Trick 'r Treat was shot in late 2006/early 2007 for a Halloween 2007 release. However, Warner pulled the film from its release slate with no explanation. In October 2008, the film began to play at film festivals and word of mouth began to spread. Horror websites and magazines did articles on the movie and internet chat forums were abuzz with those who had seen it and those who were dying to lay their eyes on the movie. During this time, the movie garnered a wealth of positive reviews. Finally, Warner Home Video has brought the film to DVD. (Interesting side note, the DVDs arrived late to reviewers. This movie never gets anywhere on time.)

Trick 'r Treat takes place in the small town of Warren Falls, Ohio on Halloween night and follows several groups of characters as they encounter scary things on the spookiest night of the year. Steven (Dylan Baker) appears to be fed-up with trick-or-treaters, as he goes through some extreme measures to get rid of them. He also doesn't want to play a macabre game with his son. Sisters Laurie (Anna Paquin) and Danielle (Lauren Lee Smith) arrive in town with their friends to get dressed up in costumes and meet men. Laurie seems very hesitant to go out and her ironic "Little Red Riding Hood" costume appears to make her easy prey for anyone on the prowl. A young couple, Emma (Leslie Bibb) and Henry (Tahmoh Penikett), arrive home from a night on the town and quickly learn that Halloween has rules which must be observed. A group of children visit a quarry which was the site of a tragic accident years before to see if they can raise the dead. Cantankerous old Mr. Kreeg (Brian Cox), who would rather scare trick-or-treaters than hand out candy, gets a lesson in truly being scared.

If nothing else, the movie deserves kudos for tackling an old concept in a new way. Writer/Director Michael Dougherty has taken the idea of the horror movie anthology and turned it on its ear. Essentially, Trick 'r Treat is broken down into several individual stories. However, instead of being stand along tales told in a certain sequence (ala Creepshow), the stories are interwoven and often cut back and forth between plotlines. The story leaps back and forth in time and we often see characters from one story passing in the background of another tale. It's like Pulp Fiction meets Tales from the Darkside: The Movie. Dougherty, an experienced writer making his directorial debut here, has also given the movie a very nice look. The film is dark, but never too dark and the frame is usually jammed with Halloween artifacts. This is a slick-looking movie, never appearing cheap or poorly made.

Having said that, Trick 'r Treat simply didn't grab me. Maybe it was the hype and the anticipation or maybe it was the inconsistencies amongst the stories, but it wasn't the end-all-be-all that I'd hoped it would be. The movie certainly has some interesting ideas and the ways in which the stories mesh is often very impressive. There is also one plot twist which is very well done. But, I never found the movie to be remotely scary or creepy. A film set on Halloween night with wall-to-wall monsters should be at the very least spooky, but I didn't find that here. Despite the fact that the movie is only 82-minutes long, I found my mind wandering at times, especially during Laurie's story. Again, Trick 'r Treat is a very well-made and creative film which is head and shoulders above most of the direct-to-video horror fodder with which we are faced, but it's not the classic that many have made it out to be.

Trick 'r Treat can't get enough candy on DVD courtesy of Warner Home Video. The DVD features both the widescreen and full-frame versions of the film. For the purposes of this review, only the widescreen version was viewed. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The image is very sharp and clear, showing no overt grain and no defects from the source material. Again, this is a dark movie, but this transfer never looks too dark and the action is always visible. The colors look great, most notably the constant use of orange. There were some minor halo effects at times, but otherwise this DVD looks good. The DVD offers a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which provides clear dialogue and sound effects. This movie sports a good audio mix and this tracks presents it well. The stereo effects are nicely done and come into play during Mr. Kreeg's story. Many of the scenes utilize good surround sound effects and there are times when we feel as if the action is taking place all around us. The scary scenes all produce effective subwoofer action.