Trick or Treats (1982) - Code Red - LESS THAN 250 COPIES REMAIN

[rdodolak]

Spine # 39

Available exclusively at Screen Archives Entertainment (SAE)

TRICK OR TREATS (1982 / Limited Edition of 1,050)

Five years after his wife, Joan (Carrie Snodgress, THE FURY), had him wrongfully and deliberately committed to a mental institution so she could live with her boyfriend (David Carradine, KILL BILL, TV's KUNG-FU), Malcolm (Peter Jason, 48HRS) escapes on Halloween night and arrives back at his old house to murder her, except Joan is not home but she's out with her boyfriend while babysitter Linda (Jacqueline Giroux, THIS IS HIJACK) is looking after Malcolm's 10-year-old son Christopher (Chris Graver), an equally psychotic and demented practical joker until, under cover of darkness, Malcolm shows up and planning on making a visit. Steve Railsback (STUNT MAN, LIFEFORCE), Paul Bartel (EATING RAOUL), Jillian Kesner (RAW FORCE), John Blyth Barrymore Football great Dan Pastorini and Tim Rossovich co-star. Written, produced & director by the late Gary Graver! Magical advisory by Orson Welles!!!

FUN BLU-RAY EXTRAS:

• Brand New HiDef master from the original 35mm camera negatives!
• Audio commentary with stars Jackie Giroux, Peter Jason, Chris Graver, Cinematographer R. Michael Stringer, moderated by Sean Graver
• Audio interview with Steve Railsback

Trick or Treats trailer 1982 - YouTube

[rdodolak]

[doug2k4]

I could be wrong, but if memory serves me correctly, this was a great sleep-aid helper. Fair warning!

[slasherdisc]

I've got this one on order along with Sweet Sixteen, Looking forward to their arrival!

[demonknight]

This was dull as sin.

[dubious]

Originally Posted by demonknight

This was dull as sin.

I thought it was funny, in a big top pee-wee fashion.

Don't buy it if you only expect/want a slasher, it's more of camp comedy.

[brettxwt]

Originally Posted by dubious

Don't buy it if you only expect/want a slasher, it's more of camp comedy.

Exactly. It can barely even be considered a horror film. The fact that so many people are blind buying this is just insane, especially without even reading up on it or checking reviews or anything. It's the definition of an unsafe buy, the chances that you will even like this movie is extremely low. Don't be fooled by the awesome poster art thinking you've unearthed some rare slasher gem and definitely don't go in thinking you're going to get a movie like Halloween or any of the other top tier slasher films from the 80s..you will be sorely disappointed. I just can't see very many first time viewers liking this one a whole bunch, I strongly recommend people not to be swayed by the fact that it's Code Red or the extremely limited quantity of 1,050 copies. I'm really curious to know what people are honestly expecting from this movie going into seeing it for the first time..

Personally, it's always been one of my favorites. It is a bit of a guilty pleasure, by no means is it a great movie but there's some really good holiday atmosphere and it's wonderfully nostalgic. I remember having the old Vestron Video VHS as a kid in the mid to late 80s, and it was a Halloween favorite in my house for years. Granted, 3/4ths of the running time is just the bratty kid playing malicious mean spirited pranks on the babysitter, the body count is basically non existent and there's no blood or gore whatsoever like the awesome poster art suggests.

The Blu Ray itself is fantastic. The transfer is a bit all over the place, but that has more to do with the rather poor source elements than Code Red's doing. It is better than the DVD, but the DVD is not far behind..I believe they're both sourced from the same transfer..both the Blu and the DVD have the exact same back cover art and both boast a "Brand new HiDef master from the original 35MM camera negatives". It's almost ridiculous that a bottom end forgotten low budget film from 1982 has any right to look as good as it does!

[demonknight]

Originally Posted by dubious

I thought it was funny, in a big top pee-wee fashion.

Don't buy it if you only expect/want a slasher, it's more of camp comedy.

Didn't even watch it with any expectations. Watched it partially riffed, and it still sucked.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by CODE RED DVD

Screen Archives only has 231 TRICK OR TREATS Blu left. I am NEVER going to press anymore. Re-press flopped big time. want a collectable? Get this one

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

And here I was under the impression that CR releases sold poorly.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

And here I was under the impression that CR releases sold poorly.

800 copies sold in 9 months, he can retire in the Bahamas on that!

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

800 copies sold in 9 months, he can retire in the Bahamas on that!

Not only retire, he should be able to buy his own island.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

Not only retire, he should be able to buy his own island.

Personal taco truck and all!

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Personal taco truck and all!

Free tacos with every order!

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching my Code Red Blu-ray of Trick or Treats.

Trick.

This one belongs on the lower rungs somewhere, if I had to rank my horror collection, but it still has its fun moments. It looks like a much bigger production than I expected, and it's quite a good-looking film that comes across well on this Blu-ray.

Babe extraordinaire Jacqueline Giroux is tasked with babysitting a kid who turns out to be the most annoying trickster in the world. The funny thing is that, no matter how many times this kid fakes a death or jumps out at the babysitter, she falls for it. After the first three or four faked deaths or faked wounds, most of us would probably...well...start assuming that the kid was playing tricks. Meanwhile, the boy's father, who has been incarcerated in the funniest insane asylum on the entire planet, escapes and plans to come back to the home. Most of us who are well-versed in horror cinema will guess the ending of this film from many miles away, but it's still quite nice to experience.

The cast is quite interesting. Carrie Snodgress (Pale Rider) plays the kid's mother. David Carradine (a bunch of stuff that I like) stars as a stepfather who is...well...unique. The babysitter's blonde friend, whoever she is, is pretty hot.

Orson Welles himself worked on the film as a magic advisor. The magic tricks are the highlight of the film, so this is no surprise.

File under: Bad movie that I still enjoyed, and that I will still revisit at some point.

The Katarina's Bucket List extra is wonderful, as always, and the commentary is quite entertaining.

[redrunner97]

I hated this one the last time I watched it, a couple years ago on Halloween.

But revisiting it this Halloween, I appreciated its humor a bit more. Still not a great horror film, or a great comedy. But it fits with the Halloween season nicely, so I think it'll probably keep its place in my holiday rotation, maybe not every year though.

[xGrumpx]

I actually love this movie to bad I cant find a copy..