Common Sense Media Review
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Fun, gory Halloween horror has violence, language, nudity.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Trick 'r Treat
What's the Story?
In TRICK 'R TREAT, we witness several intertwining stories as they unfold on Halloween night, all of them witnessed by a mysterious trick-or-treater in footie pajamas and a burlap mask called "Sam." Emma (Leslie Bibb) and Henry (Tahmoh Penikett) return home from an evening of fun, and Emma proceeds to take down their decorations before midnight, ignoring Henry's warnings. School principal Wilkins (Dylan Baker) has laced his Halloween candy with cyanide and buries the bodies of unsuspecting kids in the backyard. Several teens play a prank on an outcast girl, Rhonda (Samm Todd), attempting to convince her that a busload of dead teens has come back as zombies. Shy Laurie (Anna Paquin) is invited to a costume party; she dresses as Little Red Riding Hood but has trouble finding a date… until a masked man attacks her and tries to bite her. Finally, Mr. Kreeg (Brian Cox) is a curmudgeonly man who uses his dog, Spite, to scare kids away. But he gets the fight of his life when he encounters Sam...
Is It Any Good?
Horror anthologies are a dime-a-dozen, but they rarely work as well as this one does, with its brisk pacing and excellent casting, and its alluring combination of prankish humor and sincere dread. Written and directed by Michael Dougherty, Trick 'r Treat is also one of the few Halloween-set movies that captures the spirit of the holiday. Yet it almost wasn't so. Completed in 2007, the movie showed in several film festivals, was delayed for two years, and then quietly released to home video in 2009. But it became a huge cult favorite -- perhaps due to the "Sam" character's unique combination of cute-n-creepy -- and finally received its first official theatrical release in 2022.
Running a snappy 82 minutes, it's admirable how beautifully the stories twist and flow and snap together, most with little tricks and twist endings that reference other parts of the movie. Dougherty even manages to slip in little bits and pieces of the real history behind the holiday, including the warning that you should keep your protective jack-o-lantern lit until after midnight. ("Sam" himself is named after the Gaelic celebration known as "Samhain.") As much fun and as satisfying as Trick 'r Treat is, however, it contains iffy material and is not for kids. Sam is cute, yes, but he could cause nightmares that last into November…
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Trick 'r Treat's violence. How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?
Is the movie scary? What is the appeal of horror movies? Why do we enjoy being scared?
What are some of the lessons that the characters learn during the course of this story? Are they lessons that can be applied to life?
Which characters could be considered bullies? What causes bullying? What are some of the best ways to handle bullies?
How is alcohol depicted? Is it glamorized? Are there consequences?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : October 6, 2009
- Cast : Anna Paquin , Brian Cox , Dylan Baker , Leslie Bibb
- Director : Michael Dougherty
- Inclusion Information : Asian Movie Director(s) , Female Movie Actor(s) , Bisexual Movie Actor(s) , Asian Movie Writer(s)
- Studio : Warner Bros.
- Genre : Horror
- Topics : Fantasy
- Run time : 82 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : horror violence, some sexuality/nudity and language
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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