User reviews

This supposed horror spoof came to us courtesy of the legendary B movie cinematographer Gary Graver, here functioning as screenwriter, editor, D.P., and director. I can get that it's attempting to mock "Halloween" type films, but it seriously lacks any sort of wit, and Graver fails to make it particularly interesting, despite the magic angle. There's a number of familiar faces here, but they're mostly just picking up paychecks in brief special appearances (especially Steve Railsback, who you only ever see on the phone). Graver doesn't achieve any sort of tension, and some of the characters are beyond annoying. There are some guffaws to be had, but they're few and far between.

Top billed Jacqueline Giroux is clearly too old for her role, but is undeniably sexy as Linda, a struggling actress who agrees to take a babysitting gig because it will pay well. The kid in question is Christopher O'Keefe (who's played by Chris Graver, the real-life son of Gary G. and co-star Jillian Kesner), whose mother Joan (Carrie Snodgress) had her husband Malcolm (character actor Peter Jason, recognizable for his work with Walter Hill and John Carpenter) wrongly committed to an insane asylum. Joan has remarried, to a magician named Richard Adams (David Carradine), and Malcolm busts out of the asylum - disguised as a nurse - to wreak revenge on Joan. Meanwhile, Christopher spends the whole night terrorizing Linda with a series of macabre pranks.

If there's anything giving "Trick or Treats" any sort of stature, it's the fact that none other than Orson Welles, for whom Graver worked on Welles's later film projects, is credited as the "magic consultant". And these magic gags do manage to be mildly amusing. Otherwise, this is pretty blah stuff. Jason in drag is a sight to behold, in any event. Railsback and Carradine, who look like their scenes were filmed in a day or less, are utterly wasted in their roles. If you do watch, be sure to look for the following people in supporting roles and bits: delectable exploitation actress Kesner as Lindas' friend Andrea, football players Dan Pastorini and Tim Rossovich as attendants, Paul Bartel as a bum, John Blyth Barrymore (older half brother to Drew Barrymore) as a mad doctor in the movie-within-the-movie, Catherine E. Coulson (the Log Lady from 'Twin Peaks') as a nurse, and the director himself as a counterman. Giroux is somewhat appealing, but her character isn't particularly sympathetic because she falls for the kids' antics too many times, and the kid himself is extremely obnoxious. They definitely detract from whatever enjoyment the viewer might have.

If you must see it for completions' sake, be my guest, but don't get your hopes up very high.

Five out of 10.

this film is about linda an aspiring actress who goes to babysit on halloween night to babysit the kid is named chris who keeps pulling dark disturbing pranks on her a killer named malcom who is christophers real father comes over and terror happens the film is basically a clumsy mash up of fright 1971 halloween 1978 with a dash of nightmare 1981 i don't hate it but i don't love it either pros the final girl is likable even if she is dumb the acting is good halloween 1978 was good but it didn't feel like halloween this film has the halloween feel that film didn't have humorous at times cons poor lighting weak killer more comedy than horror low body count too many pranks and false scares i didn't like the end over oll you could at least see it once then buy a good movie but have this for a laugh at how chessy it is

Seriously????? I had to look at the IMDb category to make sure this wasn't a comedy. It's billed as horror. I knew from the opening scenes this one was gonna be an eye roller.

The problem is that it isn't funny in a good way. The movie suffers from bad acting (with no exceptions), too much padding, a bad script and bad lighting. Nuff said.

The babysitter is the worst case of a caretaker I've ever seen and the charge she's watching will start running your nerves in short order. She's quite inept for an older babysitter and its hard to feel anything for her but contempt.

Would I recommend? Nope.

A female baby-sitter is watching a young prankster on Halloween night.The kid's dad is a murdering lunatic who just happens to break out of an asylum that very night.Gary Graver's "Trick or Treats" is a badly-lit and incredibly boring "Halloween" clone with almost no horror elements at all.The plot makes little sense and is filled with several disjointed and out-of-place situations.I have also seen Gary Graver's "Moon in Scorpio" and it was equally as bad and pointless.The utter lack of blood and gore is hard to forgive as is the lack of suspense and scares.Overall,"Trick or Treats" is a complete waste of time.Watch "Halloween" again and don't bother with this piece of cow dung.

