History YMMV / TrickRTreat

* MoralEventHorizon: The parents of the school bus kids went past the point of deserving sympathy the moment they hired the school bus driver to kill their children. The bus driver also proved to have gone beyond the pale for agreeing to do it.

** Having Anna Paquin [[spoiler:fight off a vampire (albeit a pretend one) and being revealed as a werewolf]] seems like an obvious CastingGag to her role in ''Series/TrueBlood''. But the film was made a full year before the first season even premiered! It did get released after the show was on the air, though.
** Britt [=McKillip=] stars as a seemingly nice girl revealed as a BitchInSheepsClothing. She's introduced in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' in the exact opposite way — seemingly a villain but [[spoiler: being impersonated by said villain and actually a benevolent figure]]. What's more is that Twilight Sparkle is a ShrinkingViolet and lover of specific knowledge, and Cadance is a CoolBigSis to her. [[spoiler:The exact opposite of how Macy treats Ronda.]] Mr Kreeg is also briefly watching ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'', in which Creator/TaraStrong also provides the voice for [[spoiler:a BitchInSheepsClothing]].

*** The Film was also in a DuelingWorks situation with ''Film/SawIV'', but now an actor from that film (Athena Karkanis) is also in the My Little Pony Franchise

** In the flashback only the vampire speaks, and his speech is muffled and awkward. At the end of the movie [[spoiler: he says "trick or treat" perfectly.]] Was this a case or UnreliableNarrator, since Macy was telling the story? Was he able to communicate better when he was undead? Or was this a hint that the school's kids were all drugged into compliance, and he could think and behave much more clearly now that he wasn't doped up?

*** The Film was also in a DuelingWorks situation with ''{{Film/SawIV}}'', but now an actor from that film (Athena Karkanis) is also in the My Little Pony Franchise

* VindicatedByHistory: This film's ScrewedByTheNetwork status is legendary. It was dumped on DVD two years after its intended release, apparently never to be heard from again. The combination of Dougherty's persistence in marketing his pet project, and the film's absolutely rabid fanbase, turned that around. At this point, every critic on the internet with even a passing interest in horror films has reviewed it, and every Halloween, the number of people aware of it continues to balloon. Among many horror fans, it's now seen as the standard by which all other horror-comedies, anthologies, or Halloween-related movies in general are judged.

*** As another layer, Rhonda is implied to have some sort of AmbiguousDisorder, which is further implied to be why she's being picked on in the first place. [[spoiler:The bus kids were killed for being Special Needs students. If they were saving her, was their motivation to defend her from being bullied for similar reasons to why they themselves were killed, in a way sticking up for her because nobody stuck up for them?]]

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: If all you saw of the film was a picture of Sam, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a fun, mildly spooky Halloween movie suited for kids.

** Even funnier when Britt does the BitchInSheepsClothing role once again in ''{{WesternAnimation/Ninjago}}''.

** Even Henry can be considered one due to the fact that he found his wife's corpse and will most likely go to jail for something he didn't even do.

* {{Adorkable}}: Ronda has NoSocialSkills and weirds the other children out with her encyclopedic knowledge of Halloween, and it endears her to the audience - especially her MeetCute with Schraeder.

** Did Rhonda think Macey and her friends were still pulling a joke on her, or did she know that the [[spoiler: ghosts of the dead school bus kids were real and just left them to die?]]
*** Alternatively, did she [[spoiler: remember Macy saying that the elevator would only hold three people safely, and thus assume that they'd throw her out and leave her to die?]]
*** Another possibility: the other children [[spoiler: had already presented themselves to Rhonda as being dead. It's possible she simply ''believed'' them...]]

*** And yet another possibility: her choice of costume, encyclopedic knowledge of Halloween, and oddly calm reaction upon seeing Sam could mean that Rhonda actually IS a young witch. Take into account that when she explains Samhain to Chip, she specifically mentions [[spoiler: human sacrifice as being an ancient tradition, and what does her leaving the others to die start to look like?]]
** Did the School Bus Kids [[spoiler: kill the other children to help Rhonda]]? Alternatively, however, jack o'lanterns seem to have a protective power in this universe, so its possible that [[spoiler: once they were smashed, the kids just unleashed their rage on whoever happened to be there]]...
*** As another layer, Rhonda is implied to have some sort of AmbiguousDisorder which is further implied to be why she's being picked on in the first place. [[spoiler: The bus kids were killed for being Special Needs students. If they were saving her, was their motivation to defend her from being bullied for similar reasons to why they themselves were killed, in a way sticking up for her because nobody stuck up for them]]?
** It's clear the [[spoiler: werewolves]] must know what Sam is if they tolerate his presence without comment. Does this mean they're friendly to him? Or just terrified of him? Or possibly be subservient to him. Alternatively, since none of the [[spoiler: werewolves]] acknowledge Sam's presence, or even glimpse at him, it is possible that he's invisible to them.

