After 15 years, cult classic Trick ‘r Treat finally gets a theatrical release in time for Halloween!
Trick ‘r Treat was released direct to home media by Warner Bros in 2009 after first showing at a Texas film festival two years earlier and then some sporadic festival showings over the next two years. Like everyone else, I discovered this great Halloween movie on DVD. Since then, it’s become a beloved holiday classic. Now fifteen years after its festival only showings, Michael Dougherty’s cult favorite has finally gotten a theatrical release at AMC theaters right in time for All Hallows Eve. One of my favorite spooky season flicks, I took in a showing tonight and it was magical seeing it on the big screen for the first time…even though I have watched it dozens of times by now.
Ticket was only five dollars to start! It was a good print with vibrant colors and great sound bringing the lush Halloween visuals and spooky screams to vivid life as never before. Don’t care how boss your home theater system is, there is nothing like seeing it on the big screen with an appreciative audience. Everyone was quite during the showing, save for the appropriate laughs or gasps, depending on the goings on. Seeing Sam and company larger than life was a great experience tonight and one I am so thankful that the folks at AMC provided. Better late than never! A great Halloween movie now getting its proper due! Was like seeing the film for the first time and I’m so glad I went!
With X-Men: Days Of Future Past having just opened, I thought it would be fun to look back at the first two flicks that started this comic book-based film series, one that is still ongoing…
X-MEN (2000)
I never read the X-Men comics though, I am familiar with some of the characters but, as far as the mythos, I take the films for what they are and rate them as movies and not in comparison with the story-lines from the comics.
The first film opens with a scene set in a concentration camp during WWII of a young boy who shows extraordinary power when separated from his mother. Decades later it is revealed that beings with special abilities of all kinds, dubbed mutants, have evolved among us and some government officials, especially a Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison), are proposing to make mutant registration a law. Fighting against this form of discrimination are two factions. One, Dr. Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) a powerful telepath who wants nothing but, peace between human and mutant alike, and the other, Erik Lehnsherr (Ian McKellen), also known as Magneto, a man who has the power to manipulate metal and feels that humans are inferiors who are meant to be ruled and dominated, not trusted. Magneto was the boy we saw in the opening scene and his experience in a concentration camp is what paints his refusal to trust humans ever again. Magneto and his fellow mutants Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), Toad (Ray Park) and the massive Sabertooth (Tyler Mane) have hatched a plan to turn a group of world leaders into mutants themselves at a crucial summit at Ellis Island. Xavier and his own team of mutants, Storm (Halle Berry), Cyclops (James Marsden) and Dr. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) have been trying to stop Magneto and his plans of conquest and with the arrival of the rebellious and quick-tempered mystery man Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and the power absorbing Rogue (Anna Paquin), the odds may have shifted… but, in who’s favor?… as one of these new recruits may be crucial to Lehnsherr’s success.
Director Bryan Singer not only creates a fun superhero flick from David Hayter’s screenplay but, adds some very nice dramatic intensity and emotional resonance along with the underlying themes about tolerance and respecting each other for who we are. He gives the film a more down-to-earth look and setting, choosing to present a more grounded approach as how such a story might transpire if it occurred in the modern world and not a more comic book-style fantasy world. And it works very well integrating some fantastic characters into a real world setting and makes these characters very human and identifiable despite their unique powers. Singer takes his material very seriously and let’s it’s moments of unobtrusive humor come from the witty dialog and script and the talent of his cast to deliver those lines and moments. And it’s blend of intensity and subtle wit is what really makes this work so well. Add to it a very fitting score from Michael Kamen and some crisp cinematography by Newton Thomas Sigel and you have a superhero flick that ranks among the best.
As for the cast. Singer has a really good collection of actors to work with from veterans Stewart and McKellen who bring nobilty and strength to the roles of Xavier and Magneto respectively. Powerful men from two opposite views who are both friends and opponents at the same time, which creates a very intriguing dynamic on screen. Jackman, in my opinion, makes a great Wolverine, giving him a sort of super-powered Snake Plissken vibe that makes the character very cool and endearing. And despite his harsh exterior, Jackman gives him a soul that peeks through enough to give the character some dimensionality. Rounding out are Berry, Paquin, Janssen and Marsden all giving some nice personality to their heroes as Romijn-Stamos, Park and Tyler Mane create worthy adversaries giving weight to their villainous turns. A good cast having a good time with their characters and it helps make this film work all the more better.
I really enjoy this flick, it has a bit smaller scale then some of the superhero epics that have followed but, that works in it’s favor by introducing a few of the more popular characters and letting us get to know them before steadily expanding the universe in future installments. It has a solid cast, a lot of action and some well executed SPFX but, also some emotional depth and nice character development too. Thus making it solid popcorn entertainment with a more substantial center. Like having a fine meal and a delicious dessert at the same time.
3 and 1/2 X-Men.
