The movie received an HD DVD release in 2009 as opposed to Blu-ray. While some found this move a bit strange it was a good marketing strategy for a microbudgeted indie zombie film since it would garner more press. The irony is that HD DVD is a dead format and was being resurrected one last time by a zombie film. It will be the last HD DVD ever released.
Originally upset about the piracy of the film, writer/director Gary Ugarek actually went out of his way to render out and release a botched version of the movie, later on though he decided to embrace the piracy angle and uploaded the entire movie for free on the film's official website. He also visited various warez and torrent sites to introduce himself and promote the "director approved" free version of the film. Originally users thought it was a hoax, but later on realized it was really Gary. The "Director Approved" Version is an XVID format file and has been downloaded close to 8,000 times.
During the filming of Trapped, which was only on weekends, the main set location was an actual operating 10 theater cineplex located in Hagerstown, MD USA. On the 5th weekend of shooting the theater closed its doors to the public because of poor management and financial trouble. The production continued in the building but was frequently interrupted by local residents who didn't know the theater closed to the general public. As of October 2007 Director Gary Ugarek is in talks to take over the theater and re-open it showing both first run features and dedicating one of the digital auditoriums to indie films.
Director Gary Ugarek used his own car in the film, a 2007 Mustang GT, when it came time to film the scenes involving stunt driving or burn outs, he would not let the actors perform the stunts insisting "If anyone is going to wreck my car, it will be me".
Director Gary Ugarek was offered an additional $10,000.00 for the budget of this film by a private investor, but refused the money because he wanted to bring this film in at a lower budget than his first project Deadlands: The Rising. The estimated budget for Trapped was $6300.00USD, the original budget for Deadlands: The Rising was just under $11,000.00 USD