Project Horror, Day 31: Trick 'r Treat

10/31/2010

I added this movie to the list at the recommendation of my friends Scott and Rachel, and decided to save it for last.  When I started Project Horror, I decided that the final movie would either have to be a cathartic full-out frightfest or something that would end the month on a fun note.  This movie looked like a fun one, and also one that I wouldn't necessarily get to watch if I stuck rigidly to my categories.

I really enjoyed this movie.  Remember in the '80s when horror anthology movies like Creepshow and Cat's Eye came out?  This is like a throwback to those, with five different stories that intersect together.  Tying all of the stories together is the presence of Sam, a mysterious costumed child who makes sure that people are respecting the traditions of Halloween, or else.  I'm not going to say too much about the individual stories, because it's more fun if you don't know too much about what's coming, but there's poisoned candy, dead children, and hot chicks being followed into the woods...

After an opening scene, the credits play over a comic book styled introduction.  This reminded me of another great show from the '80s, Amazing Stories, and how they adapted old pulp stories for the screen.  It also gives you some idea of what's ahead in the rest of the movie - I actually rewound to this once I'd watched the whole thing, just to see which comic panels fit into which stories.

Somehow this movie played the festival rounds and then went straight to video without a theatrical release.  I really don't understand that decision.  I mean, it's not the Citizen Kane of horror movies or anything, but it's an enjoyable Halloween movie that isn't filled with wall-to-wall torture or yawningly predictable plot twists.  It's got a strong cast, including Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, and Leslie Bibb, so it's not exactly full of no-names.  I'd recommend it to any horror fan.

I give it five Jack-o'-lanterns out of five!

That brings Project Horror to a close.  Please stay tuned tomorrow for my wrap up and final thoughts!

2 comments:

Will Meekin said...

Wow. You did it. Good work. I'm looking forward to your wrap-up as well as picking up the torch-slash-stealing your thunder on my own movie blog, which you'll find I've sorely neglected this year (and last year too): http://www.netflog.blogspot.com/

Wm.

Danny said...

Thanks! I should have the wrap-up online tonight. You know, I remembered you had that blog, but couldn't remember what it was called. I guess that I could have answered that by clicking on your profile at any time... No matter, I've added it to my RSS feed now so that I'll always stay up with what you post!

And don't think of it as stealing my thunder. It's like feeding my thunder through an amplifier so that there's even more thunder to go around. Shit, I think I just wrote a song in my head based around that sentence as a lyric.

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