Trick 'r Treat: the Quintessential Halloween Movie That You Haven't Seen

If your house is like mine, you have a lot of holiday traditions. One of the traditions in our house revolves around movies (shocking, isn't it?). Halloween certainly has its fair share of movies to pick from year to year. People often point to John Carpenter's Halloween, and rightfully so. The original movie is a classic, and still packs a punch to this day, but I have a discovered a movie that represents everything that Halloween is about.

You may or may not have heard of Trick 'r Treat. It was made five years ago, and basically sat in post-production hell as Warner Brothers had no idea what to do with it. The film was written and directed by Michael Dougherty (who based it on his short film Season's Greetings) and produced by Bryan Singer, who were fresh off their take on Superman Returns. The film features Dylan Baker, Leslie Bibb, Rochelle Aytes, and Singer's X-Men alumni Anna Paquin and Brian Cox. The film takes on the classic horror anthology format made famous by Creepshow and Tales From the Crypt. The film tells four stories: The Principal, The School Bus Massacre Revisited, Surprise Party and Meet Sam. What separates Trick 'r Treat from other anthology movies is its ability to have each story intertwine towards the end of the film, and often with extremely fun and creative results. The film also introduces, what I consider, to be one of the more memorable horror film mascots: Sam. The child size creature is featured on the film's official poster to the left. You're never given a full on explanation as to what Sam is exactly, but he often acts as the observer of each story until the very end when he joins in and gets his own spotlight. The character has become so popular over time that this year FearNet had Dougherty create holiday themed commercials starring Sam himself. They can be seen here, here, and my personal favorite, here.

The film was pushed back several times in 2007, only making its way through a handful of showings at film festivals and test screenings, where it often ranked among the best tested. Despite the critical acclaim and growing internet cult following, Warner Bros shelved it until late 2009 when it finally hit DVD and blu ray. I managed to rent it after years of reading about how much people loved it, and I have joined in their affection. Trick 'r Treat is definitely a movie that will be shown around our house every year.

What makes this an instant classic in a genre that has flooded the market every October is its ability to have fun with itself. The movie itself isn't the scariest, but you instantly get a sense of the love and fun that went into the way it was made. Every story is well crafted, well acted and shows that all you have to do in order to survive is simply follow the rules of Halloween. Plus it is a nice change from all the blood and gore that's been dominating this time of season. I highly recommend this film to anyone who loves to break out horror movies during this time of year.