By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The “portrait of a killer granny” has joined this year’s Halloween lineup.
Epic Pictures’ Dread label has announced an October 31 limited-theatrical release date for DOROTHEA, with the movie becoming available to rent or purchase on VOD November 4. The latest examination of a real-life killer by writer/director Chad Ferrin (ED KEMPER, PIG KILLER), it stars Susan Priver, Lew Temple, Brinke Stevens, Ginger Lynn, Brenda James, Cassandra Gava, Cyril O’Reilly, Ezra Buzzington, Robert Miano, Brandon Kirk and William Salyers. The synopsis: “DOROTHEA is a chilling true crime horror that unearths the monstrous secrets of Dorothea Puente, a soft-spoken grandmother who drugged, murdered, and buried her elderly and disabled tenants beneath her garden. Behind her warm smile lurked a predator who used kindness as bait and survival as justification. As the story peels back layers of trauma, deception, and calculated cruelty, it reveals a harrowing portrait of a woman shaped by abuse and driven by greed. DOROTHEA forces audiences to confront the terrifying truth that real evil often hides in plain sight.”
“After the world premiere at the Valley Film Festival, I am confident DOROTHEAwill be a success,” Ferrin says. “The audience loved it, there was such great energy from the first frame to the last pulsating through the crowd, I’ve never had a more positive screening in my career. And with the amazing job Dread did with the release of ED KEMPER, I know DOROTHEA is in the best possible hands.”
“DOROTHEA is the second in our series of unflinching true crime films that explore the darkest corners of human nature,” says Dread CEO Patrick Ewald, executive producer of the film. “Director Chad Ferrin masterfully transports audiences to the era in which these horrifying events took place, capturing both the atmosphere and psychology of the time with a truly singular vision. Our next film with Chad, centered on Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker, will push this series even further, diving deeper into the terror and truth behind one of history’s most infamous killers.”
