livier
You're Next (2011)
Certificate: 18A Horror | Mystery | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

When the Davison family comes under attack during their wedding anniversary getaway, the gang of mysterious killers soon learns that one of the victims harbors a secret talent for fighting back.

Director: Adam Wingard
Stars: Sharni Vinson, Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen
Evil Dead (2013)
Certificate: 18A Fantasy | Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

Five friends head to a remote cabin, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads them to unwittingly summon up demons living in the nearby woods.

Director: Fede Alvarez
Stars: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Jessica Lucas
Slither (2006)
Certificate: 18A Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

A small town is taken over by an alien plague, turning residents into zombies and all forms of mutant monsters.

Director: James Gunn
Stars: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker
Certificate: 14A Comedy | Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

Affable hillbillies Tucker and Dale are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are mistaken for murderers by a group of preppy college students.

Director: Eli Craig
Stars: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden
The Descent (2005)
Certificate: 18A Adventure | Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.

Director: Neil Marshall
Stars: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid
The Collector I (2009)
Certificate: 18A Action | Crime | Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

Desperate to repay his debt to his ex-wife, an ex-con plots a heist at his new employer's country home, unaware that a second criminal has also targeted the property, and rigged it with a series of deadly traps.

Director: Marcus Dunstan
Stars: Josh Stewart, Andrea Roth, Juan Fernández
The Strangers (2008)
Certificate: 18A Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

A young couple staying in an isolated vacation home are terrorized by three unknown assailants.

Director: Bryan Bertino
Stars: Scott Speedman, Liv Tyler, Gemma Ward
Certificate: 18A Comedy | Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.5/10 X  

Ten stories are woven together by their shared theme of Halloween night in an American suburb, where ghouls, imps, aliens and axe murderers appear for one night only to terrorize unsuspecting residents.

Directors: Darren Lynn Bousman, Axelle Carolyn, and 9 more credits »
Stars: Adrienne Barbeau, Hunter Smit, Cameron Easton
Eden Lake (2008)
Certificate: 16+ Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

Refusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences.

Director: James Watkins
Stars: Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, Tara Ellis
Horror

Plot unknown. A sequel to the 2007 film 'Trick 'r Treat'.

Director: Michael Dougherty
Edit

Storyline

Five interwoven stories that occur on the same block, on the same night. A couple finds what happens when they blow a jack o' lantern out before midnight, a high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer, a college virgin might have met the right guy for her, a group of mean teens play a prank that they take too far, and a hermit is visited by a special trick or treater. Written by Harrypotterfan639

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

You better watch out, I'm telling you why. Sam is coming to town... See more »

Genres:

Comedy | Horror

Certificate:

14A | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Rock Quarry was originally conceived to be a pumpkin patch. See more »

Goofs

When Steve extends the bowl of candy to Sam, all of the candy is below the top pf the bowl. However, when Sam takes some candy, he takes a candy bar that is sticking up out of the bowl. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Halloween Commercial Man: During the spookiest time of the year there are a few guidelines all ghosts and goblins should follow. Always stay on sidewalks. Never go to a strangers house, and never go out alone.
[the B&W commercial cuts]
Emma: [Sarcastically] This was a great idea, honey. Really. It's just magical. It makes me wish every night was Halloween.
Henry: I'm sorry Em. Wait, wait. Not yet.
Emma: What?
Henry: You're supposed to keep it lit.
Emma: Why?
Henry: Ancient tradition?
Emma: Henry, it's Halloween, not Hanukkah. Baby, I'm lit and you're lit.
[...]
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Half in the Bag: Comic Con 2018 Trailers (2018) See more »

Soundtracks

Cues
from House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Written by Von Dexter
See more »

User Reviews

 
A direct to DVD release that is miles ahead of many "big" horror releases.
6 November 2010 | by oneguyramblingSee all my reviews

For like two years Trick R Treat never seemed to come off the "Upcoming Releases" list. I can't for the life of me see why.

It might not be an all time great, but it is so much better than 20 odd absolute crapfests that were actually fast-tracked into cinemas over the last year to cash in on the current renaissance that horror has been enjoying lately.

Examples? Orphan / The Last House on the Left / Halloween 2 / The Unborn / The Uninvited / Stepfather / Final Destination / Sorority Row Now re-read that list above and tell me what was a MUST SEE in cinemas.

I'll wait… Thought so.

Trick R Treat is hardly a frightening flick, but it is sharp, clever, amusing, inventive and most of all fun. None of those words scream "direct to DVD" to me - but that is what happened anyway.

Halloween has never really taken root in Australia, but over the last decade or so it has become more evident that Aussie kids are aware of the possibilities of free lollies and late nights, and the pressure seems to be going back on parents and homeowners to take it seriously. I know that we never bothered getting a serious stash of lollies ready until around three years ago, but this year our house got door-knocked at least 20 times.

What has been true for many years is that horror movies are more popular around this time of year, as many are made for US release to coincide with the holiday.

The plot of Trick R Treat is actually hard to describe, it is more a series of initially random events involving the same group of characters than a linear storyline. They all take place on Halloween (natch) in a small US town that obviously takes the night seriously.

The main combatants of the film include: A young couple arriving home from the night's festivities, with the young woman knocking back a kind offer of intercourse in favour of cleaning up the Halloween decorations in the yard.

The local school principal and his dealings with a trick or treater (played by the doofy kid from Bad Santa), which is interrupted by his son and a grumpy neighbour.

Four nubile young skanks prepping for a night where they are all hoping to "pull", including two absolute hotties and a pair of sisters, one of whom is Anna Paquin as a somewhat reluctant trollop dressed as Red Riding Hood.

A group of kids who attempt to pay respect to the victims of a past local tragedy involving a crashed school bus, and who rope in an unpopular young woman for the ceremony.

And… The afore-mentioned grumpy neighbour of the School Principal - obviously not a fan of Halloween - and his dealings with celebrating kids.

Early on there are a few more fake scares than I would have liked, you know where the camera lingers, the music builds, the character's hand hovers… and nothing happens. I started to worry that the release of the film was delayed with cause but thankfully that feeling was short lived.

The plot interweaves "Pulp Fiction" style between the seemingly random events, and we gradually see how all these events are practically related, and often impact other character's stories later on, (or at times earlier on, there are a few flashbacks).

There is also a little character in a sack over a pumpkin-head outfit who pops up in the periphery of all stories, he finally has his own scene near the very end in a scene that is worth the wait.

How this wasn't released to cinemas is beyond me. It seems to have every key element required to cash in big time, it is funny, has some good scares, sexy teens and a little innuendo without overstepping the gore or bad taste boundaries. I would have thought with a little advertising and some word of mouth this would have seen a huge audience over the Halloween period from the teens that will - if we're honest - go and see almost anything anyway.

It most certainly deserved far more than a direct to DVD release, hopefully the inevitable sequel sees a better fate.

Final Rating – 7.5 – 10. A little tame to be considered a great horror film, this will find itself on a great many "underrated" lists in coming years, and will no doubt prove a great introduction to the horror genre for many curious teens in years to come. You could do an awful lot worse.

If you liked this review (or even if you didn't) check out oneguyrambling.com


41 of 63 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
Review this title | See all 313 user reviews »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook | Warner Bros.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 November 2015 (Latvia) See more »

Also Known As:

Terreur à l'Halloween See more »

Company Credits

Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See full technical specs »

Contribute to This Page



Recently Viewed