Today’s Prayer Focus

Trick 'r Treat

MPA Rating: R-Rating (MPA) for horror violence, some sexuality/nudity and language.
Moral Rating: Avoid—Not Recommended
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adults
Genre: Horror
Length: 1 hr. 22 min.
Year of Release: 2008
USA Release: October 10, 2008
DVD: October 6, 2009
Copyright, Warner Bros. Picturesclick photos to ENLARGE Copyright, Warner Bros. Pictures Copyright, Warner Bros. Pictures
Relevant Issues
Copyright, Warner Bros. Pictures

HALLOWEEN—Should Christians participate in the this holiday? Answer

What’s wrong with Halloween? Answer

About murder in the Bible

Death in the Bible

Final judgment

Who is SATAN, the enemy of God and all people? Answer

Is Satan A REAL PERSON that influences our world today? Is he affecting you? Answer

SATAN’S STRATEGY—What is one of Satan’s most successful strategies in dealing with followers of Christ? Answer

What are DEVILS and DEMONS in the Bible

What is the Occult?

The Occult—What does the Bible say about it?

BIBLICAL BURIAL SITES—Have the burial sites of any people in the Bible been found? Answer

Burial in the Bible

VIOLENCE—How does viewing violence in movies affect families? Answer

Copyright, Warner Bros. Pictures Copyright, Warner Bros. Pictures Copyright, Warner Bros. Pictures Copyright, Warner Bros. Pictures Copyright, Warner Bros. Pictures Copyright, Warner Bros. Pictures Copyright, Warner Bros. Pictures
Featuring Quinn Lord, Brian Cox, Dylan Baker, Leslie Bibb, Rochelle Aytes, Anna Paquin, Moneca Delain, Tahmoh Penikett, Lauren Lee Smith, Britt McKillip, Isabelle Deluce, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Alberto Ghisi, Samm Todd, Connor Christopher Levins, Juan Carlos Velis, Brett Kelly, Richard Harmon, Matt Anderson, Amy Esterle, Patrick Gilmore, Jesse Haddock, C. Ernst Harth, Ty Hill, T. Roy Kozuki, Laura Mennell, Caroline Redekopp, Stephane Savoie, Keanen Schnoor, Christine Willes, James Willson, Karen Worrod, Angela Besharah
Director Michael Dougherty
Producer Bryan Singer
Bad Hat Harry Productions, Legendary Pictures, Little Sam Films, Warner Bros. Pictures, Michael Dougherty, William Fay, Alex Garcia, Dan Harris, Jon Jashni, Peter Lhotka, Thomas Tull, Shayne Wilson
Distributor Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures. Trademark logo.Warner Bros. Pictures

“Poison, drowning, claw, or knife. So many ways to take a life.”

Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “It is said that Halloween is the night when the dead rise to walk among us and other unspeakable things roam free. The rituals of All Hallows Eve were devised to protect us from their evil mischief, and one small town is about to be taught a terrifying lesson that some traditions are best not forgotten. Nothing is what it seems when a suburban couple learns the dangers of blowing out a Jack-o-Lantern before midnight; four women cross paths with a costumed stalker at a local festival; a group of pranksters goes too far and discovers the horrifying truth buried in a local legend; and a cantankerous old hermit is visited by a strange trick-or-treater with a few bones to pick. Costumes and candy, ghouls and goblins, monsters and mayhem… the tricks and treats of Halloween turn deadly as strange creatures of every variety--human and otherwise--try to survive the scariest night of the year.

Five interwoven stories that occur on the same block, on the same night. A couple finds what happens when they blow a jack o' lantern out before midnight, a high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer, a college virgin might have met the right guy for her, a group of mean teens play a prank that they take too far, and a hermit is visited by a special trick or treater.”


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Negative
Negative—When this film first came out, it got a very limited release. Considering the content in this movie that is guaranteed to offend morally conscious people, it should have stayed that way. Now it has garnered attention as a cult favorite and even gotten a re-release in select theaters. That is a sad comment on American culture.

The most abhorrent scene in the movie is the planned murder of a group of children with vaguely defined disabilities, who eventually are killed, at the behest of their parents, who have grown weary of the burden of caring for them. This is a snide, grotesque attack on the importance of family values and will only amuse those who are truly depraved. This comes shortly after another child is murdered while out trick-or-treating and these horrible parents suffer no consequences.

There is also evidence of satanism in a couple of scenes. In one, women who have dressed in sexy costumes reveal themselves to be a demonic combination of werewolves and vampires, engaging in erotic dancing during some kind of supernatural ritual. They kill a man who certainly deserves it, but is an example of sexuality being used, not as an expression of love, but as a weapon, something that is present in radical liberal thinking and the supernatural elements in the scene is an evocation of evil. Another scene has a young girl going down an elevator into a surreal world to exact revenge on other youngsters who have played a prank on her. The prank is not particularly cruel and the mechanics of this episode is symbolic of hell offering her the means to accomplish her goal.

The filmmakers also offer information about the origins of Halloween, in a way that is meant to amuse, but also to legitimize the immoral direction the film is taking. I have seen this historical knowledge used to criticize and belittle Christianity, and can sometimes take root in the kind of evil weirdos you might see on one of those TV crime shows.

This film has nothing to recommend it. It isn’t scary, because the awful things that happen are presented in such a cavalier fashion that they are not scary. In other films, there is a more clearly defined morality where evil, in comparison to good, is something frightening. It is also not fun, like “Creepshow.” Is it fun to watch the shrewish wife and the nasty tycoon in that movie, both somewhat cartoonish portrayals, get their comeuppance by way of hideous creatures? Sure it is. Is watching the senseless killing of children fun? CERTAINLY NOT!

This movie is repulsive, callously presented violence and it’s weaselly contentiousness is to be avoided.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 2
Robert, age 60 (USA)