Shout! Studios has acquired all U.S. distribution rights to Frankie Freako, the latest film from director Steven Kostanski and Toronto-based Hangar 18 Media, which recently wrapped production in Hamilton, Ont.

Shout! Studios’ rights include cross-platform releases, which includes theatrical, streaming, VOD and home video, with Raven Banner handling Canadian distribution and international sales.

The film is Kostanski’s follow-up to PG: Psycho Goreman, which was an official selection at SXSW and quickly amassed a global cult following with its nostalgia for 1980s horror and sci-fi and emphasis on practical effects.

Frankie Freako is described as another homage from Kostanki, this time to the little monster horror-comedies of the 1980s such as Gremlins 2 and Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go to College. It tells the story of workaholic yuppie played by Conor Sweeney (The Editor, Father’s Day) who inadvertently unleashes three tiny monsters in his home.

Produced and financed under the Hangar 18 Media banner, Frankie Freako is produced by Melanie Murray, Pasha Patriki and Kostanski. Additional producers include Raven Banner’s Michael Paszt, Andrew Thomas Hunt and James Fler. Avi Federgreen and Alison Waxman serve as executive producers, alongside Garson Foos, Bob Emmer and Jordan Fields for Shout! Studios.

“Steven is a human love letter to genre films, and this is a partnership Shout has long sought,” said Jordan Fields, SVP of acquisitions and originals at Shout! Studios in a statement. “With his impeccable sense of tone and humour, not to mention his wizardry with practical effects, Frankie Freako will surely delight fans of those subversive and mischievous creature features of yesteryear.”

The film’s creature effects were created by the newly formed indie FX house Action Pants FX, led by the producing team of Kostanski and his partners, Patriki, Paszt, Hunt and Fler.

“Action Pants was created with the purpose of providing indie genre films with prosthetics, specialty props and creature FX, while also being a home base for all of my and Hangar 18’s upcoming projects,” Kostanski said in the release.

Toronto-based Raven Banner, which formed Hangar 18 with 9 Light Entertainment, teamed with iconic Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash earlier this year to launch BerserkerGang, a new horror-focused production company.

Image courtesy of Hangar 18 Media