I'm not sure why this movie is titled "Trick or Treats" instead of "Trick of Treat," but the filmmakers obviously didn't put much thought into the title — or the rest of the film, for that matter. They could have named it "Halloween," but of course, that title was taken. Then again, the "Halloween" plot was taken also, but that didn't stop the filmmakers from lifting that.

The plot involves a young woman babysitting for a practical joker on Halloween. The boy's father has escaped from a mental institution and returns home to terrorize his ex-wife, who committed him. Are the strange noises and phone calls to the babysitter the result of a crazed lunatic, or just the 10-year-old's pranks? Does the mental patient even realize his ex-wife is out for the evening? Do we care?

The film has absolutely no suspense, the scenes are disjointed and choppy, and the performances are uniformly bad. Even Steve Railsback, normally a commanding presence in B-movies, phones in his performance — literally. This cheap "Trick" has nothing to distinguish it from the crowded field of forgettable '80s slasher flicks. Like the rotten apple at the bottom of a Halloween candy bag, "Trick or Treats" is best trashed and forgotten.

Apparently, if you're looking to take your other half out of the picture, all you need to do is call up the local nut-house, who will send round a couple of orderlies with a straitjacket to cart them away, no questions asked. That's what Joan (Carrie Snodgress) does to her husband Malcolm (Peter Jason) who spends the next four years in an asylum going genuinely crazy. Of course, there's always the danger that they might break out and go looking for a spot of revenge, which is precisely what Malcolm does, disguising himself as a female nurse to do so.

When Malcolm finally arrives home, his ex-wife isn't there, having gone partying with her new man Richard (David Carradine); instead, he makes do with terrorising her pretty babysitter Linda (Jacqueline Giroux), who is staying the night to look after chubby, magic-obsessed, practical joker Christopher (Chris Graver), quite possibly the most obnoxious little s**t to have ever appeared in a horror movie.

What sounds like standard '80s slasher nonsense feels like anything but, the entire cast clearly not taking matters very seriously (and who can blame them given the very silly script); unfortunately, despite what I can only presume are attempts at humour, the film is never funny enough to qualify as a comedy horror, and with zero scares or gore, no nudity, plus that really irritating kid grating on the nerves throughout, Trick or Treats manages to be an utter failure on practically every level. Even the utterly stupid, highly predictable 'shock' ending blows.

This is apparently one of two movies from the 1980's with this title, but don't be fooled by this title as this is incredibly boring, It took me a few attempts to watch this rubbish and I just couldn't get into it, the first time I switched off after about 20 minutes as I was bored and this went on again and again, until I finally caught the climatic ending, which wasn't all that to be honest.

The movie starts off with a man being whisked away to a mental hospital by the orderlies, for some apparent reason and the wife had him committed, then a couple of years later he escapes and heads back home to take revenge on his wife, whose gone out to a dinner party with her new husband and the only ones there are his son and the babysitter.

I did like the set up and the plot got me intrigued as it's similar to another movie that's one of my faves "Fright", but make no mistake this is nothing compared to that, as this fails to present any sort of tension whatsoever, instead the first hour of this is made up of the kid playing pranks on the babysitter, and despite the maniac lurking around and kills the odd person or two, it still doesn't deliver any scares or gore and I don't know whether this was meant to be a comedy horror of some sort, because some of the scenes are quite funny, it just doesn't seem settled on any sort of tone and despite some decent performances this still just doesn't deliver.

All in all just don't bother with this, it's just full of tricks and no treats whatsoever and it's a pretty dull and lame effort for everyone involved.

Trick Or Treats - 1982 ( This Films Rates a B- ) Its been over 20 years since I saw this film for the first time. This is my second viewing.

