Season's Greetings

Trick 'r Treat is a 2007 American anthology horror comedy film written and directed by Michael Dougherty and produced by Bryan Singer. The film stars Dylan Baker, Rochelle Aytes, Anna Paquin and Brian Cox. It relates four Halloween horror stories with a common element in them: Sam, a trick-or-treating demon wearing orange footie pajamas with a burlap sack over his head. The character makes an appearance in each of the stories whenever one of the other characters breaks a Halloween tradition.

Despite being delayed for two years and having only a limited number of screenings at film festivals, the film received much critical acclaim and has since garnered a strong cult following.[3]

The film takes place on Halloween night in the fictional town of Warren Valley, Ohio. The plot follows a nonlinear narrative, with characters crossing paths throughout the film. At the center of the story is Sam, a peculiar trick-or-treater in a burlap pajama costume, who appears to enforce the "rules" of Halloween.

In the opening scene, Emma and her Halloween-loving husband Henry return home after a celebratory night. Emma (who hates Halloween) blows out their jack-o'-lantern before midnight against Henry's superstitious advice. As Henry relaxes and falls asleep in the house, Emma begins tearing down the decorations; but is then ambushed and murdered by an unseen assailant. Hours later, Henry discovers her mutilated corpse on display with the decorations.

Charlie, an overweight child who vandalizes jack-o'-lanterns, is caught stealing candy from an unattended bowl left by his school principal Steven Wilkins. Seemingly taking the offense in stride, Wilkins offers Charlie a candy bar while lecturing Charlie on the importance of respecting Halloween rules and traditions. Charlie gradually feels more unwell until he begins to vomit chocolate and blood. As Charlie dies, Wilkins reveals that he laced the candy with cyanide, remarking "You should always check your candy."

While clumsily attempting to hide the murder, he hands out candy to trick-or-treaters, including Sam. Wilkins attempts to bury Charlie in his backyard along with the body of another victim, but is continually interrupted by his young son Billy, his cantankerous elderly neighbor Mr. Kreeg, and Kreeg’s dog Spite. The other victim turns out to still be alive and struggles in his sack, forcing Wilkins to violently beat him to death with a shovel before anyone can discern the noise.

When Wilkins returns indoors, he briefly notices Kreeg screaming for help at the window; Wilkins brushes him off before something seems to attack him. Wilkins guides Billy downstairs to carve a jack-o'-lantern, hiding a knife behind his back. After some hesitation, Wilkins appears to stab Billy. However, Billy is unharmed and it is revealed that the knife was plunged into Charlie's severed head, the "jack-o'-lantern" they are about to carve.

A group of teenage trick-or-treaters—Macy, Chip, Schrader, and Sara—are collecting jack-o'-lanterns when they meet devout Halloween traditionalist Rhonda who is known to be an autistic savant. The group, led by Macy, visits a flooded quarry where she recounts the urban legend of the "Halloween School Bus Massacre". In the legend, the weary and resentful parents of eight disabled children bribed their bus driver to dispose of them. Before the driver could complete his plan, one child escaped his shackles and took control of the bus; accidentally driving it off a cliff, into the quarry. The children drowned, though the driver survived.

Macy leaves eight jack-o'-lanterns by the lake as a tribute to the deceased. The group splits up, leaving Rhonda and Chip behind. Rhonda is pursued by horrifying figures; but once she is hurt while being chased and reduced to tears the other teens reveal that it was them, disguised as the dead children in an attempt to prank her, all planned by Macy. Schrader realizes that the trick has gone too far and tries to comfort the terrified Rhonda while a bitter Macy kicks a jack-o'-lantern into the water. The actual undead children emerge from the lake and attack the teens. Rhonda coldly abandons them to their deaths as revenge for their prank. As she leaves, Rhonda encounters Sam and exchanges a nod of respect toward him.

Laurie, a self-conscious 22-year-old, joins her sister Danielle and friends Maria and Janet for Halloween; winding up with a "Little Red Riding Hood" costume. A staunch traditionalist, Laurie misses just trick-or-treating with her sister.

The other girls pick up dates, but Laurie declines in favor of staying to enjoy the town festival instead. She later encounters a hooded man dressed as a vampire who follows her into the woods and attacks her. A bundle of red cloth falls out of a tree, revealing the bloodied and frightened vampire. After Laurie remarks that he bit her, Laurie's friends unmask the man, revealed to be Steven Wilkins, who had been seeking out victims at the festival.

Laurie's friends are then revealed to be werewolves, shedding their clothing and skin before feasting on their deceased dates. With it being her first time consuming someone, Laurie transforms and devours Wilkins. Sitting on a log nearby, Sam witnesses the werewolves’ feast.

Kreeg, a curmudgeonly Halloween-hater, dresses up his dog to scare trick-or-treaters off his doorstep. As the night proceeds, Kreeg encounters escalating phenomena: the house is egged; the lawn is filled with ornate jack-o'-lanterns; and the hallways and ceiling are scrawled with Halloween and Samhain greetings.

