October Horror Challenge 2018 #1: "Trick or Treats"

I was happy to discover an 80s horror movie that I haven't seen yet. With all the horror movies I watch, and the 80s being my favorite decade for horror movies,  it's rare that I find one I haven't seen already. And it's a Halloween themed horror movie too! Double win!

The movie is about a hapless babysitter who winds up taking care of a young boy on Halloween so his mother can have a night out for a date. The boy's father was dragged off to an asylum years ago, and his mother isn't exactly a bastion of sanity and morality either, so it's no wonder that the boy is troubled. He plays a bunch of pranks on her and basically makes her miserable, but she has bigger problems in store, since it seems that the boy's father is going to escape from the asylum and show up at the house looking for payback against his wife and everyone he blames for having him put away.

There's something about babysitting or being in charge of kids in general that makes events in a horror movie scarier for me. You're in charge of taking care of these kids, making sure their needs are met, then suddenly your life is on danger but you have to take care of not only yourself, but this kid too, who's small and mostly defenseless. How are you supposed to run from a killer with a kid in tow? Or stick around and fight to the death?

This movie paints the boy to be a tricky little brat who harasses his babysitter and torments her all night with magic tricks and practical jokes. Of course, this makes it hard for her to tell when the jokes are over and she's really in danger. I have to admit that even I kind of want to punch the kid after awhile. Little jerk kinda has it coming. I guess it makes sense though,  considering who his parents are. I think he's lucky that his dad chooses to come back on a night when he has a babysitter instead of his dildobrain of a mother, because I doubt she'd be much help in saving him.

None of the characters in this movie are exactly rocket scientists, but some of them do things so stupid that just watching them made my brain hurt. The movie also drags a lot, which makes it feel much longer than an hour and a half long. The acting isn't great either, but the lead actress who plays the babysitter is ok, and the actor who plays the little kid is sufficiently bratty and annoying. I really wish the long, drawn out scenes had been shortened, because the movie would be much better without them, but it was still an ok watch. With all the remakes flooding the Market recently, maybe someone will remake this movie and make it better.