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There are very few movies I’ve planted my flag on as early and as passionately as Michael Dougherty‘s Halloween-set anthology Trick ‘r Treat.
I was lucky enough to be one of the very first people to see it, and I walked away convinced it wasn’t just good, it was destined to become a Halloween classic. Watching what happened next was equal parts confusing and frustrating. Warner Bros. barely seemed to know what to do with it, shelving the film after delaying its planned theatrical release before quietly sending it to home video in 2009.
It deserved so much better.
Fortunately, horror fans had other plans.
Over the last 15 years, Trick ‘r Treat has become one of the defining Halloween movies of its generation. Every October, it returns to streaming services, Blu-ray players, repertory theaters, and horror marathons, earning its place alongside John Carpenter‘s Halloween, The Exorcist, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Hocus Pocus as essential seasonal viewing.
Part of what makes Trick ‘r Treat so timeless is Sam, the mysterious burlap-masked spirit of Halloween who silently enforces the holiday’s traditions. Whether you’re carving pumpkins, handing out candy, or blowing out a jack-o’-lantern too early, Sam is always watching.
What many fans may not know is that Sam actually predates Trick ‘r Treat.
The character first appeared in Season’s Greetings, Dougherty’s hand-drawn animated short created while he was a student at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in 1996. Running just a few minutes long, the short introduced audiences to the character who would eventually become one of horror’s most beloved modern icons.
Now, nearly 30 years later, Sam is heading back to where it all began.
Taking to Instagram, Dougherty announced that Season’s Greetings has been officially selected to screen at the Fantasia International Film Festival in a brand new 4K restoration with remastered 5.1 audio.
“Thirty years after he first crept from the shadows one fateful Halloween night, Sam is headed to Montreal,” Dougherty wrote.
The restored short will screen on July 23 at 9:30 p.m. and again on July 26 at 10:30 a.m., with both screenings playing before Rubberhead: The Life & Monsters of Steve Johnson.
More excitingly, Dougherty hinted this is only the beginning.
“I couldn’t ask for a better place to kick off what’s shaping up to be a very busy spooky season,” he wrote. “Because this is just the first stop. More screenings, events, and a few more tricks are on the way…”
That last tease is the one that really caught my attention.
Between the restored Season’s Greetings making its festival debut and Trick ‘r Treat returning to theaters this fall in 4K, it feels like Sam is finally getting the celebration he deserves. If you’re a fan of Trick ‘r Treat, this Halloween season is shaping up to be a very good one.
Categorized:Festivals / Events Indie News