DVD Review: Trick R Treat

Rated R for violence, gore, language, scary elements, brief nudity and sexuality

Starring Anna Paquin, Leslie Bibb, Brian Cox, Lauren Lee Smith, Moneca Delain, Dylan Baker, Britt McKillp, Tohmah Penikett

Trick R Treat is a film that takes place on Halloween night in a fictional town that takes their Halloween traditions very seriously. While the film is split into several different stories, they are all linked together, as you'll see characters from one story passing by in another. Also tying the stories together is the constant presence of a small trick or treater wearing a burlap costume with a giant pumpkin head known as Sam. Sam (who I thought of as "the spirit of Halloween") sort of oversees that the Halloween traditions are being kept and teaches a lesson to those that break them.

The first story, we meet a widowed school principal and his young son, however this principal is one you wouldn't want to get stuck with in detention, as he also moonlights as... something else.

Next we meet a group of teens who are collecting pumpkins. One of the girls tells us a story about a school bus driver who drove his bus and the 8 disturbed kids in it, off a nearby cliff, into an abandoned quarry, drowning in the lake. They plan on going to the bottom of the quarry and leaving the pumpkins as a tribute to the deceased, however, after playing a horrible prank a strange girl who tagged along with the group, something goes awry...

Throughout the first half of the film, we are introduced to a group of girls in their early 20s who are wearing  sexy storybook character outfits and looking for dates to take with them to a Halloween party in the woods. One girl, Laurie, however, has trouble finding a date for herself and tells her friends to go ahead to the party and she'll meet them there when she finds someone. Not having much luck, she gives up and starts heading to the woods by herself. A man, dressed as a vampire, who we see bit and kill a woman in a previous scene, has noticed Laurie though and begins to stalk her... will she make it to the party alive?

And finally, we visit the next door neighbor of the principal in the first story. This story actually takes place during the time frame of the first one, as we briefly catch a glimpse of events that occur in this one happening in the first one. The cranky old man neighbor lives alone with his dog and rather than pass out candy, he scares any trick or treater that comes to the door with his dog in a scary mask. Sam however does not approve of this and decides to pay the old man a visit...

Book-ending the movie is a quick tale about a couple. After attending the Halloween parade, the woman decides it would be best to take down all their Halloween decorations tonight, rather than in the morning, as her mother is coming to visit and it won't get done until later. Her partner begs her not to break tradition by taking the decorations down early, but she talks him into letting her. As you can imagine, this is a big no-no!

If you're in for a good, original Halloween-based movie and don't mind a little gore and some frights, be sure to check this one out!