Review:

Finally. A decent horror movie that features a new kind of horror icon. Trick ‘r Treat introduces Sam, a child-like figure dressed in a scarecrow costume, who always manages to show up to interact with the protagonist of each story.

As trick or treaters make the rounds to all the houses and the adults party in the streets, viewers meet a couple who find out why you shouldn’t extinguish a jack-o-lantern before midnight, a high school principal who is also a serial killer, a college virgin looking for the right guy for her first time, a group of teens who pull a prank that goes a bit too far, and an irritable old man who tangles with a malevolent trick or treater.

In the middle of all these stories is Sam, who makes a point to appear to the main characters in each story, sometimes interacting with them, other times just watching.

In the case of the old man, however, Sam takes a more active role in the story. We are treated to Sam’s special brand of Halloween tradition, which makes for a fun, scary story.

All in all, Trick ‘r Treat is a low-budget film that delivers on its story.

Starring Brain Cox, Anna Paquin, and Dylan Baker, the acting is (more often than not) superb. Doherty does a wonderful job of creating a spooky atmosphere that changes with each new location.

The story moves at a perfect pace, allowing viewers to really engage with each of the characters in their stories. Especially well done is the way each of the stories intertwines with the others. This is hard to do in a movie that wants to show multiple storylines with different characters, but Doherty manages it nicely.

On the flip side, the movie does have drawbacks. There’s a small time jump in the beginning, where we move from the end of the night back to the beginning. It was done as a way to introduce the scare factor of Sam first thing, to give audiences a lead in to the rest of the movie, but with so much content and the depth of acting ability of the cast, this could have been done without the time jump.

All in all, Trick ‘r Treat is fun, character-driven movie that has become a tradition in my house, shown every Halloween night (after the kids go to bed, of course).

Darklady’s Horror Movie Review Ranking: 9 skulls.