The opening scene shows a man being taken away in a straight jacket, dramatic fashion of course and his wife watches. Fast forward a few years on Halloween night. The wife and her new boyfriend leave for a party and gets a sitter for their practical joker kid. The kid likes to play with his homemade guillotine. He also likes to play pranks constantly and makes the sitter traumatized and insane. The deranged husband is in a mental hospital for 4 years. He eventually kills a psych nurse and escapes the hospital by dressing as a "man" nurse. The plan is to kill all those who were involved with his 4 year commitment to the mental hospital, but wants to start with his wife. Sadly its been four years and he cant quite remember what she looks like. Right away the acting is atrocious. The scenes at the mental institution are completely laughable. Plus, who uses a corded phone in the shower? There are some real awkward moments in this film; the stare down with the "step father" and son at the 22:30 mark, what kind of CPR is that at the 38:20 minute mark? How about the odd phone call interaction with the parents and the sitter at the 46:40 minute mark, The conversation at 54:30 about why people watch horror films followed by one of the silliest "movie" clips ever or the crazy and erotic doctor interview at the 59:00 minute mark. Vintage Halloween decorations aren't plentiful but those present are perfectly nostalgic. The posters on the walls and the brief shot of the horror record collection are truly fantastic. I also appreciate that this film takes place on Halloween night. The gore is pretty minimal and there are no T&A. Lets be honest. This film is so bad that its bad. Yet, somehow the charm wins me over. Plus, it has a fair amount of suspense that really works. I'd watch this one again.

Never even heard of this until last night, though I might have seen that kickass poster before. Sorry I missed this for the past 40 years this month, but glad I found it.

This little indie darling reminded me a ton of the prior year's The Pit, especially the ending. No spoiler, of course, but I will say those final killer moments definitely elevated the entire film.

Let me clarify, though. This is a weird movie and absolutely filled with flaws and plot holes. But I still had fun and since it was filmed adequately enough, I could survive all the issues.

A babysitter's two worst nightmares: a psycho stalker seeking revenge is on the loose and the kid she's babysitting isn't much better. I haven't seen the latest Home Alone travesty, Home Sweet Home Alone, but from all the clips, it seems they modelled that horrible new Home Alone "hero" kid after the boy in this movie. He is literally torturing the sexually dressed babysitter with numerous pranks and jokes.

I think the movie thinks it's also a comedy, aside from the horror this really is. There are some funny moments and jokes may or may not land with any given audience. It does have all the beats of the horror movies around that late 70s/early 80s timeframe, particularly the holiday horror subgenre. Yes, this one is set on Halloween.

It's not for everyone, but it's generic enough to reach most horror enthusiasts. I'm just shocked I've never heard of this and barely remember that incredible marketing. Recommended!

***

Final Thoughts: Right off the bat, I had to replace my 1st movie scheduled for October 2022. See, I plan out a list of horror movies to watch each day of October, every year, and this year's #1 pick was "Jeepers Creepers: Reborn." I was told it would be available on Prime - this was not the case. It's only in theatres and I didn't have THAT much of a desire to see it. So, that got shelved and I located this fun little movie instead.

This is one of the dullest films I have ever watched. the acting is horrible and the is almost zero lighting. The rooms look like they are lit with one 50 watt bulb. There is even a bad movie within this bad movie that the baby sitter is featured in. Lab rats are more intelligent then the characters in this flick. No one realizes that Richard, the films killer, who dressed in drag to escape from a mental hospital, is really a guy underneath the nurses uniform. Even though Richard has a bit of a 5 o clock shadow! Richard can't tell the difference between the babysitter and his hag of an ex-wife. Do I sound bitter? Well I am. After having to watch five minutes of the kid I was ready to kill him myself and I'm willing to bet you will be to. ! This film will cure insomnia it is so bad.

Directed by Gary Graver, whose IMDb page is veritably packed with films like Sorceress, Sorceress II: The Temptress, Mortuary and Femalien II, this film concerns a babysitter, who is stuck watching a kid on Halloween while her boyfriend is in a play. Christopher, the babysittee, is a total asshole. I mean that — in a world of annoying horror movie children, he may be the most horrible ever. He keeps acting like he's cut himself or killed himself and she keeps finding him, cries and then he yells "trick or treat" and runs away.

Meanwhile, the kid's dad, Malcolm (Peter Jason from They Live, In the Mouths of Madness and Prince of Darkness) was put into a mental asylum by the mother (Carrie Snodgrass, who allowed the production to use her home) years ago. He's broken out and is coming home to kill her. Except she's out with her new husband, Richard (David Carradine!) and only checking in via phone calls.

Speaking of phone calls, Malcolm keeps calling home with threats.

Oh yeah. Steve Railsback is the boyfriend. Paul Bartel shows up as a bum and literally chews up the entire scene that he is in. There's a movie within a movie that the babysitter's friend is editing. And Orson Welles is credited as the magic consultant.