Kreeg is ambushed by Sam. In their struggle, Kreeg eventually manages to unmask his assailant, whose head resembles a grotesque hybrid of a skull and a jack-o' lantern. Kreeg shoots Sam several times with a shotgun, apparently killing him. However, Sam begins to reanimate, and incapacitates and corners Kreeg. Instead of killing him, Sam impales a candy bar in Kreeg's lap, completing the tradition of "handing out" candy on Halloween. Satisfied, Sam spares a confused Kreeg and ominously departs. Meanwhile, photographs burning in the fireplace reveal that Kreeg was the driver from the School Bus Massacre.

A heavily-bandaged Kreeg gives candy to trick-or-treaters. On his front porch, he witnesses other characters in the film mill about observing Halloween traditions: Billy sits on his father's porch, handing out candy and enjoying himself; Rhonda crosses the street casually pulling her wagon filled with jack-o'-lanterns; Laurie and her friends drive by laughing to each other; and Emma and Henry arrive home. Sam witnesses Emma prematurely extinguishing the jack-o'-lantern and moves in to kill her. Kreeg answers another knock at his door, only to be greeted by the undead children from the bus who brutally tear him apart as revenge for their murder.

Season's Greetings is an animated short created by Trick 'r Treat writer and director Michael Dougherty in 1996 and was the precursor of the film.[4] The film featured Sam as a little boy dressed in orange footy pajamas with his burlap sack head covering, as he is being stalked by a stranger on Halloween night. The short was released as a DVD extra on the original release for Trick 'r Treat and was aired on FEARnet in October 2013 as part of a 24-hour Trick 'r Treat marathon on Halloween.[5]

Trick 'r Treat was filmed on location in Vancouver, British Columbia. Originally slated for an October 5, 2007, theatrical release, it was announced in September 2007 that the film had been pushed back. After many festival screenings, it was released on home media in 2009.[2]

The first public screening took place at Harry Knowles' Butt-Numb-A-Thon film festival in Austin, Texas, on December 9, 2007.[6] Subsequent screenings included the Sitges Film Festival on October 7, 2008, the 2008 Screamfest Horror Film Festival on October 10, 2008, a free screening in New York sponsored by Fangoria on October 13, 2008, and another free screening in Los Angeles co-sponsored by Ain't It Cool News and Legendary Pictures on October 23, 2008. The film was also screened at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International, the Fantasia Festival on July 29 and 30, 2009,[7] the film festival Terror in the Aisles 2 in Chicago on August 15, 2009, and the After Dark film festival in Toronto on August 20, 2009, at The Bloor.

The film had a theatrical release for the first time on October 6, 2022.[8]

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures released the film direct-to-DVD and on Blu-ray in North America on October 6, 2009, in the UK on October 26, and in Australia on October 28. Shout! Factory released a "Collector's Edition" Blu-ray on October 9, 2018, with all extras from previous DVD/Blu-ray releases included as well as new extra content.[9]

Spirit Halloween also released a line of Trick 'r Treat themed decor and props. They released a lollipop that mimics Sam's, and a life-sized Sam animatronic that they used in their themes.

In 2017, Halloween Horror Nights brought the film to life with a scare zone. The reception led to a full maze for the event in 2018.

DC Comics partner Wildstorm Comics had planned to release a four-issue adaptation of Trick 'r Treat written by Marc Andreyko and illustrated by Fiona Staples, with covers by Michael Dougherty, Breehn Burns and Ragnar.[12] The series was originally going to be released weekly in October 2007, ending on Halloween, but the series was pushed back due to the film's backlisting. The four comics were instead released as a graphic novel adaptation in October 2009.[13] Legendary Comics set the second Trick 'r Treat comic book, titled Trick 'r Treat: Days of the Dead, for an October 2015 release date,[14] and features Arts of Artist Fiona Staples and Stephen Byrne.[15] The comic was released alongside the graphic novel tie-in of Dougherty's Krampus.[16]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 81% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 7.40/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A deftly crafted tribute to Halloween legends, Trick 'r' Treat hits all the genre marks with gusto and old fashioned suspense."[17] Dread Central gave it 5 out of 5 stars, stating, "Trick 'r Treat ranks alongside John Carpenter's Halloween as traditional October viewing and I can't imagine a single horror fan that won't fall head over heels in love with it."[18] The film earned 10 out of 10 from Ryan Rotten of ShockTilYouDrop.com.[19]

IGN called it a "very well-crafted Halloween horror tribute" and "a scary blast", rating it a score of 8 out of 10.[20] Bloody Disgusting ranked the film ninth in their list of the "Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade", calling it "so good that its lack of a theatrical release borders on the criminal."[21]

Michael Dougherty announced in October 2009 that he was planning a sequel,[24] but later stated that there was "no active development nor an attempt at a pitch."[25] A sequel was announced in October 2013,[26] but there was a change in Legendary's management. Dougherty has continued to express interest in a sequel but said the film stands on its own.[27] In October 2022, Dougherty revealed that he was in "active development" of a sequel with Legendary Pictures, although the film had not been officially greenlit yet.[28]