Trivia / Trick 'r Treat

• Acclaimed Flop: The film received positive reviews from critics and has since grown into a beloved Cult Classic that is often considered one of the prime examples of a movie that captures the essence of the Halloween spirit. However, it ended up getting passed around the film festival circuit before finally getting released Direct to Video with a total profit of a mere $27,909 against a $12 million budget in its limited theatrical run. However, its long-lasting popularity has given it a new life in terms of merchandise and streaming sales, and it received a theatrical rerelease in October 2022.
• Acting for Two: Quinn Lord plays both Sam and the boy spying on Laurie and her friends in the costume shop.
• California Doubling: The film's setting is Warren Valley, Ohio. It was shot in Vancouver, Canada.
• Cast the Expert: Most of the extras for the street party were members of Vancouver's Parade of Lost Souls - who do that every year for Halloween.
• Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: The performers playing the disabled children who died on the school bus all were either disabled or injured in some way themselves.
• Enforced Method Acting: When Laurie is walking through the forest, Anna Paquin's scared reaction came from Michael Dougherty unexpectedly screaming off camera at her. Initially annoyed at this, she later admitted it made her performance more authentic.
• Fake American: Well, with most of the movie being filmed in Canada, you can expect a lot of said Canadians playing Americans. But more obvious examples are Anna Paquin (New Zealand) and Brian Cox (Scottish).
• The Merch: Sam has become a major staple of the seasonal retailer Spirit Halloween's line-up; rare is the branch that doesn't feature his face on at least some form of merchandise.
• Playing with Character Type: Anna Paquin as the Token Wholesome and potential Final Girl of the group seems like a logical casting choice. Then she's revealed to be a werewolf.
• Screwed by the Network:
  • Oh boy. Despite Michael Doughtery's collaborations with Bryan Singer, the film played at various festivals in 2007, missed its planned release date, and was later unceremoniously dumped onto DVD, perhaps due to Warner Bros. feeling skittish that the film would fail against Saw IV or the studio's disappointment with Superman Returns. Despite this, the film wound up becoming a Cult Classic with plans for a follow-up and Dougherty's Spiritual Successor Krampus getting a theatrical release.^note  However with Universal distributing instead of WB.
  • It's also probably notable that in 2015, with the film having garnered geek-cred for years, and with Krampus' release on the horizon, the film still has had exactly ONE DVD release. No special editions with loads of bonus features, just a fairly basic DVD. It eventually got a Blu-Ray release, and a collector's edition.
• Throw It In!: Brian Cox improvised the wheezing that Kreeg does in his segment. Michael Dougherty then added it into the flashback as an extra Rewatch Bonus that Kreeg is the bus driver.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The rock quarry scene was initially written to take place in a pumpkin patch.
  • The black and white educational film that's part of the opening was originally just shot for the trailer. The director liked it so much, he added it in.
  • Michael Dougherty expressed an interest in doing "a super special edition which allowed you to watch the stories by themselves."
  • The werewolf orgy in the forest was going to be set to Peggy Lee's "Fever". They then decided it needed to have something edgier and more aggressive - so they went with Marilyn Manson's cover of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)".
  • An early idea was for Ronda to turn out to be Dead All Along, but Michael Dougherty changed it after seeing it used in several other films.
• Writing Around Trademarks:
  • There is already a movie titled Trick or Treat, they got around this by changing the 'or' to 'R'.
  • The filmmakers likewise had to come up with original candy names, as they couldn't use recognisable brands ("because all of our candy in this film is either poisoned or filled with razor blades").
• Working Title: The title was going to be 'Season's Greetings', same as Michael Dougherty's short film that introduced the Sam character. Other potential titles included 'Halloween Terrors', 'Jack O' Lantern Tales' and 'October the 31st'.

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