There is not a single likable person in this film. I wanted the kid to die literally from the minute he appeared on screen. The killer isn't particularly fearsome. And the tagline "…when Halloween night stopped being fun!" doesn't promise much.

But I still find stuff to love in it, like the interstitial answering of the trick or treat door, hoping that something big is going to happen. And the movie within a movie's speech about transcendental meditation made me laugh.

Read more at https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/10/12/trick-or-treats-1982/

TRICK OR TREATS tries to be something but it miserably fails to be anything. Is it mainly trying to be some sort of slasher-inspired horror film using a Halloween-theme? Probably, but you can't really call it a horror movie. There's no suspense, no thrills, no gore, no memorable deaths, no nothing. Just a lot of talking, various hints at possible subplots that are no hints, really, but just goings-on that lead to absolutely nothing. Just a guy who escapes a mental institute to get revenge on his wife because she put him there. This is just a minimal plot-thread running through the film, as most of the other scenes feature an extremely annoying kid (the son of the lunatic) playing stupid Halloween pranks on his female baby-sitter. The chick fills her time with phoning her acting boyfriend (played by an under-used Steve Railsback, who's anything but memorable in this film) and telling the annoying kid stories like "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". David Carradine plays the kid's step-dad and has, besides talking smooth to the baby-sitter, no reason to be in this film. Peter Jason (as the escaped lunatic dad), might come across as another familiar face (it should, actually, just watch some John Carpenter movies), but seeing him dress up as a nurse (with a bad wig) will just have you shaking your head, wishing this film would end.

In all honesty, TRICK OR TREATS could have been an okay Halloween-themed horror flick if they had actually bothered to write a decent script. But it turned out a boring, uneventful piece of crap. With one of the most annoying 80's kids ever.

Good Badness? No, simply no fun. 2/10 and 2/10

This bottom-rung '80s slasher follows a much-too-old babysitter being stalked by an escaped mental patient on Halloween night. Never heard that synopsis before.

Anyways, I can't imagine anyone but the most avid slasher fan would even be on this movie's IMDb page, but even the biggest fan of slice-and-dice films is unlikely to get any fun out of this one. It's egregiously slow, with most of its running time dedicated to watching a child magician-in-training pulling cheap pranks on the babysitter character. The director didn't invest in any lighting equipment, making some of the proceedings all but impossible to follow. It's bloodless, breastless and suspenseless, which leaves the film an almost complete lack of entertainment.

There's rumblings of the film being a satire, but most of the humor is relegated to a padding scene featuring film editors. And that is heavy-handed and overdone. The rest of the film is neither clever or entertaining enough to be humorous.

Avoid, even though you do get about three minutes of creepy cougar David Carradine action. If you're looking for a cheesy, fun 80s movie for a Halloween night, 1986's TRICK OR TREAT is a much better choice.

This thing is awful. A high school film class makes better movies! How did this thing even get made?? I'm embarrassed for them. I mean, I figured it would be cheesy but still watchable horror. Unfortunately, I was very wrong on all fronts. It's not watchable and there's very little horror. I'm not even sure why it's billed as a horror movie. I hope they show this movie to acting and cinema majors on how NOT to make a horror film! The acting is atrocious. The editing is horrible. Everything about this is just bad, bad, bad! I wish that I could get my hour and a half back! Don't watch this film!

Same plot as Halloween just called this trick or treats. Wasn't scary and acting was atrocious. The phone ringing is annoying and loud. Don't waste your time with this movie.

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Trick Or Treats; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 0.75 Direction: 0.75 Pace: 1.00 Acting: 1.00 Enjoyment: 1.25

TOTAL: 4.75 out of 10

This film is horrendous right from the beginning, though I found I couldn't help but watch. And, as the end credits rolled, I realised I'd enjoyed the bunkum completely, even the cringeworthy parts (of which there are too many).

The story is far-fetched, to say the least. In the good-ol' U. S. of A. Could you just call the men in white coats to come and haul your husband off to the nuthatch? No wonder you guys had so many that were overcrowded. She then marries a womanising magician, and they bare foul fruit in the shape of their son. One night they're invited to a Halloween party and hire a professional babysitter to look after El Diablo, Christoper. It doesn't take long before the audience are wanting nasty things to happen to naughty Chris as he tortures and torments his sitter with Halloween magic pranks. Meanwhile back in the loony bin, dear ol' dad is escaping, dressed as a woman. Will there be a loving reunion for father and son? Or will knives and wands be drawn?

