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Blu-Ray : Highly Recommended
Ranking:
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Release Date: October 9th, 2018 Movie Release Year: 2008

Trick 'r Treat: Collector's Edition

Overview -

I would consider Trick 'R Treat a staple to watch every Halloween since the film is all about celebrating the holiday in its own unique and sadistic way. A series of vignettes tell horrific tales that take place on Halloween night with monsters, killers, and ghost-children each story subtly connects with each other. It's an excellent thrill ride for sure and keeps getting better with each Halloween. The film was originally released back in 2009 on Blu-ray, but it didn't have such a great video presentation and only came armed with one sad bonus feature. Luckily for this Halloween season, Scream Factory gave Trick 'R Treat the Collector Edtion treatment with a new 2K scan and a giant pumpkin full of new bonus features. This is basically Pulp Fiction but for horror fans. Highly Recommended!

A creepy, darkly comic celebration of the scariest night of the year from writer-director Michael Dougherty (Krampus, Godzilla: King Of The Monsters), Trick 'r Treat takes the Creepshow/Tales From The Crypt approach to nefarious new depths with four interwoven tales set on Halloween night. A high school principal (Dylan Baker) moonlights as a vicious serial killer; the quest of a young virgin (Anna Paquin) for that special someone takes a gruesome turn; a group of teens carries out a cruel prank with disastrous consequences; and a cantankerous old man (Brian Cox) battles a mischievous trick-or-treating demon.

OVERALL:
Highly Recommended
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
BRAND NEW 2K REMASTER OF THE FILM supervised and approved by director Michael Dougherty
Video Resolution/Codec:
1080p/AVC MPEG-4
Length:
82
Aspect Ratio(s):
2.35:1
Audio Formats:
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles/Captions:
English SDH
Special Features:
Theatrical Trailer
Release Date:
October 9th, 2018

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

Almost ten years later, Trick 'R Treat still holds up with its scares, dark comedy, and practical gore and makeup effects. Director Michael Dougherty is an obvious fan of horror and he took his favorite aspects of the beloved genre and mixed in a great cast of characters that all cross paths over Halloween night. He mixed a great sense of horror and terror with some excellent and comedic dialogue to keep things moving at a fast pace. There are some amazing visuals and genuinely scary moments throughout the film that has an underlying message of celebrating Halloween. It's an original anthology film that I hope sees sequels sometime soon.

For the full analysis, read M. Enois Duarte's 2009 review HERE!

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray

Trick 'R Treat comes with a 50GB Blu-ray Disc from Scream Factory with brand new video and audio presentations. There is no insert for a digital copy. The cover artwork is reversible where the disc is housed in a hard, blue plastic case and a cardboard sleeve.

Video Review

Ranking:

Trick R' Treat comes with a brand new and excellent 2K scan from the original elements of the film, which looks better than ever. Everything is enhanced on this image. The video presentation from a decade ago was good, but it had some problems here and there, at least on Blu-ray. Colors are brighter and bolder in this new 2K scan and look more realistic. Perhaps the biggest improvement here takes place during the ghost-children scene down at the rock quarry and in the old man's house in the last segment.

The black levels are much richer and deeper as are the solid colors of gray and different blacks in this scene. The kid's costumes stand out with reds and the angel white color much better than the previous release. Each rock, piece of dirt and even the orange pumpkins can be easily seen here in the fog. In the old man's house, it's a decayed and muted palette where everything looks weathered and moldy. With the new 2K transfer, every split and tear in the wallpaper can be seen along with the hordes of magazines and pictures in the background. Sam the short monster pumpkin head showcases every bit of gooey pumpkin innards as well as his cloth mask stitching.

Other great instances of detail show up in the werewolf scene where guts, blood, and fur can be seen individually. Against a lot of the darkness of the Halloween evening, different orange and yellow pumpkins, as well as the red blood that is shed everywhere, contrast nicely with every other element. There are no video issues to speak of and is the best this movie has looked thus far.

Audio Review

Ranking:

This new Collector's Edition comes with a new lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix and sounds even better than the previous Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix because it's encoded at a bigger and higher data rate this time around. There's a larger dynamic range and louder sound effects that go bump in the night. The ghost-kids in the rock quarry are heard better in this audio presentation, from the rear speakers, as are some of the rocks clanking together. Other ambient noises of kids trick r treating around the town sound fuller as well.

Each knife slash and bone crunch has a little extra bass to it that makes it all that much more queazy to listen to. The haunting score always adds to the terror and dark comedy of each situation and the Marilyn Manson song during the werewolf scene brings the bass hard. Dialogue is clear and easy to follow along with and free of any pops, cracks, hiss, and shrills.

Special Features

Ranking:
  • Audio Commentary - This commentary track features the director, composer, and some storyboard artists that talk about bringing this film to life. They talk about the comic book aspect, the music, merging stories, horror influences and more. This is an older commentary track, but still great.
  • Tales of Folklore and Fright: Creating Trick 'R Treat (HD, 16 Mins.) - Director Michael Dougherty talks about his animated short film that inspired the feature-length movie, putting everything together and even how Stan Winston was a big part of the film.
  • Tales of Mischief and Mayhem: Filming Trick 'R Treat (HD, 19 Mins.) - Cut from the same interview as above, the director talks about actually shooting the film, locations, visual camera work, and more.
  • Sounds of Shock and Superstition: Scoring Trick 'R Treat (HD, 11 Mins.) - Interview with the composer and director on making the music for the film and how they met, which is a great story. 
  • Tales of Dread and Despair: Releasing Trick 'R Treat (HD, 7 Mins.) - The director and a podcaster about the film's first screenings all those years ago and its fandom and legacy since its release. 
  • Season's Greetings (HD, 8 Mins.) - The animated short that inspired the full-length film is presented here complete with a new 2K transfer and optional commentary by the Dougherty. Excellent stuff here.
  • Trick 'R Treat: The Lore and Legends of Halloween (HD, 27 Mins.) - An old EPK fluff piece of the making of the film with cast and crew interviews, and narration by Brian Cox.
  • Still Galleries (HD, 19 Mins.) - There are a couple of image galleries that showcase behind the scenes production stills, concept artwork, and storyboards.
  • Deleted Scenes (HD, 17 Mins.) - There are eight scenes in total here with some longer takes and alternate versions of certain scenes, all of which are worth watching with optional commentary by the filmmaker.
  • School Bus Visual Effects (HD, 1 Min.) - The big school bus crash scene is shown and how they filmed it from a variety of ways.
  • FEAR.net Shorts (HD) - Nine advertisements for FEAR.net and the movie Trick 'R Treat.
  • Monster Mash (HD, 8 Mins.) - A digital comic book you can read of one of the stories.
  • Theatrical Trailer (HD, 3 Mins.) - Trailer for the film.

Final Thoughts

Trick 'R Treat is still as fun and scary as it was a decade ago and I hear there is a sequel on the horizon. The way Dougherty weaves his characters and storylines in and out of each other with ease is no easy feat, but it has that Pulp Fiction quality to it. I'd personally argue it's the ultimate Halloween film, competing with John Carpenter's original Halloween. The new 2K video transfer and DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio mix are excellent and the many new bonus features are all worth your time. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!