Newly formed distributor DECAL has acquired the U.S. rights to Naveen A. Chathapuram’s “The Last Victim,” starring Prime Time Emmy Award Winner Ron Perlman (“Hellboy” franchise, “Beauty and the Beast”), Ali Larter (“Resident Evil” franchise, “Final Destination” franchise), and Ralph Ineson (“The Green Knight,” “The Witch,” “Chernobyl”). The stylish, white-knuckle thriller set in rural Americana is based on a story by Chathapuram and Doc Justin, was written by Ashley James Louis, and produced by Vicky Gong, Todd Berger, Nicholas Burnett, Chathapuram, Luke Daniels, Charles Leslie, Graem Luis, Joseph Lanius, and Shaun Sanghani.

A group of modern-day outlaws, pursued by an aging sheriff, deal with the fallout of a crime gone wrong in the harsh landscape of the American Southwest. When a young professor and her husband cross paths with the gang, they are drawn into a chain of vengeance where morality is ambiguous and survival is the only priority.

“Chathapuram has crafted a unique vision of survival in the American wilderness,” said DECAL’s SVP of Acquisitions, Ayo Kepher-Maat. “We are thrilled to bring this captivating neo-western to audiences.”

The acquisition deal was negotiated by Kepher-Maat of DECAL along with Jared Goetz at Ascending Media Group, who is handling North American sales, on behalf of the filmmaker. Concourse Media is handling worldwide sales. DECAL will release the film theatrically day-and-date in Q1 of 2022.

“The Last Victim” is a production of Peach Partners in association with Slated, SSS Entertainment, SSS Capital, The Catalyst Group, Blind Alley and Sprockefeller Films.

“The Last Victim” marks Chathapuram’s directorial debut. He previously produced “Ca$h” starring Sean Bean and Chris Hemsworth for Roadside Attractions, “Night of the Living Dead: Darkest Dawn,” and served as Executive Producer on “Brown Nation”, a sitcom released exclusively on Netflix.

The newly-launched film label DECAL acquires a wide array of unique independent films and presents them to audiences across multiple platforms. DECAL recently released “Ride the Eagle” starring J.K. Simmons and Susan Sarandon and the SXSW road trip comedy hit “Stop and Go” from Directors Mallory Everton and Stephen Meek.

In addition, DECAL manages the home entertainment rights of a curated slate of high-profile, thought-provoking films from NEON and Bleecker Street, and is continuing to add other key partnerships. DECAL is offering an ideal environment and option for the independents’ best-in-class digital distribution by optimizing the transactional window with its robust slate of films and strategic partnership