‘Trick ‘r Treat’: What Movies To Pair With This Delicious Halloween Anthology [Double That Feature]
Gorehounds, Blood Babes, Fright Fiends, everything else that goes bump in the night: do you feel that? That sudden chill in the air? Do you smell the freshly cut pumpkins? The caramel apples? Do you see the ghost and ghouls peeking out of the shadows a little more often than usual? Do you wave at them? And do they wave back? Whatās their name? Because if itās Daryl, he owes me ten dollars, dammit, and I wanted it yesterday! He canāt avoid me forever, that creepy little bastard! Anyway, itās Halloween!
The best time of the year! When one can be macabre, dress as monsters, eat copious amounts of candy, and marathon horror movies to your heartās content. It’s pretty much what I already do all year long, except now itās more socially acceptable.
Speaking of movies, itās about time for another Double Feature, donāt you think? A good way to celebrate the holiday! The question is, what movies should we pair?
Donāt worry, I got you.
What better film to celebrate the spooky season than with the Samhain anthology by Michael Dougherty, Trick ār Treat? Iām aware that some of you may have objections to this, but work with me here. Letās just āpretendā Trick ār Treat is the indisputable champion of Halloween movies right now. Okay? Thank you!
Trick ār Treat! The best Halloween movie ever made! No other Halloween flick even comes close to it! We all agree! Itās no contest at all. Iām glad weāre all on the same side on this!
For those of you not in the know, hereās a quick rundown.
Halloween night: The time of year when the barrier between here and the afterlife is thinnest, when ghouls and goblins walk the dark streets, mingling with the living without a second glance. During this night, creeps and horrors prowl about, some in search of delicious spooky treats, others for some pretty scary tricks. These are their tales, four of them to be exact, showing what exactly goes on Halloween night! Of note is Sam, the lovable trick ār treater who definitely doesnāt have a sinister side!
Check it out digitally here, or physically here.
So, what would one possibly pair with the greatest Halloween movie of all time? What could conceivably match with it? Right below, I have dug up a pile of possible candidates to pair with this sin-amatic masterpiece of storytelling!
Letās don our Shatner masks, grab our candy bags, and see what tricks these movies have in store!
1. Creepshow (1982)
āAn anthology which tells five terrifying tales inspired by the E.C. horror comic books of the 1950s.ā ā via IMDB.
Creepshow! The best Halloween anthology movie ever made! Hey, we were only pretending Trick ār Treat was the best before, remember? How could it be the top when Creepshow exists? Itās a really close second, though!
What can I say that hasnāt already been said about this show for creeps?
Let me thinkā¦ well, itās my favorite comic book flick of all time. Being proudly inspired by 50s EC Comics, I feel it fits into the category, but your mileage might vary on that. Just know Iām prepared to die on this hill.
Also, itās by far my favorite Romero movie. The amount of creativity that went into making this film feel like a comic is nothing short of great. Chefās kiss. Just perfect.
Abusive zombie dads wanting sweetbreads, space weeds, love-triangle beach fun, fluffy crate monsters, and roaches (LOTS of āem); all these tales the Creep canāt wait to share with you!
Turns out, when you have George Romero, Stephen King, and Tom Savini go full throttle on some of the campiest, spookiest horror this side of the afterlife, fun stuff gets made. Who wouldāve thought? I think itās neat seeing Romero doing a less-serious project as opposed to his normal dower social commentary.
Iām sure the reasons for this pairing are obvious, but I donāt want to assume, so Iāll lay it out. Theyāre both horror anthologies, theyāre both set around Halloween, and theyāre both filled with scares/gore/spooky cheer! You really canāt go wrong with this combo.
Check out digitally here, or physically here.
2. Tales of Halloween (2015)
āTen stories are woven together by their shared theme of Halloween night in an American suburb, where ghouls, imps, aliens and axe murderers appear for one night only to terrorize unsuspecting residents.ā ā via IMDB.
Look, Iām not going to sit here and speak the praises for Tales of Halloween. Itās not an āunsung gem of the genreā, or some kind of āso-bad-itās-good treasureā. Hell, itās not even one of the best Halloween flicks out there. But damn if itās not fun.
Not every story is a banger, but that doesnāt even matter due to just how much the feeling of the holiday permeates from it. The Halloween spirit completely possesses this film, and it doesnāt ever get exorcised, not even for a second. Itās refreshing!
