Incendiary Pictures to produce Dead Awake, from creator of Final Destination

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Jeffrey Reddick, the creator of the FINAL DESTINATION series, is staying busy developing new tales of terror in our beloved genre. We recently reported on his upcoming CLOUDLAND, a religious cult-based thriller that stars Mischa Barton and DREDD producer Adi Shankar, and now we've learned that Incendiary Features, an Austin-based production company led by producer James LaMarr and director Phillip Guzman, has just purchased the rights to DEAD AWAKE, a new sleep paralysis project from Reddick.

Bloody Disgusting is reporting that Guzman is set to direct the horror tale, which was reportedly scooped up in a six-figure deal, with production slated for this fall in central Texas. The screenplay follows…

…a young woman, investigating a mysterious death in her family, who must fight to save herself and her friends from an ancient evil that stalks its victims through the real-life phenomena of sleep paralysis.

I'm familiar with sleep paralysis (which is also known as 'hagging' or 'the devil riding you' in my neck of the woods, the Dirty South), but for those unaware of the strange condition, Wikipedia describes sleep paralysis as 'a phenomenon in which people, either when falling asleep or wakening, temporarily experience an inability to move. It is a transition state between wakefulness and rest characterized by complete muscle atonia (muscle weakness). It can occur at sleep onset or upon awakening, and it is often associated with terrifying visions, such as an intruder in the room, to which one is unable to react due to paralysis'. You can see how this could make for a terrifying idea for a film.

More on DEAD AWAKE as we hear it.