Cult horror movie anthology Trick ’r Treat was nearly directed by some of the biggest names in the genre. Despite being essentially released straight to DVD back in 2009, a warm fanbase quickly started to gather around Trick ’r Treat. The film is set during Halloween in a small town and tells four stories involving serial killers, werewolves and zombies - all of which are linked by a demonic little trick or treater named Sam.

The film was written and directed by Michael Dougherty, who would go on to direct the Christmas set horror flick Krampus. Trick ’r Treat was based on an animated short film called Season’s Greetings, which also featured the character of Sam. Dougherty sent the short out to a few people, with late effects wizard Stan Winston (The Terminator, Aliens) being the first to respond.

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During an interview on the podcast Post Mortem With Mick Garris, Dougherty revealed that at one point Winston was set to produce the film - and had assembled a top-notch lineup of directors for each of the four stories. However, no studios at the time were interested in funding an anthology film, so it fell apart:

“But the way he wanted to do with it was a traditional anthology, where you go out and get a director for each one. So he assembled, at the time, George Romero, John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper. What a lineup, right? Took it out… nobody wanted to touch it.”

Sam standing still in Trick R' Treat

While that version of Trick ’r Trick would have no doubt been amazing, Dougherty was eventually able to get it funded and direct it himself years later. The director has since moved on to Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which is the sequel to Gareth Edwards' 2014 Godzilla franchise reboot. Dougherty also revealed his deep love for the whole Godzilla series on the podcast, and that he jumped at the chance to direct it as soon as it was offered.

Dougherty also talked about a potential Trick 'r Treat sequel during the chat, which was first announced by Legendary back in 2013. Little has been heard about the production since then, though Dougherty revealed during he plans to revisit the sequel once work on Godzilla is complete:

"My hope is that once Godzilla has been put to rest that I can dive back into it. I would love to finish writing it in post-production (of Godzilla) and then I'd love to make it my next project. But we'll see."

Next: First Look at Godzilla In King Of the Monsters

Source: Post Mortem With Mick Garris