The dead are coming. So is the streaming exclusive.
Deadlocked: Dad of the Dead lands on Screamify July 1, 2026 — and it stays there. Beginning that date, the 2026 zombie horror-comedy streams exclusively on Screamify, the film's subscription-streaming home. The timing is no accident. It drops right after Father's Day, and the whole movie is about a dad.
The hook is brutal and simple. An accountant takes his daughter along on a routine work errand. The errand turns into a zombie outbreak. Father and daughter barricade themselves in a restroom with a handful of strangers, and the numbers guy has to conquer his own fears to keep his kid alive long enough to get out.
Single location. Eighty-four minutes. No exits.
Derek Theler (ABC's "Baby Daddy") leads as Iverson, the in-over-his-head accountant. Theler also serves as an executive producer — and his connection to the material runs deeper than a credit. "I felt like I had to say 'yes' because I got the script on the exact same day that I found out that I was going to be a dad," Theler has said. A movie about a dad. A real-life dad in the making. The math added up.
It wasn't a soft shoot, either. "We put a lot of sweat and blood into it, literally," Theler said.
The supporting bench is loaded. Hayley Law ("Riverdale") plays Bri. Melissa Peterman ("Reba," "Baby Daddy") plays Carla, reuniting with Theler from their sitcom days. Oscar-nominated Eric Roberts turns up as Walter. The cast also includes Kausha Campbell, Stephen Conrad Moore, John Omohundro and Taylor Tunes.
Writer-director Casey Jackson directs from his own script, with Snow Story Productions behind the camera. The film is Not Rated, in English, out of the USA.
One clarification for the record. July 1 is the subscription-streaming debut, not the world premiere. Deadlocked already hit digital VOD and DVD/Blu-ray on May 12, 2026, available to rent or buy on Prime Video and Fandango at Home/Vudu. What changes July 1 is the model — no rental, no purchase, just one streaming home behind a single subscription.
Reception so far has been limited. There's no Rotten Tomatoes critic score on the board yet, which makes the Screamify exclusive a clean shot for horror-comedy fans to find it first.
The pitch writes itself. A dad. A daughter. A bathroom. The undead pounding on the door.
Deadlocked: Dad of the Dead streams exclusively on Screamify starting July 1, 2026.




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