Jessica Rothe, Jane Levy to Star in Slasher "River"

“River,” a survival slasher from first-time feature director Joshua Giuliano, is uniting two modern scream queens for the first time.

The pic, a Shudder Original Production which is in post-production and set for theatrical release through Independent Film Company, stars Jessica Rothe (“Happy Death Day”), Jane Levy (“Evil Dead”), Dane DiLiegro (“Prey”) and Max Mattern (“Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy”).

International rights will be introduced to buyers at the AFM by Upgrade.

The premise of “River” is “three estranged siblings reunite in their hometown after the death of their father, and they set out to scatter his ashes at his favorite spot on a remote river. But when their boat breaks down, the trip devolves into a waking nightmare. Stranded miles from help with no cell service, they soon realize they’re being stalked by a faceless killer who has emerged from the woods. To survive the night, the siblings must put their long-standing grudges aside and fight together against a ruthless, almost mythic terror.”

Giuliano is delightfully described as “an L.A.-based horror filmmaker by way of the cornfields of Indiana. 

Having grown up religious and terrified of everything, horror filmmaking never seemed like a plausible career choice for him, but his childhood constraints and need to explore beyond his boundaries ultimately proved to be the perfect ingredients for crafting viscerally terrifying and deeply personal projects. His short films have won numerous awards at various festivals around the world, including the Fantasia Film Festival, Fantastic Fest and Frightfest.”

“’River’ was six years in the making, a labor of love that culminated in the most rewarding experience of my life,” Giuliano said in a statement. “Working with Shudder has been a thrilling collaboration and knowing ‘River’ will have a theatrical release is a dream come true. I look forward to sharing our terrifying creation with audiences.”

“River” is produced by Steven Schneider (“Insidious”) from Spooky Pictures, Nick Antosca and Alex Hedlund (“Chucky”) from Eat the Cat, and is executive produced by Jeffrey Tinnell and Robert Tinnell (“The Hunted”) from Allegheny Image Factory, as well as Matt Brodlie and Jonathan Kier from Upgrade.

“Josh is a striking new voice in horror,” Shudder’s vice president of development and production Nicholas Lazo said in a statement. “His simultaneously beautiful and horrifying script captivated us from page one, and it’s our privilege to team up with such an immensely talented group of producers, cast and crew to bring his feature debut to life.”