GATOR FACE: In Theaters & On Digital From Epic Pictures and Dread in September

Epic Pictures and Dread, the genre specialty releasing label of Epic, today announced release plans for GATOR FACE, a new creature horror film from writer and director Padraig Reynolds (Rites Of Spring, Open 24 Hours, Dark Light). Shot on location in the Florida swamps and featuring live alligators and practical effects, GATOR FACE will open in select theaters on September 11th and will be available on digital platforms beginning September 15th.

 

GATOR FACE follows a group of friends whose sun-soaked Florida vacation takes a dark turn when they become prey to a sinister cult that sacrifices its victims to an alligator god. Far from the carefree escape they had planned, the friends are drawn deeper into an isolated world governed by ritual and violence, forcing them into a desperate fight to survive both the cult and the deadly creature at the center of its beliefs.

 

Blending creature horror, slasher thrills and Southern folklore, GATOR FACE takes an old-school approach to bringing its central threat to the screen. Reynolds and his filmmaking team shot with live alligators and relied on practical gore and in-camera effects rather than CGI or AI, grounding the film’s more extreme moments in the physical environment of the Florida swamps. The result embraces the tactile, unpredictable quality of classic creature features while creating a mythology of its own around the mysterious figure of Gator Face.

 

GATOR FACE stars Tabitha Brownstone (CSI, Domino) as Claire, Amariah Dionne (Dead Souls) as Jess and Scot Scurlock (Homestead, Death Ranch) as Father Eli, the menacing leader of the cult. Ella Mosca appears as Samara, while Nikolas Kolasinski (Lake Fear 2) takes on the role of Gator Face.

 

Patrick Ewald, executive producer and CEO of Epic Pictures, said, “GATOR FACE has everything we love about classic creature horror, but Padraig has given it a personality entirely its own. Shooting with real alligators and committing to practical effects brings an immediacy to the film that audiences can feel. It’s wild, bloody and unpredictable, and exactly the kind of independent genre filmmaking we’re excited to bring to audiences through Dread.”

 

Writer and director Padraig Reynolds said, “I grew up loving creature features where what you were seeing on screen felt real, and that was something I wanted to capture with GATOR FACE. Shooting in the Florida swamps, using practical effects and working with real alligators gave us an atmosphere and unpredictability we never could have manufactured. We wanted to make a fun, frightening horror film that combines a cult, Southern folklore and a very real predator into something audiences can experience together.”

 

For the film’s live-alligator sequences, the production partnered with Bellowing Acres, an alligator and exotic animal sanctuary in North Florida. The organization provides a permanent home for rescued nuisance alligators that otherwise faced euthanasia by the state, as well as rehabilitated alligators that cannot legally be returned to the wild. Working alongside experienced animal professionals allowed the production to incorporate the animals into the film while maintaining a controlled environment for the cast, crew and alligators. No alligators were harmed in the making of GATOR FACE.

 

GATOR FACE was written and directed by Padraig Reynolds (Rites Of Spring, Open 24 Hours, Dark Light) and produced by Jason Scott Goldberg (Glorious, Stay Out of the Attic) and Wes Thomas with Patrick Ewald as EP.

 

Dread is the same company that brought audiences the original Terrifier film, continuing its commitment to distinctive independent horror. With GATOR FACE, the label delivers a new creature feature built around practical filmmaking, Southern Gothic mythology and one of nature’s most formidable predators.