Trick 'r Treat: Collector's Edition - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Trick 'r Treat: Collector's Edition

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie

Horror anthologies are tricky by nature. Many times they’re not really connected at all story wise, and it feels like a collection of short films rather than a movie with interconnecting themes and stories. I used to love watching films like Cat’s Eye, Tales of Terror, Tales from the Darkside, Tales from the Crypt any many others, but the sub genre has grown stale and old in modern times. The most recent attempt was Tales from the Hood 2, which was met with mixed opinions by yours truly, but in the last decade (ish) only ONE anthology film has stood out as being really enjoyable. That was 2007’s Trick ‘r Treat, written and directed by Michael Dougherty. It took a fresh look at the anthology genre, and added a bit more nuance and texture to it rather than just cramming in a bunch of stories. Each and every one is loosely connected, but it’s the tone and FEEL of the movie that really sells the horror. The creep factor and body horror is brought back in spades, and Dougherty isn’t so concerned with a “message” as much as he is about getting back to the root of horror films. To disturb and creep the audience out.

The film is hard to really summarize due to the nature of the intertwined stories, but needless to say it’s a series of 6 loosely interconnected stories that are set at different chronological times throughout the film (and show small glimpses of previous and future stories if you look for them). The film is book ended with a little story involving a drunk husband and wife due (Leslie Bibb and Battlestar Galatica’s Tahmoh Penikett), only to jolt straight into a creepy little tale of terror where a vicious principal (Dylan Baker) preyes upon young trick or treater’s in his neighborhood (although don’t worry, he gets his in a subsequent story). We are introduced to a group of party oriented girls dressed up for a party, only to find out that one of their date’s is actually a killer in disguise. A group of young teens go to a quarry where a horrible murder happened years ago, only to find out that what was thought dead still has some power, and finally we get to see a grumpy old man who hates Halloween (Brian Cox) meet a demonic burlap sack covered child (Quinn Lord) who changes his opinion of the date.

Each story involves some pretty nifty twists along the way, and they actually work rather well. As a horror aficionado I tend to see horror twists rather easily, but these were very organic and worked incredibly well with the stories at hands. The one with Anna Paquin and the killer in their midst was probably the most shocking of the six, but the one in the quarry (while predictable) was deliciously twisted. The same goes for the Brian Cox story as the grumpy old man. It ends the film with such a twisted little twist that horror nuts will be grinning ear to ear, as it bypasses some of the cheesier aspects of horror endings and ends with a “high” note (so to speak) for those who love the genre.

There’s a few issues with the film’s chronology and tone, but overall Trick ‘r Treat is a fantastic “treat” for horror fans. I found Sam’s presence in the film to be a bit ambiguous (there’s only a mention of him by the teens), and the Dylan Baker story as the principal takes a bit too long to pay off. It uses humor and chuckles to gain priority over the horror, but his wrap-up in the Anna Paquin story is more than worth the wait. The Paquin story itself is a bit slow to get going, but has probably one of the best twists in the film (not going to spoil it).

At the end of the day, Trick ‘r Treat is a breath of fresh air in the anthology sub genre. Rarely has a film been this entertaining with such short and sweet stories. There’s not much buildup, there’s not 30 minutes of exposition, but each story is twisted and disturbing to the point of making you gleefully squirm in your chair. I won’t say that it is a horror masterpiece, but it is an excellent horror flick that revitalizes a dying sub genre in many ways.




Rating:

Rated R for horror violence, some sexuality/nudity and language




Video:

Trick ‘r Treat has already been released by Warner Brothers (twice, both with the same encode) back in the early days of the format, and it was a really nice encode. This new one is touted by Scream Factory to have been given a 2K master (without reference of where they sourced the scan from) and a new encode. Looking at both of them side by side I have to go with this new encode. It’s not some night and day revelationary experience, but the differences are subtle and quite apparent if you know what you’re looking for. The new look is slightly darkened, and the colors more refined. The red’s aren’t as garrish here, but maintain a deeper, more maroon look (even though they’re kind of orangey red by design). Shadows are distinct and show no signs of major artifacting, although they do look a bit smeary in some shots. Facial details tend to be crisp and well defined, with all the blood, gashes, and gory details perfectly replicated. The style of the film is a bit garrish and soft by design (one of the special features talks about that), but overall I like this new encode and it makes a decent upgrade over the already excellent Warner Brothers release.









