Trick

Directed by: Patrick Lussier

Starring: Omar Epps, Jamie Kennedy, Tom Atkins, Ellen Adair, Kristina Reyes

Since the Halloween of 2015, a small county has been terrorised each year by a masked killer who goes on killing sprees at Halloween parties. Detective Mike Denver thought he'd killed the killer, known as "Trick", on that first fateful night but he seems to return time and again, taking more lives each year.

Trick is one of the most relentless horror movies of recent years which totally embraces the slasher genre. It has an absolutely ferocious start, with the party massacre which happens quickly and bloodily. Its incredibly well handled and is embellished further by the events at the hospital, involving Detective Denver. Its like they condensed all of Halloween 1 and 2 into 15 minutes.

The film's relentless brutality is almost its undoing. There are a load of characters, mainly from the Sheriff department, who get murdered and are really here just to up the body count and are usually murdered mere seconds after they show up on screen. There are one or two characters who manage to connect with the audience before they are mown down (including one touching moment which is a modern take on the "here's a picture of my wife and kids" or "…three days til retirement!").  There are also  a couple of good red herrings though - at least two characters are set up to be major protagonists only to be cruelly murdered in a pretty decent/nasty set-piece which more belongs in a Saw movie than here.

Luckily there are characters to care about. Detective Denvers is a good cop who becomes obsessed with the Trick case and is convinced that it’s the same guy despite everyone else believing him to be dead - for good reason. The film tries to emphasize his transition from a straight-laced, by-the-book cop into a conspiracy nut but it doesn't really manage to establish either side of the equation for me. Ellen Adair does a good job as Sheriff Lisa Jayne, a long time friend of Denver who is seriously put through the wringer in this film. We the audience might not care about her department becoming slasher-fodder, but she sure does.

Additionally we have a civilian protagonist. Cheryl Winston was at that original party and is in fact the person who stopped Trick's killing spree that evening. However the trauma she suffered that night has left her with no memory of her heroism and another classmate has claimed that he had stopped Trick.

The film's climactic reveal about the nature of Trick answers some questions, such as the film's inconsistent portrayal of Trick's abilities and modus operandi, but raises the main question of why. An actual motive behind all the killings is very conspicuous by its absence.

THE VERDICT

TRICK is a very well made film by an experienced director, Patrick Lussier and it certainly is action packed, full of murders and set pieces. At times the relentlessness of it all can be a little numbing but when the film concentrates on the main protagonists it works really well.  I hope that for the inevitable sequel they don't hit the reset button but build upon the good work and characters they have developed here.

7 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

Trick will be available on Digital Download from 30th March and is available for Pre-Order here