X2: X-MEN UNITED (2003)
With Magneto (Ian McKellen) behind plastic bars the humans feel safer until an attack on The President Of The U.S. by a teleporting mutant named Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) provokes drastic measures allowing mutant hating Black Ops operative William Striker (Brian Cox) to receive permission to raid Prof. Xavier’s (Patrick Stewart) school. But, Striker’s plans run deeper and has a far more sinister goal in regards to the world’s mutants. With Xavier in Striker’s clutches, it’s now up to Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and the rest of the X-Men to stop Striker and rescue Xavier before he succeeds in wiping out all mutant kind but, to do so they may have to join forces with their greatest foes… Magneto and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos)… and it’s a good bet Magneto has his own agenda. Can they succeed with serpents in their own den?
Singer returned to the director’s chair for the sequel and working with a script by Michael (Trick R Treat) Dougherty, Dan Harris and David Hayter, from a story by Singer, Hayter and Zak Penn, ups the ante with more action, more mutants but, without sacrificing the depth and characterization he brought first time around. We not only get the dynamic of foes having to work uneasily together against a common enemy but, we learn more about Logan/Wolverine’s past and watch as the human/mutant relationship is crumbled even further. Our heros not only fight to save themselves here but, their place in the world and how it views them. There is a lot at stake as they battle an enemy who seeks to see them destroyed but, will oddly employ mutant against mutant to get his goal accomplished. It makes for an interesting dynamic and furthers the X-Men cinematic universe without cluttering it up. We get some interesting new characters and get to know the familiar ones a little better. Sigel returns as cinematographer and John Ottman provides a suitable score to the action and drama.
The cast who return all fit into their roles nicely again with McKellen especially having a good time with his second go round as Magneto. We get to see a bit more of what makes them tick, as some try to come to terms with who they are and others who are comfortable with themselves, face change and adversity. We meet a few more mutants such as Cumming’s religious German mutant Nightcrawler and he makes for an interesting and eccentric character. We get teens Shawn Ashmore as Iceman, a kind hearted young man who takes a liking to Paquin’s Rogue and the rebellious Pyro played by Aaron Stanford. On the side of evil, Cox makes a strong villain with his slimy and hateful Striker and the villainous Lady Deathstrike is played with an ice cold exterior yet, a definite lethality by the beautiful Kelly Hu. And there are also some some fun mutant cameos peppered throughout. Again, Singer makes good use of a good cast. Even those with minimal screen time are used well in the screen time they have.
With his second X-Men flick Bryan Singer gives us both sequel and equal as we have a film that once again gives us a healthy dose of superhero action and a good story as well. It’s a fun movie that finds our heroes challenged by not only their villain but, some by the choices they have to make and a world that is ever increasingly hostile towards them. Another strong superhero treat from Bryan SInger and a nice step forward for this series that stumbled somewhat when Singer left and didn’t really regain it’s footing till the delightful First Class.
Trick ‘r Treat has already become an instant cult classic and it makes it’s rather odd release by Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures all the more a mystery. The film was originally supposed to come out in October 2007 for Halloween, but a major release never happened and it was only shown at a few film festivals and then was finally dumped direct to DVD two years later in October 2009, despite favorable reviews and good word of mouth. But the movie has been discovered by horror fans and has quickly become a Halloween favorite for many… it’s definitely one of mine. So, not sure what the studios problem was with this great little Halloween flick, but at least it is finally getting the attention it deserves and has earned a well respected status in the genre.
Trick ‘r Treat is a ghoulishly entertaining anthology that tells a group of stories that are unleashed upon it’s audience in a Pulp Fiction-like narrative structure that goes back and forth in time linking them all together and they are all presided over by spooky new horror icon Sam, who watches from a distance or becomes directly involved as in the first and final tales. We get the story of a young husband and wife (Tahmoh Penikett and Leslie Bibb) who find out certain Halloween traditions are there for a reason, the tale of a school principal (Dylan Baker) with a gruesome Halloween hobby that may come back to bite him, a group of kids investigating an urban legend about the murder of a busload of Special Ed. students with horrifying results, Anna Paquin playing a young woman about to lose her virginity in blood curdling fashion and the final tale about a grumpy and mean old man (Brian Cox) who is tricked and treated on Halloween night by Sam himself.
Written and directed by Michael Dougherty we get a movie that understands that Halloween should be spooky, scary and ghoulish fun…and Trick R Treat is all those things, a movie that embodies the spirit of Halloween as few others apart from John Carpenter’s classic have. The film is thick with atmosphere, stunning cinematography by Glen MacPherson, top notch gore and make-up FX and plenty of frights and delights. The cast all take their parts seriously and play them with exactly the right tone needed in the context of their story, making it all work perefectly in the Halloween spirit it is intended and evil little imp Sam is the spooky icing on the ghoulish cake.
A real Halloween treat if ever there was one. Trick ‘r Treat is now part of my Halloween watching tradition alongside Carpenter’s legendary fright fest and one of my all time favorite Halloween season films!
MonsterZero NJ's Movie Madhouse 