Trick or Treats (1982)

User Rating:

3.2/10   

Director:

Gary Graver

Writer:

Gary Graver (writer)

Release Date:

29 October 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

...when Halloween night stopped being fun!

Plot:

A baby sitter is stuck watching over a young brat on Halloween night who keeps playing vicious pranks on her. To add to her trouble the boy's deranged father has escaped from an asylum and is planning on making a visit.

Plot Keywords:

Halloween | Babysitter | Son | Mental Institution | Terror

Cast

Jacqueline Giroux	...	Linda (as Jackie Giroux)
Peter Jason	...	Malcolm
Chris Graver	...	Christopher
David Carradine	...	Richard
Carrie Snodgress	...	Joan O'Keefe Adams
Steve Railsback	...	The Boyfriend
Jillian Kesner	...	Andrea
Dan Pastorini	...	Man in White Shorts
Tim Rossovich	...	Man in White Shorts
J.L. Clark	...	Bert
John Blyth Barrymore	...	Mad Doctor
Catherine E. Coulson	...	Nurse Reeves
Maria Dillon	...	Newscaster
Allen Wisch	...	Bum
Nike Zachmanoglou	...	Connie

Also Known As:

Babysitter Murders: The Beginning (USA) (fake working title)
Halloween (USA) (working title)
Trick or Treats (Canada: English title) (fake working title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:15 | USA:R | Norway:16 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Quotes:

Christopher: You're cute. Are you the babysitter?
Linda: Well, you're not. That's a stupid thing to do.
Christopher: It's Halloween!

Movie Connections:

References Deadly Games (1982)

Soundtrack:

Help Is On The Way

Cheap "Trick"

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.