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The Month of Horror Day 19: Trick 'r Treat

Basement contributor Matt Bellamy has taken it upon himself to watch and review at least one horror movie a day for the month of October . . . because he's awesome that way! For this installment he revisits one of the best seasonal anthologies ever put on film. No bullshit. 

Why this film was shelved for as long as it was and why it hasn't developed the cult following that it deserves is beyond me because this, to me, is a modern horror classic. There simply are not enough movies within the genre that deal directly with Halloween and it's kind of sad because there are a wealth of stories that I'm sure have yet to be told revolving around the day of ghouls, ghosts, and tricking and treating-- come on writers, start digging at this gold mine!

The film is split into three separate stories, anthology style, that subtly intertwine along the way. Those stories include why it's always important to check your candy before eating any, the dangers of bullying and pulling pranks, why accepting invites by hot women to the woods is a bad idea, and lastly, don't be that person who turns their lights off and avoids decorating to keep the trick or treaters away! I love that every frame of this flick oozes Halloween atmosphere and I swear you can almost smell the jack o lanterns, their candles burning brightly, right through your screen.

I strongly urge you to track this down if you want to see an honestly fun horror movie that is strictly all about Halloween and many of the urban legends that surround it. Yes, there are sickos that have tampered with candy before and that is most definitely NOT cool so consider this film a public service announcement at times, too! I'll be watching this again on the big day, at this point it would almost seem wrong not to.



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