Happy Halloween! The Boo Crew continues the Halloween festivities with the creator of what has become an iconic part of the season – the movie TRICK ’R TREAT and the beloved character of Sam – Writer, Director, Artist, Michael Dougherty!
If Trick ‘r Treat was a movie you missed in its limited theatrical release, you’re not alone. Most people didn’t get the opportunity to experience it in a theater. The Boo Crew were fortunate to catch it at Screamfest LA the year it premiered. And much to our delight, we were left wondering after the credits when this movie would see the light of day in wide release. Once the movie was acquired by Legendary/Warner Bros, they had different ideas and plans for its release.
Dougherty discusses how the experience of the film’s release is something he’s accepted as a truly satisfying experience. “That’s part of the fun of it. The reason I would be willing to go through that hell again is that there’s a very rare joy in creating a film where the audience gets to prop it up. We love this. They give the middle finger to the system, the man, whatever you want to call it. And they say No, we love this and we are going to support it.”
“Because a lot of time you make a movie, and I just went through one, where there’s a marketing machine and it’s got promotional deals and tv spots. They almost create mass hypnosis to convince people this is a good movie and you should go see it. And this had none of that. Just bare minimum marketing support and distribution. And when it got eventually released on DVD, it’s audience was grown through pure word of mouth. Whether it was you telling friends, emailing, texting, or social media. And that’s a rare event and it’s something I wish every filmmaker could experience. You know when people come up to you and tell you they loved it, you know they are being honest. Because they weren’t marketed. They were just sort of exposed via friends and word of mouth and they watched it and fell in love with it. There’s a lot films through history and that sort of get to do that.”
The movie Mike Dougherty set out to make was anything but easy. The incredible idea of making it an anthology was something the movie studios did not understand at the time. Even with the backing of horror’s greatest directors, the studios did not fully understand how good this movie could be if given the chance.
Dougherty recalls the difficulty of making the film: “The first draft was finished in 2001 and spent about five years in development hell at various studios. But interesting enough the first producer who really fell in love with it was Stan Winston. So what happened was, I was talking to Stan back in the late 90’s early 2000’s about working together on some projects. He saw my short film Seasons Greetings and really loved it. He’s the one who said ‘You need to be out here in LA making movies. I know you’re doing animation in New York, but you should come out here. And let me know when you’re in town and we’ll sit down and talk about it.’ So I bought a plane ticket the next day and flew out to LA and we sat. He was one of my idols growing up. He said ‘Listen if you any ideas or you ever write a spec, just let me know.’ And that gave me the motivation to spend the summer writing the script.”
“And I finished it in late September, early October. And he was the first guy to say ‘Okay this is great – it’s a modern day Creepshow. Let me try to assemble some directors and maybe we can take this out.’ And so he cobbled together George Romero, Tobe Hooper, John Carpenter and himself. And I was like wow, okay, I just assembled the Superfriends of horror. And every studio came back with the following notes: “This movie feels too old fashioned. It’s filled with zombies, vampires and werewolves. Those are too old fashioned. Nobody wants to see those things anymore.” And I’m like okay, now look at us. We can’t swing a dead cat without hitting vampires, werewolves and zombies.”
In Episode 80 we discuss Trick ‘r Treat more in depth, talking about the original design of our Halloween hero, Sam, as well as the look, costumes and design of the kids in the school bus massacre segment. Listen to Mike tell great stories about the production and character designs, casting the movie, and why he wanted to make this movie *the* definitive movie for Halloween. We also delve deep into the books, TV, horror and sci-fi movies that inspired him and his passion for the paranormal, as well as his other movies – Krampus and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
Remember always wear a costume, always check your candy and always download the latest edition of The Boo Crew!
Follow Michael Dougherty on:
Twitter: @Mike_Dougherty
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Instagram: @talesfromtheboocrew
Twitter: @talesfromtheboo
