Trick

Director - Patrick Lussier (Dracula 2000, My Bloody Valentine)
Starring - Vanessa Aspillaga (Petty Crimes, Deadline), Omar Epps (House, Dracula 2000), and Jamie Kennedy (Scream, Tremors 5: Bloodlines)
Release Date - 2019
Genre - Horror/Crime
Tagline - "Always choose treat"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Back around Halloween I received the press release for the slasher flick Trick.  I absolutely love holiday themed slashers so I was looking forward to this one.  This strange horror film starred Omar Epps and was directed by Patrick Lussier.  The pair worked together previously on Dracula 2000 so I was curious to see where this one took us.  I requested a copy for review and sometime passed when it showed sometime around Thanksgiving.  I was weird getting a Halloween themed horror flick around a different holiday but I didn't care.  I couldn't wait to toss it in.  The film hits store shelves this week so I thought I would hold off until now to check it out.  Thank you RLJE for sending this one my way!
     The film begins with a Halloween party when the deranged Patrick Weaver (Thom Niemann), who goes by Trick, starts killing everyone there.  He is eventually impaled by a very drunk party goer.  Soon the police arrive and a game of cat and mouse begins with Trick barely escaping them.  The next few years sees Trick returning at Halloween to kill before sneaking off back into hiding.  Things take an even darker turn when the new year rolls around and this year Trick seems to be tying up loose ends.  The agent that was investigating the Trick case has been forced into retirement but is soon brought back into the action when Trick starts targeting those that survived the first attack.  Now it's a race against the clock to stop him before more bodies pile up but he uncovers more than the signed up for when discovers who is really doing the killing.
     I was honestly looking forward to checking this one out.  As I said earlier, I absolutely love holiday themed slashers and it's been a minute since we got a good Halloween themed horror flick (take the recent Jamie Lee Curtis Halloween and stick it up your ass).  I hoped Trick was going to be it but I have to say I was a little let down but it.  It had so much potential but found it's way into mediocrity.  The acting in this one is pretty fucking solid.  Omar Epps was a little overpowering at first but after some time his character did ware on me some.  I enjoyed his performance and what he brought to the film.  The supporting cast is solid for the most part but no one really stands out.  The story for this one won me over at the end but the build up to it is painfully bland.  Slashers is and always will be one of my favorite sub-genres in horror.  Trick is mostly what I call Wal-Mart horror.  It's a generic horror film that offers up very little except solid production quality and effects but leaves out story.  Trick, for the most part, is just that.  However, the ending with the whole cult angle really pulled me in.  Sadly, this is revealed so late in the film that it just couldn't save it.  Finally, the film is home to some phenomenal on screen kills that are done in such a way that the viewer does not get the full impact.  The practical effects are amazing but the deaths are so lackluster that you can't fully enjoy them.  Overall, Trick had all the makings to be a brutal slasher that made Halloween 2019 memorable but the release over a month later and the lack of story during the first hour and 10 minutes really made this one nose dive.  It's still worth a watch but one I probably will not be visiting any time soon.