Hereditary‘s Milly Shapiro returns to genre with post-apocalyptic horror-thriller Hallowarrior, officially acquired by Shudder ahead of its Tribeca Film Festival premiere on June 10.
Shapiro, in her second feature film role, will star alongside Shannyn Sossamon (A Knight's Tale, Sinister 2), Ajani Russell (Skate Kitchen) and AJ Bowen (You’re Next) in the feature debut from director Ben Sottak.
Hallowarrior follows Pumpkin (Shapiro), the last girl on earth and sole survivor of a humanity-ending plague, scavenging the wasteland for supplies on the eve of Halloween:
Pumpkin’s lonely holiday ritual is interrupted by the arrival of a savage gang of raiders at her doorstep led by Thalia (Sossamon). Outnumbered and armed with candy, wit and weapons, Pumpkin must ferociously fight back to survive the night.
Per Variety, who reported the news earlier today, Shudder's acquisition includes rights in North America, U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, and will see Hallowarrior debut on the horror streamer this fall.
Sottak, whose shorts have previously played at Fantasia, FrightFest, Telluride Horror Show and Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, had the following to say of Shudder picking up his debut:
Hallowarrior is a love letter to horror and Halloween, and I am thrilled that the film has found its home with a distributor whose brand is synonymous with both […] It’s an honor to have ‘Hallowarrior’ join the Shudder family, and a treat to introduce their audience to this fun, scary, gory film along with its badass lead, Pumpkin, played by the incredible Milly Shapiro.”
IFC Entertainment Group director of acquisitions and productions Adam Koehler adds:
“From the moment we saw Hallowarrior, we knew this was a natural fit for Shudder. The film fully understands what genre fans come to the platform for — strong scares, spooky atmosphere and a wild ride. It’s the kind of horror that plays directly to our audience and reinforces why the service is such a trusted home for bold, crowd-pleasing genre filmmaking, especially around the Halloween season,”
Look out for more on Hallowarrior as we get it.
