In the late 70s and early 80s a new genre was born. Perhaps
I should say was reinvigorated when it was took a horror genre that had been
used in the past and added the new concept of gore to the idea. That genre was the
slasher film. It kicked off with Michael Myers and then Jason Voorhees but it
wasn’t long before a slew of other maniacal characters were added to the list
all with the hope of creating a new franchise that would bring teens flocking
to theaters. Some did just that but most failed.
This glut of releases eventually hit the point where
audiences lost interest and their output slowed down considerably. But for
pre-teens who only found out about the genre via their weekly visits to mom and
pop video stores they were forbidden fruit that they went back to discover.
Those kids grew up to be adults who were beginning to work in the film business
and they began to bring back those films in two ways. One was the obvious
remake of those films. The other was an attempt to catch lightning in a bottle
once again by creating new movies in the genre. TRICK is one of the latter.
Beginning in 2015 in the town of Benton, New York, a
Halloween party is taking place. Not a little kid party but an alcohol induced
high school teen party. Playing a version of spin the bottle using a knife with
the words “Trick or treat” written on it. When spun by senior Patrick
"Trick" Weaver (Thom Niemann) it lands on another boy and the teens
egg him on to kiss him. Instead he takes the knife and stabs the boy and begins
killing other as well until subdued by one of the teens.
The scene moves to the hospital where Det. Mike Denver (Omar
Epps) and Sheriff Lisa Jayne (Ellen Adair) are investigating the crime. Trick
is still wearing his mask and when taken off his face is covered in matching
make-up. When they go to remove it, he flies into a rage, escapes his handcuffs
and begins killing those in his way with surgical equipment he grabs along the
way. Chasing him down the hall the two officers shoot him and he falls out of
the window several stories to the ground. When they get outside they find the
body missing and follow a trail of blood to the nearby docks. Everyone assumes
“Trick” is now dead, washed away. When they investigate his life they find his
address was a dockyard and he had no parents. Then his mask disappears from
evidence.
Each year after that on Halloween night someone in a town
long that same river Trick fell into dies. And Det. Denver follows the bodies
thinking that perhaps there was some way that Trick survived not just being
shot multiple times but falling several stories and plunging into the frozen
water of the river as well. Most think he’s crazy but Denver still searches for
Trick. During one of those investigations Denver watches as two other agents
are killed by Trick in the goriest fashion possible. He swears he will stop him
at all costs.
It is now 2019 and Halloween is in full swing in Benton. A
new murder finds the word “DENVER” left on one of the bodies. Denver sees Trick
and chases him through a graveyard before losing him. A note appears that lures
a deputy to the barge Trick lived where she is killed. Denver and Jayne know
something is going on but they’re not sure what. As teens celebrate the holiday
by attending a screening of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and walking through a
haunted maze, little do they know that Trick is there and ready to strike once
again.
His targets are the kids he didn’t finish with that first
night long ago. The only thing standing in his way are Denver and Jayne. And as
they look deeper into what took place that night they find out that more
happened than they were aware of. The question is how do you stop a killer who
was able to survive all that should have killed him?
That is actually a bare boned description of the film. It is
fleshed out with a number of well-done gore effects and some stand out acting
by all involved. In addition to that it provides a new killer for a new age, a
boogeyman that seems unstoppable that we haven’t seen in a while. It is the
other end of the spectrum from Adam Green’s HATCHET films in that this killer
is more urban and motivated than Green’s backwoods killer. Both come from those
films of the 70s/80s and pay tribute to those earlier films.
There will be some who will fault this film by comparing it
directly with those earlier ones. To those people I say stop and watch the film
and forget those from the past. Judge this one on its own faults and merits but
let the past stay in the past. Director Patrick Lussier (who gave us the remake
of MY BLOODY VALENTINE and DRIVE ANGRY) has done a solid job here keeping the
viewer guessing as to what will happen next and questioning how this killer can
accomplish the things he does, from surviving early in the film to being able
to outmaneuver the police. It is an original story that deserved to play in
more theaters when released and should be discovered now on disc.
As a fan of horror films I know I’ll be watching this one
again. That doesn’t happen often with me these days. It provided enough
nostalgic appeal to me while at the same time being a movie unto itself. For
those two reasons alone I would suggest you enjoy this one more than once.
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