** While Macy was clearly hostile to Rhonda, the same can't be said for Schrader, Chip, or Sara. Furthermore, we only see those three when they're friendly to Rhonda (early on before the prank is pulled, and after they've seen the results). This leads to some interesting questions about why they did what they did. Obviously, they could just be bullies pulling a joke on an easy victim, because EvenEvilHasStandards. They could be [[PragmaticVillainy Pragmatic Villains]] who realized that Rhonda's head injury would likely get them all in serious trouble with the authorities. They might have also just been going along with Macy. On the other hand, it's possible they saw the entire exercise as a hazing ritual for Rhonda, and thought she would feel more a part of the group afterwards (...obviously they were wrong...).

** At the end of his segment did [[spoiler: Mr. Kreeg]] feel any remorse for his miserliness? Or was he just trying to avoid further run-ins with Sam?
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "Sweet Dreams" by Music/MarilynManson when [[spoiler: the werewolves transform and kill Wilkins.]]

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Burying a body while trying to avoid detection becomes hilarious when next door's dog starts snooping, and the solution is to break off a piece off the body to distract said dog. A serial killer plays fetch with one of his victim's limbs.

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: [[spoiler: The werewolves massacre their victims in an orgy]] that is terrifying and yet gratuitously awesome, complete with sexy dancing babes [[spoiler: before they peel off their skin]] and a fun riff of "Sweet Dreams" playing over it.

** Having Anna Paquin [[spoiler: fight off a vampire (albeit a pretend one) and being revealed as a werewolf]] seems like an obvious CastingGag to her role in ''Series/TrueBlood''. But the film was made a full year before the first season even premiered! It did get released after the show was on the air however.
** Britt [=McKillip=] stars as a seemingly nice girl revealed as a BitchInSheepsClothing. She's introduced in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' in the exact opposite way - seemingly a villain but [[spoiler: being impersonated by said villain and actually a benevolent figure]]. What's more is that Twilight Sparkle is a ShrinkingViolet and lover of specific knowledge, and Cadance is a CoolBigSis to her. [[spoiler: The exact opposite of how Macy treats Ronda]]. Mr Kreeg is also briefly watching ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'', in which Creator/TaraStrong also provides the voice for [[spoiler: a BitchInSheepsClothing]].
* {{Moe}}: Rhonda is a shy, adorable girl implied to be on the autism spectrum - with an endearing knowledge of Halloween [[spoiler: and gets picked on unfairly]].

* OlderThanTheyThink: The twist of Little Red Riding Hood [[spoiler: becoming a werewolf and fighting off the predator]] had been done in ''Film/TheCompanyOfWolves'' - although the circumstances are much different.

* SpoiledByTheFormat: When watching the movie on Creator/{{Amazon}}, their "X-Ray" feature has the potential to spoil. If one pauses the movie while the Vampire / Man In Black is on screen, the feature reveals the actor portraying him is the same as the one portraying [[spoiler: Principal Wilkins]].

** In a flashback in 'The School Bus Massacre Revisited', one of the children notices the driver taking a different road. He seems to know something is wrong, but due to whatever disorder he has, he can't do nothing more than cry while repeating "wrong way" and "I wanna go home". Also, just the fact that a man hired to keep them safe agreed to kill them in exchange for a bribe. [[OffingTheOffspring From their]] ''[[OffingTheOffspring parents.]]''

* VindicatedByHistory: This film's ScrewedByTheNetwork status is legendary. It was dumped on DVD two years after its intended release, apparently never to be heard from again. The combination of Dougherty's persistence in marketing his pet project, and the film's absolutely rabid fanbase, turned that around. At this point every critic on the internet with even a passing interest in horror films has reviewed it, and every Halloween the number of people aware of it continues to balloon. Among many horror fans it's now seen as the standard by which all other horror-comedies, anthologies, or Halloween-related movies in general are judged.

** Rhonda. She's known as "Rhonda the Retard" by other kids and [[spoiler:is almost a victim in a DeadlyPrank.]]

** Emma. She's hot and exhausted from her heavy, awkward costume, has been dragged all over town by her man-child husband, and just wants to clean up the Halloween decorations before her mother comes over in the morning (and presumably starts to nag Emma about her housekeeping). Her reward of [[spoiler: being murdered and dismembered by Sam - and Henry possibly being falsely convicted of her murder]] seems fairly disproportionate.