This year wasn’t the best time to trick-or-treat, so instead we celebrated Halloween with Trick ‘r Treat. Mike Dougherty, director and writer of the 2007 cult classic, led our live online watchalong. Tweeting from the official Legendary account, he shared stories, pictures, and insights from the set, along with concept art, what it took to get the movie made, and the inspirations behind it. Here are the 10 best things we learned about Trick ‘r Treat.
1. A tutorial about a tutorial.
This educational film wasn’t part of the original script or even the first cut. It was created @byBuddhaJones editor Bill Neil for our trailer and I loved it so much that I decided to add it to the movie. @trickrtreat #LegendaryHalloweenAtHome
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 31, 2020
The film’s opening was never even a part of his script, but Dougherty was so impressed by it he added it into the movie.
2. The “original” film.
.@TrickRTreat was my first feature spec script. It was based on a student animated animated short produced at @NYU called Season’s Greetings, which you can check out here: https://t.co/ds2ITupHld
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 31, 2020
You can see the origins of the movie, including Sam, in Dougherty’s 1996 animated student film “Season’s Greetings.”
3. Delicious blood (no really).
To get Emma's steaming blood effect, special effects genius Bob Comer kept a big pot of fake blood warm all night long. The blood was also edible with a delicious chocolate-minty flavor. #LegendaryHalloweenAtHome
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 31, 2020
Much like the blood used for Emma’s death, the bloody chocolate vomit was completely edible and actually tasted pretty good.
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 31, 2020
We still feel bad for Charlie, but is it weird we’re jealous of Brett Kelly getting to throw up a tasty fake blood concoction? (Yes? It is weird? Fair enough.)
4. The real face behind Sam.
Other than a few stunts where a double was required, @QuinnLord played Sam in every scene. Kids move differently than adults, with a subtle clumsy puppy cuteness, which is why I wanted an actual kid to play Sam instead of a little person.
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 31, 2020
Sam was played by a young Quinn Lord, so that the Halloween mascot would look and move like a child. But you do get to see Lord’s actual face in the movie too. That’s him playing Peeping Tommy.
5. The Normans meet a Baker.
Dylan Baker’s @trickrtreat character was inspired by Norman Bates in PSYCHO. I always described him as Norman Rockwell meets Norman Bates… if Norman ever fell in love and settled down to start a nice family in the suburbs.
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 31, 2020
Funny, “part Norman Rockwell, part Norman Bates” is a perfect description for a lot of Dylan Baker’s roles.
6. No studio wanted to make it, but some very talented people did.
Unfortunately no one in Hollywood wanted to make @TrickRTreat at the time, with some studios even claiming that no one wanted to see horror movies with vampires, werewolves or zombies anymore because they were “too old fashioned”. 🙄
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 31, 2020
Trick ‘r Treat could have had two very different outcomes. One would have seen multiple big name, super talented directors shoot their own vignettes. Yet, in another timeline it was never even made. Thankfully Legendary’s decision to produce its very first solo movie made sure we avoided the latter.
7. The real Halloween festivals that inspired the movie.
Those events were the first time I saw Halloween celebrated in such a massive way, with hundreds of pumpkins and people in costumes wandering the streets.
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 31, 2020
At least one child should have to dress as Sam on Halloween in Columbus, Ohio every year. And he should get to stay up ’til midnight ringing random doorbells.
8. Giving the world what it needed—more female werewolves.
Our pack was designed by Patrick Tatopoulos, who also did the werewolves for UNDERWORLD.
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 31, 2020
True story: we still want more women lycanthropes on the big screen. More on the small screen would be nice too.
9. Halloween’s very own Scrooge.
Brian Cox's @TrickRTreat storyline was meant to be the Halloween equivalent of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, with Old Mr. Kreeg being Ebenezer Scrooge. Only instead of being visited by three ghosts, he's visited by the spirit of #Halloween himself: Sam. pic.twitter.com/Mj8p2FvTqL
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 31, 2020
More like “Ebenkreegor” Scrooge, right? …Sorry. Please don’t let that terrible joke distract from what a perfect choice Brian Cox was for this role.
10. A spooky answer to Santa celebrates the holiday.
I was always bummed that #Halloween didn't have a singular mascot character like Christmas had Santa or Easter had the Easter Bunny, which is partially where the idea for Sam came from. @trickrtreat pic.twitter.com/kRl6RZffXf
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 31, 2020
#Halloween has always had a lot of icons surrounding it: witches, vampires, ghosts, and black cats. but it always felt like it needed something that truly captured its strange spirit. That odd childlike mix of fear and wonder. pic.twitter.com/okZNEiY9g2
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 31, 2020
I also always felt bad for Linus. Waiting in the pumpkin patch all night for the enigmatic Great Pumpkin to rise. Always knowing he'd be disappointed in the end. But what if Linus was right? And the Great Pumpkin, or his equivalent, was real? pic.twitter.com/WnKI8MeWrZ
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 31, 2020
What if there really was a spirit of Halloween? Rising from a pumpkin patch every year for centuries, wandering the streets dressed like a kid in orange footy pajamas. Making sure we respect the rules of the holiday. That we respect the dead... pic.twitter.com/JsG4vNlANV
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 31, 2020
Because that's what #Halloween is really about. Honoring those that have passed on. Because this is the one night when they might come back to pay us a visit...
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 31, 2020
We hoped to learn a lot from our Trick ‘r Treat watchalong, and we did. But we didn’t expect to get a little emotional about what it means.
Featured Image: Legendary
Editor’s Note: Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks.
