Michael Dougherty's "Trick R Treat," which inexplicably was sent straight to DVD in 2009, was the first major film in decades to center on Halloween.

When Michael Dougherty’s “Trick ‘r Treat” started appearing at film festivals to rave reviews in 2007, it seemed as if Halloween as a holiday had finally received its big screen tribute. Two years later, the film’s distributor Warner Brothers inexplicably dumped it to DVD, relegating it to cult film status.

Now, it looks like some Hollywood moguls have finally gotten wise to the power of Halloween, based on what appears to be a pair of upcoming major film releases using the holiday as a central theme.

Gale Anne Hurd, producer of “Aliens,” the first two “Terminator” films, and more recently, AMC TV’s “The Walking Dead,” has announced that she’s purchased the script “Hellfest,” taking place “at a Halloween theme park when one of the costumed characters is actually killing the patrons who think it’s all part of the show,” according to Deadline Hollywood. Expect fans of Knott’s Halloween Haunt to be the film’s biggest fans and harshest critics.

Scheduled for an October 12, 2012 release, is “Fun Size,” a comedy about a teenage girl who loses her little brother while taking him trick-r-treating, and spends the rest of the night on a wild adventure tracking him down. Paramount Studios is backing the pic, and since their lot is right up against Hollywood Forever Cemetery, we’re hoping for a premiere there… and are making an early request for an invite. You reading us, Paramount? (via Jo Blo)

(On the TV side, NBC Universal has hired the documentary team behind “Best Worst Movie” to make an Untitled Homemade Haunted House Feature Documentary. They’re currently soliciting passionate home haunters they can profile.)

Of course, we’re hoping this inspires even more filmmakers to make films that focus on Halloween. And just maybe, it will stir Warner Brothers to get wise and finance a big budget, major release sequel to “Trick ‘r Treat.”