There are plenty of horror films set during Halloween, but very few truly capture the feeling of the season. Ben Sottak's feature directorial debut, Hallowarrior, manages to do exactly that. Blending post-apocalyptic survival, home invasion thrills, coming-of-age drama, and plenty of Halloween atmosphere, the film feels like a love letter to the holiday while still delivering genuine emotion and crowd-pleasing horror.
I recently had the opportunity to speak with writer-director Ben Sottak and star Milly Shapiro about the film, and it turned into one of the most enjoyable conversations I've had all year. Both were thoughtful, enthusiastic, and clearly passionate about what they created together. As someone who already considered Shapiro's performance in Hereditary unforgettable, it was especially rewarding to see her at the center of a film that gives her room to showcase every facet of her talent. After watching Hallowarrior with my family, I knew immediately it had earned a permanent place in my annual Halloween rotation.
The film follows Pumpkin, a sixteen-year-old survivor living alone in a world devastated by a humanity-ending plague. While the premise sounds bleak, Sottak explained that the story grew from his fascination with classic "last person on Earth" narratives. During our conversation, he spoke about discovering Richard Matheson's I Am Legend at a formative age and becoming captivated by stories centered on a lone individual trying to survive while forces close in around them. He knew he wanted that archetype to serve as the foundation for his first feature, but pairing it with Halloween allowed him to explore something equally important: the nostalgia and atmosphere of the season. As Sottak noted, there are many beloved Halloween films, but relatively few that fully capture the feeling of Halloween itself.
That emotional resonance extends far beyond the setting. While Hallowarrior contains its share of scares, action, and gore, Sottak emphasized that Pumpkin's journey was always the priority. He explained that connecting audiences to her emotional arc mattered more than any individual effect or spectacle, believing that as long as viewers cared about Pumpkin, they would stay invested in the ride. He credited much of that success to Shapiro, praising her ability to communicate empathy and emotion through even the smallest moments on screen.
For Shapiro, Pumpkin immediately stood out because she felt authentic. Reflecting on her first reading of the script, she explained that she completely understood the character from the outset. What resonated most was Pumpkin's refusal to give up hope despite the unimaginable losses she has endured. Shapiro observed that even when Pumpkin struggles to find hope, she still believes she can rediscover it, a quality she found deeply moving. She connected that outlook to the universal search for love, connection, and purpose, themes that become increasingly meaningful in difficult times. Halloween itself becomes a symbol of that hope for Pumpkin, representing something she refuses to let the world take away from her.
Preparing for the role required extensive work. Because Pumpkin has spent four crucial developmental years alone, Shapiro approached the performance with a great deal of psychological analysis. She examined how complete isolation would affect a teenager's growth and considered how someone who has been alone for so long might react when they're suddenly forced back into social interactions. She spent time charting Pumpkin's emotional progression throughout the story, creating playlists and immersing herself in the character's mindset so thoroughly that she could arrive on set ready to simply live in the role. Music became a surprisingly important creative tool, helping both actor and director find the emotional rhythms of the film.
That collaboration between director and actor became one of the film's greatest strengths. Sottak spoke warmly about developing a close creative partnership with Shapiro over several years, noting how both connected to Pumpkin's feelings of being an outsider while also embracing the things they love. Their shared understanding of the character helped ground the film, ensuring that even amidst the horror and violence, Pumpkin never felt anything less than human.
The path to Hallowarrior was also unusually long. Sottak revealed that the first draft was written years before the short film Scavenger, which eventually served as a stepping stone toward the feature. When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted filmmaking plans, Sottak and his collaborators used the short as an opportunity to experiment with visual techniques, locations, and storytelling approaches that would later inform the finished film. Rather than replacing the feature, the short became a laboratory for ideas, allowing the team to refine the world and visual language that audiences now see in Hallowarrior.
While the emotional material forms the backbone of the movie, Shapiro also embraced the chance to tackle the film's larger action and horror sequences. She described the intimate emotional scenes and the physically demanding stunt work as rewarding in completely different ways. Having come from a theater background, she appreciated the vulnerability required for emotional moments, while the stunt work offered an exciting challenge because of its physicality. As she explained, the body often reacts as though the danger is real, making those scenes surprisingly immersive and fun to perform. By the end of production, she viewed the experience as an opportunity to play, comparing it to a child wanting just a few more minutes on the playground before going home.
What makes Hallowarrior special is that it never loses sight of its heart. Beneath the monsters, bloodshed, and Halloween decorations is a story about loneliness, connection, and finding reasons to keep moving forward. It is a film that understands horror can be thrilling, but it can also be deeply human.
Speaking with Ben Sottak and Milly Shapiro only reinforced what I enjoyed so much about the movie itself. The passion both have for the project shines through in every answer, and their enthusiasm is reflected on screen. Hallowarrior delivers exactly what horror fans want from a Halloween movie while offering an emotional core that lingers after the credits roll. For me, it's already become a seasonal tradition, and if you're looking for a film to help get you into the Halloween spirit, it may very well become one of yours as well.
Jessie Hobson