A lot of fun concepts are presented here, ranging from evil neighbor-grandpa Satan, to evil baby-fever witch, to even evil man-eating pumpkins. There’s a whole lot of evil in this package, let me tell you. Thereās also a fun riff on the slasher genre involving aliens, starting as Friday the 13th before becoming Evil Dead 2.
Some familiar faces of horror show up here. Well, faces and a voice. Adrienne Barbeau lends her iconic vocals as the filmās narrator, with appearances from such genre-veterans as John Landis, Tiffany Shepis, Alex Essoe, Lin Shaye, Barbara Crampton, Mick Garris, Stuart Gordan (heāll be forever missed), Pollyanna McIntosh āyou can break for coffee if you need, itās a long listā Felissa Rose, Adam Green, Nick Principe, Pat Healy, John Savage (of Carnosaur 2 fame), Greg McLean, and Joe Dante. If you really like cameos and are well-versed in horror culture, youāre going to love this one.
As I said before, none of the tales are the ābest-thing-everā, but thereās more than enough charm to carry the film through. It just feels like Halloween, you know?
Other than the shared Halloween theme, this flick compliments Trick ār Treat as they both have heart! The love of Samhain embraces each entry, and you can feel it pulse through their warm candy-filled veins. The only difference between them is budget and Trick ār Treat is a tad more creative.
Check it out digitally here, or physically here.
3. Tales From The Darkside: The Movie (1990)
āA young boy tells three stories of horror to distract a witch who plans to eat him.ā ā via IMDB.
Also known as the āreal Creepshow 3ā. I want to banish that other one from my mind, but one is doomed to repeat history by forgetting it, so Iāll shoulder that burden.
That being said, none of Creepshowās direction can really be found here. I know, I sound contradictory, but let me explain myself. You see, unlike Creepshow, this one follows a storybook approach as opposed to the comic-book-style of its predecessor. This is interesting, given that the show this film branched off from, while not following the format either, still felt very EC comics-ish. Itās not a bad thing, just a curious thing.
Where this movie does follow in Creepshowās footsteps is adapting Stephen King and keeping the tongue-in-cheekiness. Each story is genuinely fun, getting more imaginative as it goes on. From an auction-bought mummy, to killer cats from Hell, to one of the most heartbreaking romantic tragedies Iāve seen. Werenāt expecting that, were you? Itās true, though!
While not necessarily a Halloween flick, I do feel the filmās overall attitude meshes pretty well with that of Trick ār Treatā¦ that attitude being a healthy respect for well-deserved comeuppances and bloodthirsty devils.
You can watch it digitally here, or physically here.
4. V/H/S/94 (2021)
āA police S.W.A.T. team investigates about a mysterious VHS tape and discovers a sinister cult that has pre-recorded material which uncovers a nightmarish conspiracy.ā ā via IMDB.
The V/H/S franchise is a peculiar thing, isnāt it? I mean, it was just a little anthology film by a group of indie horror creators that blew up immensely in popularity, garnering a pretty dedicated fanbase that speaks its praises regularly. I think the sole reason for that is its first story (“Amateur Night”) because the rest of the film pales in comparison. Following that, we received the just-as-good V/H/S 2, then the not-just-as-good V/H/S Viral, ending the series on a relative whimper. Or so we thought.
Turns out, Shudder wasnāt happy with all that and took it upon themselves to right this perceived wrong! At least, thatās the heroic interpretation Iām telling myself. Iām sure it was just a solid business move or something. In any case, this is my personal favorite out of the series.
This is entirely personal preference, of course, given that unlike the last films, this one solely focuses on practical FX monsters and generous amounts of gore, which are two of my favorite things! Not only that, but the FX presented here are actually decent for the most part, which is good news for us gorehounds.
You want a sewer rat god cult? You got it! A dismembered corpse shambling around a wake? Sure! Mad science body-horror cyborgs? Say no more! An exploding rabbit? An odd request, but if you insist!
Some of the narratives are better than others, but I wouldnāt say thereās a bad one here. They all have good-sized runtimes, get straight to the point (for the most part), and are fun times to be had for those that like creature-romps.
Pairing this up with Trick ār Treat seems like a good choice, I think. Both have a fixation on ghoulish fiends that tend to have a habit of ripping through people like a candy wrapper. Seems appropriate, no?
Watch it digitally on Shudder. No word on a physical release yet.
Happy Halloween! Please, for your olā pal Giallo, be safe out there! Whether youāre out for treats or preparing for tricks, be sure to watch the dark corners, respect the jack-o-lanterns, and if you hear a distant howling, tell yourself that itās just a dog.
Until next timeā¦
Ciao, friends!
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