Trick 'r Treat DVD cover

Now that the month of October is upon us, two traditions follow suit - the chill of Autumn and horror movies leading into Halloween. The stores have the candy and costumes on sale, and most film blogs are doing their 'Best of' Countdown to the 31st.

If you're a Halloween/horror fan, you may get the sense that things are not quite the same as they used to be. Kids rarely trick or treat anymore without parental supervision, and usually not after the sun goes down; and horror movie listings tend to feature the same old thing... not that there's anything wrong with that, but we've all seen the favorites umpteen times, and all the old chestnuts fired up in the DVD player... and if you want something newer, you have the choice of lame remakes of films that didn't need the 'reboot' treatment, or the newest edition of the 'Saw' franchise, or some other lame piece of garbage that couldn't even make it to home video -  it got picked to show on the SyFy Channel! Not to say that there isn't quality horror film fodder out there - it's just harder to find.

Well, finally, there's something out there to spice up the Halloween film ritual - Trick 'r Treat, released today on home video, just in time for the Halloween crowd. This film has had a long history; intended to be released in 2007, it was held from theatrical release for whatever reason, and only screened at festivals - where it got huge buzz from those lucky enough to see it.

I can say that the buzz was worth it - and can curse the pinheads who, for whatever reason, didn't see fit to put this in the movie theaters NOW. Because to those who look at the present state of horror film and (yet again) proclaim it Over and Dead, something like Trick 'r Treat rises up out of the grave, and assuredly proclaims, "It Ain't Over Yet."

Trick 'r Treat takes place on Halloween Night in a town in mid-western Ohio, following several characters who, in an inverse of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, come to learn the true spirit of Halloween. It's not an anthology like Creepshow, although there are 5 stories that occur - and that's about as much as I can say without giving away too much.

Writer/Director Mark Doughtery has fashioned a Halloween film that doesn't insult the intelligence of the audience, with solid performances from its cast (featuring Dylan Baker, Brian Cox and True Blood's Anna Paquin). It's not ground-breaking, but it's solid in its intentions to scare the crap out of the audience.

No psycho-killers, no twenty-somethings being torture-porned, no overblown effects overcompensating for a less than stellar story - Trick 'r Treat is a breath of cold fresh air, all the better to send that chill down your spine, and I suspect it'll be joining that list of Halloween Classics by next year.