Creepy actress Catherine Corcoran has made explosive allegations in a lawsuit filed against the filmmakers behind the horror franchise.
In the October 2025 lawsuit obtained by Us every weekthe lawyers of the accused actress Creepy producers of “fraud, sexual harassment and, ultimately, betrayal” due to Corcoran’s involvement in the infamous gruesome horror blockbuster. (Corcoran played Dawn Emerson, Victoria’s family friend, and suffered a memorable on-screen death in the 2016 film.)
Corcoran alleged that she never received the 1% of profits she was owed from her role in the first film. Creepy film, which grossed approximately $421,000 during its original theatrical release. Although its initial profits were modest, Creepy spawned two blockbuster sequels and a merchandising empire including toys, a video game and themed live events.
In his lawsuit, Corcoran detailed the allegedly grueling working conditions on the set of Creepy. She described being “hung upside down by her ankles for over 10 hours in subzero temperatures in a condemned building” and being photographed naked without her consent. (Director Damien Leone and producer Phil Falcone denied all of Corcoran’s accusations.)
Keep scrolling for a full analysis of the litigation.
What is the “Terrify” film franchise?
Writer-director Leone based the hit 2016 horror film on a series of shorts featuring an unstoppable demonic entity known as Art the Clown, played by Mike Gianelli in shorts and, more famously, by David Howard Thornton in feature films. Thornton’s completely silent portrayal of the sadistic clown made Art one of the most popular characters in modern horror.
Creepy also gained notoriety in horror circles for its brutal on-screen depictions of murder and torture – including a scene where Corcoran’s character, Dawn Emerson, is hung upside down and sawed in two by Art the Clown.
David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown in “Terrifier 3”.
Courtesy of Jesse Korman / Courtesy of Cineverse / Courtesy of Everett CollectionThe original Creepy was produced on a microbudget of approximately $55,000. However, CreepyThe cult following eventually spawned two blockbuster sequels – with another in the works – and propelled the franchise to earn over $100 million at the box office worldwide.
Why is Catherine Corcoran suing “terrifying” filmmakers?
Corcoran filed a breach of contract lawsuit against producers Dark Age Cinema and other entities associated with the production – including Leone and Falcone – in a California federal court in October 2025.
We obtained a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) submitted as evidence, in which Dark Age Cinema appeared to offer Corcoran “1 percent of the profits of Creepy” provided she signed the document. The NDA submitted as proof included Corcoran’s electronic signature – dated July 8, 2015 – but did not have a signature from Dark Age Cinema.
Corcoran’s lawyer Devin McRae alleged that she had agreed to act Creepy for “an extremely low initial daily rate” of $100 per day to account for the “ultra-low budget of the film” in exchange for “1 percent of profits from and/or relating to the film” Creepy cinema and all future Creepy films plus 1 percent of profits from any Creepy related merchandise.
McRae argued that the deal covered not only profits from films and related merchandise, but also video games, themed events, books and “any other way of licensing or using the Creepy intellectual property. »
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“The producers of the film paid Corcoran his royalties for a brief period several years after the film’s release, but as the success of the film series began to grow exponentially and exceeded the producer’s initial expectations, the royalty payments became increasingly sporadic and declined to amounts far from proportional to the revenues generated,” McRae claimed.
The actress said she was paid approximately $8,300 by Dark Age in October 2025. She recalled contacting Leone and producer Falcone to ask about royalties, but they allegedly “brushed off” her concerns by saying Dark Age “doesn’t keep records.”
Elsewhere, Corcoran accused the filmmakers of never obtaining “Corcoran’s written, informed consent” to film her naked body as part of her character’s gruesome execution scene. Filming reportedly took place in 40-second increments over 10 hours on set, where she was intermittently suspended by her ankles.
Damien Leone and Phil Falcone in September 2025.
Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Universal Studios Hollywood“When Corcoran appeared on set to film the scene, she admitted that she was the only woman on set,” the suit claims. “Falcone and Leone informed Corcoran that the scene was to be performed with Corcoran fully nude. However, Corcoran insisted that she be allowed to wear at least underwear during filming, to which Falcone and Leone ultimately acquiesced. However, Falcone and Leone still asked her to perform the scene topless without having received the informed written consent and disclosures required by her SAG agreement.”
Corcoran described an emotionally scarring and physically painful process of filming the scene, including allegedly having to “lie naked on a piece of plywood” while her body was covered in a “quick-drying liquid silicone agent” to create a silicone mold.
“The process was not done properly and the silicone dried and essentially stuck Corcoran to the plywood, requiring a long and painful process to remove the dried silicone from his body,” McRae alleged. “To make matters worse, Falcone took numerous photos of Corcoran’s naked body while she was glued to the sheet of plywood without her consent.”
His lawyer appealed Creepy producers to recognize the importance of Corcoran’s physical and financial sacrifices in making the 2016 horror film a success.
“Without Corcoran’s willingness to take a risk on this production and ultimately receive his compensation, the series would not exist because it could not have been made on a shoestring budget otherwise,” McRae concluded. “However, when it came time to pay what was owed, the producers chose to cheat her.”
How did “terrifying” filmmakers react to the Catherine Corcoran trial?
A spokesperson for Dark Age, writer-director Leone and producer Falcone vigorously denied Corcoran’s allegations in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Damien and Phil deny the allegations in the complaint and will vigorously defend this lawsuit,” their attorneys said.
We requested comment.
