The Long Road to Trick 'r Treat
The movie wasn't exactly an overnight success.
Dougherty wrote the first draft of the screenplay in 2001, and it took years to get the project made. He eventually shot the film in 2006, and although it premiered in 2007, it spent a considerable amount of time waiting for a wider release.
That's almost painfully appropriate for a movie about Halloween.
The film had to haunt the industry for years before finally finding its audience.
When Trick 'r Treat eventually became available to the public, horror fans discovered what had been hiding in the shadows. Instead of disappearing into the enormous graveyard of forgotten horror movies, it developed a passionate following and became an annual Halloween tradition.
Sometimes a movie doesn't need a massive opening weekend.
Sometimes it just needs horror fans to discover it.
And then tell everybody else.
