Sorry I missed last week’s Monster Sketch Monday, folks! The day job is kicking my ass. I need to get caught up, hopefully in the next week or two.
This week we’re taking a look at one of the elements that makes the movie Trick r’ Treat so fun. Sam is the burlap-sack wearing character that enforces the rules of Halloween. He’s also really fun to draw.
A great Halloween horror anthology by Writer/Director Michael Dougherty (Godzilla: King of the Monsters), Trick r’ Treat didn’t make much of a splash when it came out, but has since become a cult favorite. That’s at least partly due to Sam, the through-thread that connects all of the stories. Only one of the stories features him specifically (the super-fun “Sam,” which also has Brian Cox doing his best John Carpenter impression), but he’s around in each tale.
Trick r’ Treat is great fun, a throwback to an earlier time when a horror movie could revel in its own love of the genre. I refer to it as a ‘frightfest,’ and what I mean by that is the movie captures that sense of both fun and fear that Halloween generated in me as a child. I was always thrilled to go out in the dark, in costume and mingle with all the other monsters as we harassed the adults with our screaming, running about and demands for sugar treats. I loved the thrill of a good costume – of being convinced that someone was a real monster, even if only for a second.
Trick ‘r Treat has some of that same sensibility – it’s having fun and giving you a few frights as well. It doesn’t make fun of itself, it doesn’t try to be too self-aware – it just has a good time with Halloween. As long as you follow Sam’s rules.
Like Sam or not, the movie is well worth watching. Dougherty has many times teased a sequel, and I’ll be there on opening night if it ever comes to fruition. I think he has that Hellraiser show to develop first, though.
