Director Jonathan Levine's latest movie, "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane" stars the actress Amber Heard as a beautiful but aloof high-school student who gets invited to a weekend getaway with the popular crowd, only to see her classmates murdered one by one. The movie posters, depicting a blood-spattered Ms. Heard, pitch the film as "the kind of party where everyone gets wasted."

But the story behind the movie's tortured journey to theaters is even scarier.

The hybrid slasher and coming-of-age film, made for just $600,000, caused a splash at the Toronto Film Festival—back in 2006. On Sept. 6, it will finally see the light of day, with a video-on-demand release. On Oct.11, the movie will have a limited release in theaters, with special promotions planned for Friday the 13th and Halloween.

In the past few years, Mr. Levine has emerged as a hot young director in Hollywood, having made three well-received films, the most recent of which—February's teen zombie romance "Warm Bodies"—grossed $117 million. He is currently working with Seth Rogen on a big-budget comedy, following their earlier collaboration on the award-winning "50/50."

What kept Mr. Levine's directorial debut from being seen by U.S. audiences for seven years is a case study of the challenges of independent-film distribution during the economic downturn. Caught up in the financial crisis, "Mandy Lane'' changed hands four different times in seven years, before ending up, incredibly, back with the initial buyer. The film's ultimate release underscores how technology allowing movies to be viewed on demand has upended the independent-film industry's longtime business model.