Trick R Treat Screening in Toronto

I was sure I'd have to wait for Trick R Treat to be released on DVD in October before I saw it. I'd come to terms with it.

I'd accepted the fact I'd be missing the screening at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, one of the few North American festivals that were showing the film to the public.

But life has a funny way of opening and shutting doors, and without going into the details of how it came to be, I found myself with two tickets and a window of time where I was well enough to go down to the theatre. The only thing between me and the movie was a tornado warning and a monsoon of a thunderstorm.

Yetch and I watched the walls of rain sweep in sideways from the safety of the porch, waiting for a break in the weather so we could head down to the theatre. Weird to think we were plotting our trek while all across the city power outages and fallen trees were making travel difficult (and homes just north of the city were having their roofs blown off, and cars were overturned on the highway).

I was suddenly determined to see this movie.

A break in the storm and we were off. Avoiding the intersections with blinking street lights, we made it easily to the theatre and lined up along a side street where all the houses were without power.

Once inside, we discovered the theatre had not escaped completely unscathed. During the previous movie, the projector failed. The good news was they fixed it. The bad news was the circuit that ran the air conditioner was out. The theatre was one big sweat lodge filled with hundreds of people.

But we all stayed. Yetch and I made fans out of the sheets of paper in my purse. And the theatre did finally get the a/c working, but there was too many of us in that cramped space for it to do any good.

The Movie:

I had avoided all the spoilers online, so I didn't have any expectations of what was to come (even with the built up anticipation). And I must say, the movie was great.

It was a perfect balance of horror and humour, reminiscent of Twilight Zone: The Movie (Yetch said it reminded him more of Creepshow). Four short stories (and yes, actual stories with plot points instead of random slashing), all individual but weaved together smoothly into a single timeline.

What struck me the most was that this was a movie not just for horror fans, but for people who love Halloweeen. And it's that quality that won me over.

If you like smart horror films that tell a story, that entertain you with intelligent writing, that you could watch as a Halloween tradition each year, you'll love this film.

Michael Dougherty: Writer and Director

After the screening, Michael Dougherty did a question and answer session. He talked about how the movie came to be (seen here in clip 1), but more interesting was when someone finally asked the question we were all waiting for: what took so long for this to be available?

You can see the entire answer here in clip 3 of the Q & A at about the 1:15 point. But essentially Dougherty had this to say (I'm posting the highlights):

Honestly, I don't really know, except for the fact that it's a weird, fucked up movie. It's not five 25-year-olds playing 17-year-olds going out into the woods and getting killed. It's not a remake. It's not a sequel. It's not a prequel. And right now that's the only thing Hollywood wants to make. It's horrible...You will pitch something and they ask 'What's this based on?'

He goes on to say if we want more original films, we have to speak up against the remakes.

I spoke briefly with him on the street outside of the pub across from the theatre (away from the crowds waiting upstairs - he'd invited everyone to come get drunk. I was feeling ok, but not well enough for that). After thanking him for making an original movie, I said to him that obviously the big wigs weren't on twitter or the horror sites where fans are crying out against the remakes. That the fan base he's talking to were speaking out but no one is currently listening.

He suggested people go to Amazon.com to write a review for the movie, to which I smiled, rolled my eyes a little and shrugged but said "For you and your movie? Ok". But it just goes to show that not even the people who make the movies know how to stop the remake machine. Plus, he and a small group had just had a quick, private powwow in the shadows of the side street where I am sure they were doing more than just recapping how the night went *cough cough*. How could I expect him in his giddiness to come up with the perfect solution on the spot?

Besides, he was nice enough to sign my ticket stub.