Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Trick 'r Treat Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 4, 2018

When is a portmanteau not a portmanteau? Well, one answer might be “when it’s Trick ‘r Treat”, the enjoyable “anthology” outing from 2007 that, like a resurrected zombie schoolchild, is back for another go around on Blu-ray after two previous Blu-ray releases from Warner Brothers. The horror anthology has been a staple of films at least from the days of Dead of Night back in the 1940s, but perhaps attained its current standing courtesy of a bunch of sixties efforts from the likes of Amicus. Michael Dougherty, the writer-director of Trick ‘r Treat, takes the basic concept of an anthology or portmanteau, namely a series of “episodes” tied together in some way for a unified film experience, and tweaks it slightly by having a timeline that is kind of a pretzel or Boolean loop, and by also having each of the “independent” stories intersect with each other in various ways. The result is an appealing and undeniably spooky feeling enterprise, one that introduces “Sam”, a weird little tyke wearing a footie one piece pajama outfit, whose head is completely covered in burlap. Sam wanders in and out of the stories, wreaking havoc on those who don’t celebrate Halloween “properly”.

Since Trick 'r Treat has had a previous release and Blu-ray review on this site, I won't repeat another plot summary, and instead refer you to my colleague Ken Brown's Trick 'r Treat Blu-ray review. It looks like Warner re-released the film on Blu-ray in 2015 which didn't receive a review here, but I'm assuming it was simply a repackaging (if anyone knows differently, message me and I'll update the review).

Trick 'r Treat Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Trick 'r Treat is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Shout!'s press sheet accompanying this release touts a new 2K scan without specifying the source, but as I tend to do with my reviews of previously released titles, I've tried to come close to duplicating some of the screenshots Ken included with his review so that those interested can do side by side comparisons. My following comments are made with the admission I don't currently have either of the Warner releases and so can't do a "live" side by side comparison, though I have seen the first Warner release. A cursory comparison of screenshots indicates that both color timing and brightness are slightly different between the two releases, and there are some moments on this release that looked slightly more pink(ish) to my eyes than the Warner release (compare, for example screenshot 4 of this review with screenshot 2 of the old review). The original Warner release can look slightly brighter at times (contrast both of the first screenshots), and the palette on the Scream looks (again slightly) cooler to me at times despite the at least occasional predominance of pink tones. Fine detail is very good to excellent throughout this presentation, with elements like the almost palpable looking burlap on Sam's head looking precise. While there are no obvious signs of aggressive digital tweaking in terms of either DNR or edge enhancement, there are occasional compression issues where grain can look just slightly splotchy at times. These do tend to crop up expectedly in some of the darker moments, but aren't consigned solely to those moments.

Trick 'r Treat Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Trick 'r Treat features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 mixes, while the old Warner release sported a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track and no stereo offering. Both tracks offer excellent fidelity and rather wide dynamic range, but the surround track significantly opens up the placement of ambient environmental effects (as might be predictable, a lot of the film takes place outside during Halloween festivities) and perhaps especially with regard to Douglas Pipes' rather evocative score. As Ken noted in his review of the Warner release, things tend to be a bit front heavy quite a bit of the time, but there is engagement of the side and rear channels in some notable moments (outdoor scenes with revelers, the big schoolbus sequence), and Pipes' score resides quite winningly in the surround channels. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly and there are no problems with regard to age related wear and tear, distortion or other damage.

Trick 'r Treat Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Shout! has ported over several pre-existing supplements from previous releases, while also upping the ante with some new bonus content. I've put an asterisk (*) after titles Shout! is explicitly advertising as new, though some that are apparently new aren't listed as such and so I'm mentioning those separately without an asterisk:

• Tales of Folklore and Fright* (1080p; 16);05 features writer/director Michael Dougherty and others discussing the genesis of the project, including Dougherty's short Seasons Greetings (included on this release as a separate supplement, see below).


• Tales of Mischief and Mayhem (1080p; 19:46) is subtitled "Filming Trick 'r Treat" and gets into some of the work in Vancouver, BC. This isn't listed as new (in fact, it's not even listed on either the back cover or the slipcover for this release), but it doesn't look like it was on the previous Warner Blu-ray release, at least according to Ken's Trick 'r Treat Blu-ray review.


• Sounds of Shock and Superstition* (1080p; 11:10) focuses on the contributions of composer Douglas Pipes.


• Tales of Dread and Despair (1080p; 7:23) features Dougherty speaking to some of the marketing difficulties the film encountered. This is another supplement that isn't even listed on the cover, but which doesn't look like it was part of the previous Warner release.


• Season's Greetings (1080p; 3:54) is the appealing short that Dougherty hand animated as a student filmmaker and which provided a spark for Trick 'r Treat. An optional commentary by Dougherty is available. Note that the short is presented in high definition here, whereas it looks like it had a standard definition presentation on the previous Warner Blu-ray release.


• Trick 'r Treat: The Lore and Legends of Halloween (1080p; 27:26) is a surprisingly engaging history of the holiday. Note that this is another supplement which is presented in high definition on this release that looks like it had a standard definition presentation on the previous Warner Blu-ray release.


• School Bus FX Comparison (1080p; 1:13) features side by side looks at the CGI being developed. This is another supplement presented in high definition here that looks like it was presented in standard definition on the old release.


• Additional Scenes (1080p; 17:13) also have optional commentary by Dougherty. Once again, this release offers these in high definition rather than the standard definition presentation of the previous release.


• Storyboard and Conceptual Artwork Gallery (1080p; 19:13) features a nice array of visuals. This is another supplement only generically referred to on the packaging for this release which doesn't look like it was part of the previous release.


• Behind the Scenes Still Gallery (1080p; 13:11) is another fun set of images. This defaults to auto advance (hence the timing), but you can chapter skip ahead if you want. This is another gallery kind of generically referred to on the packaging which doesn't look like it was part of the previous release.


• Comic Book Gallery (1080p; 8:37) features a 34 page comic book. Once again, this is authored to advance automatically (with significant pauses on each set of pages so that dialogue balloons can be read), but you can chapter skip ahead if you choose. You may actually want to have your pause button handy instead so that you can finish reading. As with the other galleries, this doesn't get a "new" identifier on the packaging, but doesn't look like it was part of the previous release.


• Fear.net Shorts (1080p; 9:10 and 3:47) offers some pieces from the web based horror entity. Again, these fail to be even listed on the packaging for this release, but don't look like they were part of the previous release.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080i; 2:27)


• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Michael Dougherty actually also includes conceptual artist Breehn Burns, storyboard artist Simeon Wilkins and composer Douglas Pipes. This can be found in the Setup Menu.

Trick 'r Treat Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Trick 'r Treat rather smartly reinvents the venerable "horror anthology", and even if its intersecting stories may not make perfect sense in terms of an understandable chronology, most of the vignettes here have a definite "creepy" factor, and Dougherty's writing and direction are more often than not smart and enjoyable. Shout!'s technical presentation seems the equal more or less to the Warner release, with some minor variances that those interested can perhaps glean from comparing screenshots, but the supplemental package on this release is outstanding and may tip the scales in favor of this version for those who don't already own the title. Recommended.