I still cannot believe this isn't a comedy. It appears to be written as a comedy, and when you see the opening sequence, it's kinda filmed as a comedy too. The trouble is, if it is a comedy, it's not that funny. But as a horror, the unintentional laughs come by the truckload. It's a very strange movie.

The direction could have been a tad sharper and cleaner. You can see where the director is trying to compose a shot, but they never seem to take shape completely. For example when somebody pops up at the window for a jump scare. The director shows the window a fraction too long before the fright comes, which gets the audience ready for it. Because you have a shot of the window, you know something's about to happen there. Being a horror movie, you easily deduce a scare is coming. And there are too many similar scenes. At least he tries to vary the tempo, and it works to a certain degree. The slower pacing does help to create a creepy atmosphere. It could have done with some excitement thrown in.

The saddest thing about this film is the cast. We have some star players here. Carrie Snodgrass, David Carradine, Steve Railsback, Paul Bartel, and Peter Jason. And they all take back seats to the main characters of Linda (Jacqueline Giroux) and Christopher (Chris Graver). That said, Giroux and Graver work well together. You sympathise with Linda and loath Christopher and his pranks. It would have been okay had the "stars" characters been better fleshed out. Only Railsback as Bret and Jason as Malcolm appear to have fun in their performances.

Trick Or Treats is not a great film, I don't think it's even a good film, but it possesses something that makes it bizarrely entertaining and entrancingly watchable. And, so, I recommend Trick Or Treats as a watch once film. Who knows, maybe you'll figure out the picture's secret.

Please feel free to visit my Killer Thriller Chillers lists to see where I ranked Trick Or Treats.

Take Care & Stay Well.

There are some good laughs in this. Cornball as it is, I seriously doubt it was intended to be labeled horror... at least until it gets towards the end. Could have done better. But hey, it was 1982 and low budget!

Some guy gets put in a mental hospital by his wife. After some years, the guy escapes and is set out for vengeance against the wife. Meanwhile some stupid b**** has to babysit a fat ass kid and she becomes the target of the guy. As you can tell I don't pay attention to names.

This movie sucked. It is a slasher movie but a rather pathetic one at that. It is light-hearted and stupid. Only 2 people die in this movie and their deaths were stupid. The film wastes most the time with this fat annoying brat playing pranks on this b**** and the stalker running around like a moron. And I'm telling you, this fat-ass kid was an irritant and I actually wish he got his fat-ass stabbed to death; not before having his face punch in repeatedly. Ugh! In addition to it all, the acting was annoying, the plot is sort of a rip-off of Halloween (though I usually disregard rip-offs because what the f*** do I care; as long as my fat ass was entertained) and blah blah blah.

In conclusion: Don't expect anything short of a s#!+ fest in this movie. The deaths are very very minimal and everything else is abysmally stupid. Death to fat kids!

After a big opening with Malcolm O'Keefe (Peter Jason) being straightjacketed in his own backyard, and hauled off to a mental institution, TRICK OR TREATS begins.

Linda (Jackelyn Giroux) arrives at her babysitting assignment with Malcolm's odd, practical joke-obsessed son, while his mum (Carrie Snodgress) and her new husband (David Carradine) attend an all-night Halloween party.

Simultaneously, Malcolm decides it would be a good night to break out of the draped-off, school cafeteria posing as a hospital, and seek his revenge. Obviously, this requires an ingenious disguise, stealth, and... well, maybe not. In no time, he's heading home, trying out every payphone along the way.

Meanwhile, Linda has her hands full with the most annoying boy ever born. She would be helped enormously by not falling for every prank the little monster pulls! Is Malcolm ever going to arrive? He sure takes his sweet time! He finally gets home, with 30 minutes of movie to spare! Let the -limited- mayhem unfold.

As murdering maniac / slasher films go, this one is a lengthy slog for very little payoff. Sure, Malcolm is crackers, and he kills a few people, but, he's more pitiful than terrifying. It's interesting that the first two thirds of the movie play out as more of a comedy, only to lower the boom during the finale...