6. Trick R Treat (2007)
X2 and Superman Returns screenwriter Michael Dougherty decided to make his directorial debut with a horror film, a horror anthology film based around Halloween to be released at Halloween. Money in the bank right? Apparently not. Despite an impressive ad campaign and hints at new iconic monsters, Trick R Treat was dumped from its October 2007 cinematic release date and disappeared. Then a couple of years later as people started to wonder what happened to it, it made an appearance at film festivals and event screenings and went down a storm. Trick R Treat revolves around some separate stories that intertwine like Pulp Fiction Halloween edition. Some kids dare each other to head into a haunted quarry, a young girl is stalked by a menacing figure in a mask, an old man is harassed by a costumed kid who really wants candy etc. It’s clever, it’s funny and it’s scary and exactly the kind of film that would have been lapped up at Halloween. So of course it went straight to DVD in 2009.
Dougherty has talked of a follow-up due to the cult success the film now has but so far nothing has materialised. Definitely one of the more baffling studio decisions of recent memory it also asks the question why are studios seemingly so scared of Halloween? Apart from the Saw and Paranormal Activity franchise, horror films seem afraid to venture near a release date at the end of October when the market should be flooded.
