12th: Toys & Figures - Sam (Trick 'r Treat) 15" Vinyl

The rules of Halloween:

• Wear a costume
• Hand out treats
• Never blow out a Jack o' lantern
• Always check your candy

If you break the rules and this little horror comes knocking on your door, don't say I didn't warn you!

For those of you that haven't seen Michael Dougherty's dark comedy horror film Trick 'r Treat, the above photos are of a 15" vinyl figure (by Sideshow Collectibles) of a character called Sam, who appears in it. Trick r' Treat consists of 4 separate stories, all happening on Halloween night in the same town, with Sam tying the plots together by showing up in each one. I won't go into detail about the movie in this entry, as it's all about Sam today, but if you want to see the trailer you can watch it below, or on the official website. I actually think the trailer doesn't do it justice, but oh well...

Anyway, back to Sam...I actually got him before the film was released (on DVD...it was never given a general theatrical release at the cinema and only shown at film festivals / events before that) for around £35 and, although I had heard of the film, I hadn't seen it at the time and bought him because I thought he was creepy, amazing and weird, haha. (I have subsequently seen Trick 'r Treat and thought it was a great movie, but truthfully, that wasn't my reason at the time). 

Without the burlap sack on his head

His pumpkin-esque head is incredibly detailed with its wrinkles, stitches, veins and gory eyes and, to give him a more "realistic" look, Sideshow also applied gloss to the gory / shiny parts and matt to the rest. 

Sam comes with his ominous burlap sack (pictured above) and razor sharp lollipop, which I didn't photograph of, but if you're interested it's made of transparent orange plastic, has a stripy orange and black stick, and looks like this:

I absolutely love this figure and, even if I had hated the film, I still wouldn't regret buying him!

This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

More picture behind the cut below↓

Animation: Classic Trick and Treating

With Halloween fast approaching, I wanted to share three  video clips that represent a older, more classic view of the mischievous holiday.

Let's start with a classic Disney video from the 20's.

This clip is tremendously charming, holding quite a bit of black humor. The children's classic cartoon company really went all out creative to represent "Comical death."

A very amusing clip, also from Disney. The music and lyrics are probably the best thing on the clip; very childish indeed, but surely any halloween-loving adult may enjoy!

Lastly, a short clip titled Season Greetings by Mike Dougherty. Sam goes out trick or treating, and the essence of the holiday, and it's traditions, are represented in Sam, a little "boy" who loves the holiday.

Videos: Trick 'r treat; the lore and legends of Halloween

Part 2

As that special night of the year when all things ghoulish break loose approaches, the "making of "trick 'r Treat" is out for fans that did not get the Blue-ray copy of the film.

Trick 'r Treat is a movie about the spirit of Halloween, personified by a mischievous little boy who lurks around, making sure you follow the rules of such marvelous holiday.

As David J. Skal (author of Death Makes a Holiday: a Cultural History of Halloween) brilliantly states, "Halloween is the Frankenstein of holidays... because it's stitched together from so many different traditions that's sometimes a little difficult to keep them all apart.

With interview of Director Michael Dougherty and cast, they elaborate on the traditions of the holiday, and how why it just might be a good idea to stay true to them.

Movies: Trick R Treat

After much anticipation, 'Trick R Treat' is finally being released on October 6th 2009! It was originally due to come out last year, but one of the 'Saw' movies (I forget which...they all merge into one after a while) clashed with that, so of course 'Trick R Treat' was pushed back a year. But but with 'Saw VI' not being released until the end of October,we can all see 'Trick R Treat' and complain about it soon. Hurray!

But, remember boys and girls, obey the rules of Halloween...OR ELSE!

Official Site