Give Me Something Good to Eat

What seems like a millennium has passed since the first trailer for Trick 'r Treat, and now all of the anticipation has finally halted to a complete stop with the movie finally sitting comfortably in the disc tray of my DVD player. It came out sometime last week, so by now, everyone, including your mom, has written a review for Michael Dougherty's Halloween themed horror film. I won't go all crazy here with details, as I am sure most horror fans have had their fill of reviews for this movie and already know what needs to be known outside of personal opinion.

However, this is a film that had some major expectations to meet, and it is a film that seems to have divided many a horror fan...maybe not so much divided, as it is more a film that is not overwhelmingly loved by everyone, nor disliked either. I have completely avoided reviews for the sake of keeping my brain free of spoilers, but I do know that people either like, dislike, or are just kind of underwhelmed, by Trick 'r Treat.

For me personally, I really liked it, but I can see why some would not. Trick 'r Treat is a horror movie that even outside of unfair expectations, is geared towards a certain kind of horror fan...better yet, a certain kind of person. That horror fan, that person...is me. It is literally, as if someone opened up my cranium, stirred around the tiny little portion of brain fragments, and dumped out everything I love about the Halloween aesthetic. Every ounce of Trick 'r Treat hits on my love for every little intricate detail that comes along with All Hallows' Eve, from the atmosphere to the costumes, to the locations and right on down to the story.

Trick 'r Treat is an anthology film, but is not told in a direct "this is this story, and this is that story" kind of way, it is more of a Pulp Fiction narrative where characters intertwine and may make decisions that can affect other characters. While the stories are far from original, each one calls back to a different era for me, it is nostalgic in a way - first of all, it is an anthology, something that is not quite as prevalent in movies now, as they were when I was a little gangsta. So that alone pulls on my young little heart strings right there and may cause me to have my nostalgic blinders on firmly.

But it's more than just the anthology thing that gets me all giddy inside...in fact, if I could describe the inner makings of Trick 'r Treat in terms that are as simplistic as possible, which in turn, would explain what I like so much about the movie, it would be:

The Trick 'r Treat
Fill a 20 oz Gibraltar glass with ice so it is just over the top
Add 1 oz of Amazing Stories
2 oz of Tales from the Crypt
6 oz of Creepshow
Add a splash of baby blood (or you will catch a roundhouse)
Shake for 7 seconds
Garnish with a cherry and E.C. Comics orange flag
Straw, and serve

Those are ingredients that I love, the ingredients that along with the Halloween aspect - may even cause me to turn a blind eye to some of the issues that the movie does have. And it does have some issues, as I said, the stories are completely unoriginal, and all are things I have read in Creepy or Eerie magazine, or seen in movies and TV shows like Tales From the Darkside/Crypt, and Creepshow. Still, I love those moral tales of terror where someone is punished for their wrongdoings or their mistreatment of others...so even if I can call exactly what is going to happen before it happens, I still get a kick out of it. You could maybe pass it off as classic storytelling, myths and legends are the makings of these stories found within Trick 'r Treat and you aren't always getting a side of original with you order of classic as you may know.

If you think you would enjoy The Trick 'r Treat concoction I made for you, you may enjoy the movie as I did. If you enjoy the holiday of Halloween as I do, once again, you may enjoy the movie as I did. If not, then you may not enjoy the movie, but I don't know, cause I'm not you, now am I? If I was you, how could I hug and hold you dearly? I could get all into the characters, and be more specific with plots, breakdown what I liked about the film technically, and blah, fucking blah. What it all comes down to, and if this makes sense, Trick 'r Treat is not a perfect film, but in many ways, it's a perfect film for me.