Shudder Acquires HALLOWARRIOR Starring Milly Shapiro and Shannyn Sossamon

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NEW YORK, NY - April 29, 2026 - Shudder announced today that they have acquired HALLOWARRIOR, the feature debut from writer-director Ben Sottak starring Milly Shapiro (HEREDITARY), Ajani Russell (SKATE KITCHEN), AJ Bowen (YOU'RE NEXT) and Shannyn Sossamon (A KNIGHT'S TALE). The deal includes rights in North America, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. HALLOWARRIOR will have its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 10, 2026, and will debut on Shudder this Fall.

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 the fearsome Thalia (Sossamon). Outnumbered and armed with candy, wit and weapons, Pumpkin must ferociously fight back to survive the night.

Ben Sottak is an NYC-based filmmaker. His commercial work includes directing for Warheads, Sweethearts and PGATour. His narrative shorts have screened Fantasia, FrightFest, Telluride Horror Show and Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. HALLOWARRIOR is his feature debut as a writer/director. He loves scary movies, gin martinis, and his two spooky cats.

"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," said writer-director Sottak. "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."

"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," said IFC Entertainment Group Director of Acquisitions and Productions Adam Koehler.

HALLOWARRIOR is produced by Emmajane Hoffman and Ben Sottak for Strange Aeons, Gabriel Rosenstein for The Spitting Image, Danielle Benedict and Jake Casey for The Dazey Phase, and executive produced by Alec Ring and Shannyn Sossamon. The deal was negotiated by Adam Koehler for Shudder with Isadora Johnson for Cinetic on behalf of the filmmakers.

About Shudder

Shudder is the best streaming service in the world for horror fans, offering a level of depth and curation that no other service can match. With an ever-expanding library of films, TV series, and exclusive Originals, Shudder is accessible across most streaming devices in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Shudder releases approximately thirty original films per year, and has redefined genre streaming with a slate of groundbreaking and critically acclaimed titles, including Jayro Bustamante's Golden Globe-nominated LA LLORONA, Phil Tippett's MAD GOD, Kyle Edward Ball's SKINAMARINK, Chloe Okuno's WATCHER, Demián Rugna's WHEN EVIL LURKS, Chris Nash's IN A VIOLENT NATURE, Colin and Cameron Cairnes' LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL, Damian McCarthy's ODDITY, and the latest installments in the V/H/S franchise. Notable recent releases include Emilie Blichfeldt's Academy Award-nominated THE UGLY STEPSISTER, Ben Leonberg's critically acclaimed GOOD BOY, and the upcoming FORBIDDEN FRUITS from Director Meredith Alloway and the FACES OF DEATH remake. Shudder also boasts fan-favorite series such as the two-time Emmy Award-nominated THE BOULET BROTHERS' DRAGULA, Mark Duplass' THE CREEP TAPES, the anthology series HELL MOTEL, and specials hosted by Joe Bob Briggs, among others.

Press Contacts

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