Disc Reviews

Trick ‘r Treat 4K Review

• 29th Oct 2024

Horror anthologies seem to have a curse going against them. You can often get a mixed bag of treats offering a variety of flavours that don’t always gel together. Trick r Treat thankfully is one of the few that works. This might largely be down to the fact that the writer/director of this film did all the material. This isn’t 4 known directors having a stab at short filmmaking and hoping that a wrap-around segment can pull everything together, here it works well. Very well in fact. It even has the guts to toy with time frames a little as well. The film is largely set on one Halloween night, but the linear path that we get in each segment has been jettisoned in order to deliver more thrills in the payoff of each of the encounters we have with the characters we meet.  And boy do we meet all sorts of naughty people.  A father-son team who like to carve up heads like pumpkins. A grouchy neighbour who is to Halloween what Ebeneezer Scrooge was to Christmas. Trick r Treaters who love to follow the tradition of Halloween, and some who don’t. Those that don’t tend to end up getting punished. But there are also the partying teens who want to lurk out in the woods, a killer on the street who likes to drain the blood of young women – and in public no less without anyone to care. And then there is little Sam, the poster child of the movie.

Sam appears throughout the film playing mascot, and the unknown threat throughout. It’s a cinema icon that you know would be welcome back again in a long-overdue sequel.

Michael Dougherty’s film became an instant cult film – largely because it flopped on release. But you can’t keep a good film down. Horror fans and home entertainment have kept the film alive, and now Arrow Video has had a crack at the 4K release.

There are a lot of archival extras on the making of the film, the behind the scenes as well as commentary. Arrow Video managed to get a few of the crew to participate in new interviews for this release. There is also a catch-up with Sam actor, Quinn Lord, for an amusing and enlightening bit of info on how he got the role and how he played it. There is also a second commentary more recently recorded that also features the director again.

Steven Hurst 

Full contents:

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

Brand new 4K restoration by Arrow Films, approved by writer-director Michael Dougherty
4K Ultra HD (2160p) Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Original DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Archival audio commentary by Michael Dougherty, conceptual artist Breehn Burns, storyboard artist Simeon Wilkins and composer Douglas Pipes
Tales of Folklore & Fright, an archival featurette with Michael Dougherty, Breehn Burns and Simeon Wilkins
Tales of Mischief & Mayhem: Filming Trick ‘r Treat, an archival interview with Michael Dougherty on the making of the film
Sounds of Shock & Superstition: Scoring Trick ‘r Treat, an archival featurette with Michael Dougherty and Douglas Pipes
Tales of Dread & Despair: Releasing Trick ‘r Treat, an archival featurette with Michael Dougherty and Rob Galluzzo of the Shock Waves podcast, exploring the film’s release and fandom
Season’s Greetings, a short film from 1996 directed by Michael Dougherty with optional director commentary
The Lore and Legends of Halloween, an archival featurette narrated by actor Brian Cox
School bus VFX comparison
Additional scenes
FEARnet promos
Sam O’Lantern
Storyboard and conceptual artwork gallery
Behind the scenes gallery
Monster Mash comic book set in the Trick ‘r Treat universe
Trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
Double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
Six postcard-sized artcards
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Becky Darke and Heather Wixson

Trick ‘r Treat is out on 28^th October