Trick 'r Treat is a 2007 American anthology horror film written and directed by Michael Dougherty (in his directorial debut) and produced by Bryan Singer.
It relates four Halloween horror stories with a common element in them: Sam, a trick-or-treating demon wearing orange footie pajamas with a burlap sack over his head.
At the center of the story is Sam, a peculiar trick-or-treater in an orange footie pajama costume, who appears to enforce the "rules" of Halloween.
Macy leads the group to a flooded quarry and recounts the urban legend of the "Halloween School Bus Massacre".
Realizing that the trick has gone too far, Schrader tries to comfort the hurt and terrified Rhonda while a bitter Macy kicks a jack-o'-lantern into the water.
While the other girls pick up dates and head to a bonfire party in the woods, Laurie stays and enjoys the town festival.
As the night proceeds, Kreeg encounters increasingly unusual phenomena: The front of the house is egged; the lawn is filled with ornate jack-o'-lanterns; and the hallways and ceiling are scrawled with Halloween and Samhain greetings.
Billy sits on his father's porch while handing out candy and enjoying himself, Rhonda casually pulls along her wagon filled with jack-o'-lanterns, and Laurie and her friends drive by while laughing to each other.
Kreeg answers another knock at his door as the scene becomes animated as he is surrounded and brutally torn apart by the zombie children from the bus.
Season's Greetings is an animated short created by Trick 'r Treat writer and director Michael Dougherty in 1996, and was the precursor of the film.
[6] The film featured Sam as a little boy dressed in orange footy pajamas with his burlap sack head covering, as he is being stalked by a stranger on Halloween night.
[7] "The Halloween School Bus Massacre" segment initially took place in a graveyard and had the kids luring the girl to play with them.
[3] The first public screening took place at Harry Knowles' Butt-Numb-A-Thon film festival in Austin, Texas, on December 9, 2007.
Another free screening, co-sponsored by Ain't It Cool News and Legendary Pictures, was held on October 23, 2008, at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, featuring a Q&A with Michael Dougherty and a costume contest judged by him.
The site's critical consensus reads: "A deftly crafted tribute to Halloween legends, Trick 'r' Treat [sic] hits all the genre marks with gusto and old-fashioned suspense.
"[23] Jeffrey M. Anderson of Common Sense Media rated the film four stars out of five, stating that "rarely work as well as this one does, with its brisk pacing and excellent casting, and its alluring combination of prankish humor and sincere dread."
"[24] Jim Vorel of Paste Magazine praised the characters' "different social castes and age groups" and, overall, called it "one of the most purely entertaining horror films of the 2000s.
[31] In October 2022, Dougherty revealed that he was in "active development" of a sequel with Legendary Pictures, although the film had not been officially greenlit yet.
He also clarified that he hoped to be looking at budgetary and scheduling concerns afterward; while also stating: "I mean, I love all of our favorite horror franchise characters as much as any of us, but not all of them are great.