Shudder has acquired the post-apocalyptic thriller “Hallow Warriors,” which marks the feature debut from writer-director Ben Sotak.
The Halloween-set film stars Milly Shapiro (Hereditary), Ajani Russell (Skate Kitchen), A.J. Bowen (You’re Next), and Shannyn Sossamon (A Night’s Tale). The deal includes rights in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. “Hallowwarrior” had its world premiere at Tribeca Festival on June 10th and will premiere on Shudder this fall.
“Hello Warrior” follows Pumpkin (Shapiro), the last girl on Earth and the only survivor of a human-wiping plague, as she scavenges the wasteland for supplies on the eve of Halloween. Pumpkin’s lonely holiday rituals are interrupted when a group of savage raiders led by Talia (Sosamon) arrive on his doorstep. Outnumbered and armed with sweets, wits, and weapons, Pumpkin must fight back furiously to survive the night.
Sottak is a New York-based filmmaker. His commercial work also includes directing Warheads, Sweethearts and PGATour. His narrative short films have been shown at Fantasia, Frightfest, Telluride Horror Show, and Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. “Hello Warrior” marks his feature debut as a writer and director.
“Hello Warrior is a love letter to horror and Halloween, and I’m thrilled that it has found a home with a distributor whose brand is synonymous with both,” said Sotak. “We’re honored to welcome HalloWarrior to the Shudder family and excited to introduce audiences to this fun, scary and gory film with Pumpkin, the villainous protagonist played by the wonderful Milly Shapiro.”
“From the moment we saw ‘Hello Warriors,’ we knew it was a natural fit for Shudder. This film fully understands that genre fans come to this platform for strong scares, spooky atmosphere, and wild rides. This is the kind of horror that resonates directly with our audience and confirms why the service is such a trusted home for bold, crowd-pleasing genre filmmaking, especially around the Halloween season.” said Adam Koehler, Entertainment Group Director of Acquisitions and Production.
HalloWarrior is produced by Emma-Jane Hoffman and Sotak (Strange Ions), Gabriel Rosenstein (The Spitting Image), Daniel Benedict and Jake Casey (The Daisy Phase), and executive produced by Alec Ring and Shannyn Sossamon. The deal was negotiated on behalf of the filmmakers by Shudder’s Koehler and Cinetic’s Isadora Johnson.