Audio:

I can never be 100% sure, but I’m pretty sure that Scream Factory has taken the same source that the Warner Brothers release had and re-encoded it in DTS-HD MA instead of the Dolby TrueHD track from 9 years ago. Either way, both tracks sound excellent and more similar than naught. We also have the obligatory Scream Factory DTS-HD MA 2.0 track as well a the 5.1 mix, and while both tracks are excellent I’m going with the native 5.1 mix for being the “best”. The side channels open up quite a bit with the hustle and bustle of Halloween parties, and the background shrieks and screams during the school bus story is haunting in it’s directionality. Vocals are always clean and clear, locked up front in the center channel where they should be. LFE is tight and punchy, but it’s never overly pounding and thunderous in nature. When the demon and Brian Cox’s character enter into their battle though, we DO get some pretty rocking bass from the shotgun blasts, and Douglas Pipes’ score flows effortlessly throughout the mix.







Extras:

• BRAND NEW 2K REMASTER OF THE FILM supervised and approved by director Michael Dougherty
• NEW Tales of Folklore & Fright: Creating Trick 'r Treat – including interviews with writer/director Michael Dougherty, conceptual artist Breehn Burns, and storyboard artist Simeon Wilkins.
• NEW Tales of Mischief & Mayhem: Filming Trick 'r Treat – in-depth interview with Michael Dougherty on the making of the film
• NEW Sounds of Shock & Superstition: Scoring Trick 'r Treat – including interviews with Michael Dougherty and composer Douglas Pipes
• NEW Tales of Dread and Despair: Releasing Trick 'r Treat – a look at the release and fandom with Michael Dougherty and writer Rob Galluzzo
• Season's Greetings – NEW 2K scan of the original 16mm elements – a short film by Michael Dougherty with optional commentary by Dougherty
• NEW Storyboard and Conceptual Artwork Gallery
• NEW Behind the Scenes Still Gallery
• NEW Monster Mash – a story from the TRICK 'R TREAT graphic novel
• NEW FEARnet.com Shorts
• Audio Commentary with director Michael Dougherty
• Trick 'R Treat: The Lore and Legends of Halloween featurette
• Deleted and Alternate Scenes with optional commentary by director Michael Dougherty
• School Bus FX Comparison
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Score: ​

Horror anthology films are always dicey at best, with some skits working, some stories failing, and others falling in between. You usually can’t please everyone, but Trick ‘r Treat was one of the few anthology films in modern times that really knocked things out of the ballpark for the little sub genre. All the stories are twisted and dark, and the way that they are intertwined and backtracked throughout the whole film in a semi Crash sort of way is really nifty. It’s not the single best horror movie I’ve ever seen, but it’s a GREAT creepy anthology set that captures the heart and soul of being a horror film. Scream Factory has given us good video (a nice upgrade, but rather subtle) and audio, but the real treats here in this set are the extras. Scream Factory went all the way with the extras, more than doubling them from the original release, as well as giving us new cover art that is (in my opinion) the best in the series. Definitely pick it up if you’re a horror fan, as Trick ‘r Treat is a breath of fresh air midst modern day failures like Tales from the Hood 2.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Dylan Baker, Tahmoh, Penikett, Lauren Lee Smith, Moneca Delain, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Leslie Bibb
Directed by: Michael Dougherty
Written by: Michael Dougherty
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Scream Factory
Rated: R
Runtime: 82 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: October 9th 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Great Horror Watch

 

[Todd Anderson]

New one on me... this looks interesting

 

[Asere]

Thanks for the review. I remember watching this one when it first came out although at the time I got it confused with Trick or Treat with Ozzie Osbourne and Gene Simmons because of the very close title. I also have Cat's Eye at home that I need to revisit.

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Never saw this but after reading the review, will check it out.