Trick or Treat tells five interwoven stories all staged in a small town on the eve of Halloween. A high school principal leads a secret life as a serial killer. One couple learns to respect Halloween tradition at the cost of losing their lives.
Several pranksters attempting to play a trick that goes just a little too far. A cranky old man refuses to get involved in any Halloween celebration and is attacked by a revenging ghost. All this at the same time as a group of female wolverines set off on a hunt for men……
The fundamental ingredient of a horror movie is suspense. But it's all too often after waiting in tense anticipation for almost two hours one is served a climax that is disappointing to say the least.
It's like the news anchor that tantalises you with a piece of sensational news only to reveal that nobody was hurt in the major car accident.
But the masterful Trick or Treat breaks this spell. Even though the film repeatedly switches narrative at the tensest of moments, one is continuously fed information scrap by scrap to keep you hungry for more until the final scene, which truly does feel like discovering the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle.
Tension is magnified through some exquisite cinematography depicting the beautifully eerie local streets, dark dilapidated houses, an abandoned quarry and courtyards lit by Jack O'Lanterns.
But wait! There is more to it than that. This movie is not designed merely to frighten you . It mischievously reminds us of the origin and traditions of this hundred-year-old festival, which all too often simply seems like an excuse to party or sell costumes and sweets. This movie actually educates its audience about the festival and how Halloween has become such an alluring event.
I can't help but imagine that if China someday produced a Spring-Festival-themed thriller in the same fashion by bringing a monster such as Nian back to life as a way of informing people of the history of the event, I would be more than willing to go and review the film.
I give Trick or Treat 7.5 out of 10. And it is not a trick but a nice treat.
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