Trick ‘r Treat’s Rise To Cult Classic Status

TRICK ‘R TREAT
Around Halloween time, horror fans begin to revisit their favorite slasher franchises in search of a scare. And the popular names all start to surface: HALLOWEEN, FRIDAY THE 13TH, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, THE CONJURING – classic horror series that have numerous chapters within them to keep you on the edge of your seat. But any time that a horror veteran asks for a recommendation that’s off the beaten path and under the radar, those in the know recommend TRICK ‘R TREAT… and the good news is, it’s coming to AMC Theatres this October as part of our AMC Thrills & Chills program.
You might have heard about TRICK ‘R TREAT. The horror cult classic has been around since 2007, when writer-director Michael Dougherty introduced this anthology of short horror stories that were loosely connected around one character named Sam, a child in footie pajamas who appears every time that another character in the movie breaks a Halloween tradition. The thing about TRICK ‘R TREAT, though, is that it never got a traditional theatrical release, because the studio behind it didn’t fully believe in it.
“Even after we got like a fat stack of great reviews from (press) screenings, it still couldn't convince certain folks at Warner Brothers to give it a second chance. For whatever reason, it was just a weird little feathered fish of a movie,” Dougherty said when he appeared on CinemaBlend’s official ReelBlend podcast. “According to the wizards gazing into their movie crystal balls, this movie didn't have a chance in the marketplace.”
So Dougherty hit the film festival circuit, screening TRICK ‘R TREAT to audiences in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Every time the movie screened, it earned raves from the gathered crowds.
“There was never a bad festival screening. Ever,” Dougherty said. “It was always the same tidal wave of positive reactions. And so in my gut, and I think at Legendary (Pictures), we knew that if we got a theatrical release that would only continue to snowball, that it would build from there. . . . There was another screening just before the home video release at Comic-Con, where I think we did a Hall H screening, and it was packed. Completely sold out. And that was like a rock concert, to watch a movie with thousands of people. It's very different than watching a movie with just a few hundred in a multiplex theatre. From there it just felt support grow even more. And so when it finally came out on home video and, you know, physical copies were selling out at Best Buy the first weekend, I think we all knew then that we had something.”
Which is exactly why AMC Theatres thinks that now is the right time to bring Michael Dougherty’s TRICK ‘R TREAT to theatres, in celebration of Halloween. The movie that has thrived on word of mouth and successful festival screenings is the ideal addition to the AMC Thrills & Chills program, where horror fans can come and get their fright fix.
Make sure that you have tickets to see TRICK ‘R TREAT at an AMC Theatres near you. The movie begins screening on October 21 and will be available in theatres until October 27. And you can listen to the full interview with Michael Dougherty on CinemaBlend's ReelBlend podcast below.
TRICK ‘R TREAT