Trick or Treats (1982)

Absolutely Brilliant!

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

TRICK OR TREATS is a deservedly forgotten comedy horror film from 1982 that attempts to spoof HALLOWEEN but does so in perhaps the least funny way ever. The story is about a struggling blonde actress who takes on a one-night job as a babysitter to one of the most annoying brats you'll have seen in a while. Most of the screen time is made up with the endless repetitive pranks that the kid plays on said babysitter; they lose steam after about five minutes. A sub-plot involves a maniac escaping from a mental asylum, but this never really goes anywhere and is tied off in a 30 second scene. Mild interest is raised by the presence of familiar faces in supporting roles (including David Carradine, Carrie Snodgress, and Steve Railsback) but very little is made of them and overall this is a chore to sit through.

Directed by Gary Graver, whose IMDb page is veritably packed with films like Sorceress, Sorceress II: The Temptress, Mortuary and Femalien II, this film concerns a babysitter, who is stuck watching a kid on Halloween while her boyfriend is in a play. Christopher, the babysittee, is a total asshole. I mean that — in a world of annoying horror movie children, he may be the most horrible ever. He keeps acting like he's cut himself or killed himself and she keeps finding him, cries and then he yells "trick or treat" and runs away.Meanwhile, the kid's dad, Malcolm (Peter Jason from They Live, In the Mouths of Madness and Prince of Darkness) was put into a mental asylum by the mother (Carrie Snodgrass, who allowed the production to use her home) years ago. He's broken out and is coming home to kill her. Except she's out with her new husband, Richard (David Carradine!) and only checking in via phone calls.Speaking of phone calls, Malcolm keeps calling home with threats.Oh yeah. Steve Railsback is the boyfriend. Paul Bartel shows up as a bum and literally chews up the entire scene that he is in. There's a movie within a movie that the babysitter's friend is editing. And Orson Welles is credited as the magic consultant.There is not a single likable person in this film. I wanted the kid to die literally from the minute he appeared on screen. The killer isn't particularly fearsome. And the tagline "…when Halloween night stopped being fun!" doesn't promise much.But I still find stuff to love in it, like the interstitial answering of the trick or treat door, hoping that something big is going to happen. And the movie within a movie's speech about transcendental meditation made me laugh.Read more at https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/10/12/trick-or-treats-1982/

Its tag-line "when Halloween night stopped being fun" speaks volumes about this dreaded film because I can't really see anyone finding any enjoyment in watching this trash. I had never watched this film until now and to be honest never even heard anyone talk about it so I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into.The premise of the film is great with a perfect 80's VHS-cover a plot about an escaped mental patient about to seek vengeance on his family (not original but has worked before) and appearances by one of my favorite b-movie action-heroes David Carradine. But then I made the mistake of watching the actual movie and boy oh boy was I let down.The film starts of as a weird family drama and soon then later turns into some weird comedy about a boy playing pranks on his stupid babysitter. This goes on for an hour or something and when the horror actually starts you don't care and actually want the cast to get killed so the dreaded thing can be over with.The cast is set up of somewhat skilled actors but Gary Graver seems to have gone out of his way to create characters that nobody can like. The kid is an evil little brat that speaks with a freaky baby-voice, his mother is an egotistical and evil bitch and the babysitter seems to have the IQ of a donkey. To be honest the only lovable character in the whole film is the deranged father that's doing all the killings. Was this intentional or just poorly written? The only enjoyments one can get out of it is by watching it as a vigilante film and actually cheer for the killer as he gets back on society and the bastards who locked him up. But even then you'll probably spend half the movie hitting the fast forward button.

I'm not sure why this movie is titled "Trick or Treats" instead of "Trick of Treat," but the filmmakers obviously didn't put much thought into the title — or the rest of the film, for that matter. They could have named it "Halloween," but of course, that title was taken. Then again, the "Halloween" plot was taken also, but that didn't stop the filmmakers from lifting that.The plot involves a young woman babysitting for a practical joker on Halloween. The boy's father has escaped from a mental institution and returns home to terrorize his ex-wife, who committed him. Are the strange noises and phone calls to the babysitter the result of a crazed lunatic, or just the 10-year-old's pranks? Does the mental patient even realize his ex-wife is out for the evening? Do we care?The film has absolutely no suspense, the scenes are disjointed and choppy, and the performances are uniformly bad. Even Steve Railsback, normally a commanding presence in B-movies, phones in his performance — literally. This cheap "Trick" has nothing to distinguish it from the crowded field of forgettable '80s slasher flicks. Like the rotten apple at the bottom of a Halloween candy bag, "Trick or Treats" is best trashed and forgotten.