What do you get when a soap opera legend sinks her teeth into a vampire role—and brings her real-life daughter along for the ride? Brand New Cadillac, a gritty, genre-defying horror short, sinks its claws into that question with fangs, fury, and a twisted brand of family devotion. Co-directed and fronted by Days of Our Lives icon Stacy Haiduk and her daughter, actress Sophia Tatum, the film is more than a blood-soaked desert thrill ride—it’s a bold generational collaboration, laced with grit, gore, and a surprising amount of heart.
This isn’t just mother-daughter bonding. It’s survival, therapy, and vengeance—on four wheels, with blood trails in their wake.
From Daytime Drama to Desert Carnage: How the Journey Began
For years, Stacy Haiduk has been a commanding presence on daytime television, mesmerizing Days of Our Lives fans with her unforgettable portrayals of Kristen DiMera and Susan Banks—two wildly different characters brought to life with uncanny range and emotional depth. At the same time, her daughter Sophia Tatum began to carve out a path of her own, making her first appearance in Salem back in 2020 and quickly showing she had inherited both talent and tenacity. But with Brand New Cadillac, this mother-daughter duo takes a bold and exhilarating leap—steering away from the structured world of soap operas and into something far darker, more chaotic, and infinitely more personal.
Their latest project isn’t just a dip into the horror genre—it’s a full-throttle dive into the psychological and emotional undercurrents of a fractured relationship, set against a backdrop of bloodlust and burning desert roads. In Brand New Cadillac, Stacy plays Lana, a vampire uniquely cursed: she can walk in daylight, but still hungers for blood. Her only lifeline is her daughter, Strode, played by Sophia—a fiercely detached young woman who has begun to embrace the violence required to keep her mother alive. What unfolds is more than just a horror story; it’s a psychological road trip that explores the limits of maternal love, personal sacrifice, and moral decay.
Over one sweltering, blood-soaked week in the desert, the pair are pushed to the brink—by both external threats and the internal tension simmering between them. With each grisly act, every stolen drop of blood becomes more than just survival; it becomes a form of emotional currency, exchanged in silence, resentment, and a yearning for connection neither fully understands. The result is a film that’s equal parts gory thriller, twisted coming-of-age tale, and intimate family drama—charged with raw emotion and delivered with fearless authenticity.
It’s part horror flick, part twisted family drama—and all raw nerve.
Behind the Wheel: Turning a Family into a Film Crew
What played out on screen was only made possible by what unfolded behind the camera. Brand New Cadillac wasn’t a slick studio endeavor—it was a raw, intimate family creation. The script came from Bradford Tatum—Stacy’s husband and Sophia’s father who crafted a lean, emotionally charged narrative that drew from the very dynamics of the trio at its core. With Stacy and Sophia sharing directing duties and leading the cast, the result was a project built not just on vision, but on shared history.
The creative triangle between mother, daughter, and father became the film’s emotional engine. The tension between maternal instinct and youthful defiance so integral to the plot wasn’t just portrayed, it was felt in every frame. Every line spoken, every lingering glance, every subtle shift of the camera held echoes of something lived-in. This wasn’t just performance. It was personal. It was painfully real.
Vintage Dreams and a Cadillac With an Attitude
Sophia’s photography background shaped the film’s look and feel, combining gritty 16 mm footage with sleek digital cinematography. The result? A sun-scorched, grimy ’70s road-movie vibe soaked in blood and beauty. But the visuals weren’t the only thing with character—the Cadillac itself became a star.
Their classic Eldorado, while visually perfect, proved a beast to manage. “It had more personality than we bargained for,” Sophia laughed, as Stacy recalled the sheer panic of navigating the enormous, aging vehicle through endless sand and searing heat. Its constant breakdowns weren’t in the script—but they made their way into the fabric of the film, adding realism and chaos that no prop car ever could.
Twisted Love on Screen: When Blood Ties Get Literal
At its heart, Brand New Cadillac is far more than a blood-soaked horror short—it’s a meditation on fractured bonds and the strange, stubborn ways love manages to survive. Every brutal act, every shared silence in the scorched desert landscape, pulses with unspoken history between Lana and Strode—a mother and daughter bound by affection as much as toxicity. Beneath the carnage and crimson, this is a story about healing—or at the very least, the painful path to understanding.
Audiences have described the film as “a passion project that oozes authenticity,” and that raw honesty stems from the electric, unnerving chemistry between Stacy Haiduk and Sophia Tatum. Their performances walk a razor’s edge—tender one moment, terrifying the next—layered with both menace and vulnerability. You flinch at their choices, yet still ache for them. It’s the rare kind of horror that doesn’t just make you scream it makes you feel.
From Short Film to Full-Length Mayhem: The Next Chapter
Having ignited audience curiosity with their blood-spattered short, Stacy Haiduk and Sophia Tatum are far from finished. Eager to evolve Brand New Cadillac into a full-length feature, the mother-daughter duo recently hit the accelerator on a live virtual fundraiser. More than just a campaign, the event offered fans a rare, intimate window into the project’s creation. There was a screening of the short, a silent auction, and a no-holds-barred Q&A—but more importantly, there was heart. Real, messy, beautifully complicated heart.
“There’s a lot of love pumping through this story,” Stacy shared, her words landing with the weight of someone who’s lived it. Because Brand New Cadillac isn’t just soaked in gore—it’s steeped in something far more vulnerable. This is a horror story with veins of healing running through every frame.
If the short was the spark, the feature promises the full blaze. Sophia teased a journey that descends even deeper into madness: “crazy circumstances and a journey that forces them to bond in ways neither expected.” Expect higher emotional stakes. Bloodier battles. Darker turns. And a mother-daughter relationship that keeps evolving—no matter the cost.
The car’s in gear. The road is long. And if they gather enough momentum, Brand New Cadillac is ready to roar into something unforgettable.
