TRICK

Omar Epps and Ellen Adair

TRICK (2019). Directed and co-written by Patrick Lussier. 

At a high school Halloween party one of the guests, Patrick Weaver (Thom Niemann), suddenly goes berserk, hacking and slashing at everyone and killing several people. Cheryl (Kristina Reyes) manages to subdue him and he is brought to the hospital, where he escapes after falling out of a window. Detective Mike Denver (Omar Epps) is convinced that Patrick -- known as "Trick" -- managed to survive a hail of bullets and a three-story fall, but Sheriff Lisa Jayne (Ellen Adair) isn't so certain. The police determine that "Patrick Weaver" never existed but have no clue as to who he really is. Each year on Halloween more murders occur, with Denver assuming "Trick" is behind them and Jayne thinking it has to be a copycat. After the grisly death of two FBI agents at the hands of Trick, Epps loses his job. but on the next Halloween night he is importuned to get involved again with the maniac he has now been pursuing for several years. Will he survive long enough to get the answers he seeks?

Trick at first seems to be an attempt to duplicate the success of Halloween and Michael Myers, with suggestions of the supernatural, but instead comes up with a reasonably clever -- if rather far-fetched -- explanation for the gruesome goings-on. The trouble with Trick isn't necessarily the screenplay but the mediocre direction, with the film at times seeming disjointed, a slow pace, and moments that are genuinely boring when you should actually be at the edge of your seat. The acting is okay, but my favorite performance is by little Melody Hurd as a cute black girl who quite sensibly wants to get out of a scary Halloween maze that her big sister keeps dragging her into. The only name actors in the film are Jamie Kennedy as a doctor and Tom Atkins as the owner of the local diner. The film goes on too long with a silly coda that adds nothing to the picture but tries to set up an unlikely sequel. The movie could have been an excellent thriller but its sensibilities turn it into just another mediocre slasher film. 

Verdict: Another hoary Halloween horror with some tricks if not treats. **1/4.