With the back half of Summer approaching we look to Shudder to see how our friends will help us see the season out.
I’m not going to write down anything stupid like, ‘Hoo boy, it’s going to be a scorcher’ or any number of heat related idioms. We know that Shudder will bring us the goods, with a number of Shudder originals and more awesome curated content next month. Let’s dive in, shall we.
The short list of Shudder originals have some well regarded and popular titles. The month starts off with Allegoria, a horror anthology directed by Spider One. Later that week Vincent Grashaw’s southern gothic, What Josiah Saw, will look to shock viewers. Not long after it has its world premiere at Fantasia Rebekah McKendry’s Glorious, starring Ryan Kwanten and J.K. Simmons, will mark the halfway point of the month’s programming.
That same day, The Innocents, Eskil Vogt’s supernatural thriller and buzz title for genre fans after it premiered at Cannes last year, will change the way you look at kids. The end of the month is closed out by LGBTQ+ vampire flick, So Vam, and Chloe Okuno’s Rear Window-esque thriller, Watcher.
Classic horror fans will lose their minds over the George A. Romero and Stephen King collections. The collection will feature Romero’s Creepshow, Land of the Dead, Monkey Shines, Crazies and Season of the Witch. Some of the best adaptations of Stephen King’s work are coming to Shudder. Next month you get Carrie, Misery, Salem’s Lot, Firestarter, Cat’s Eye and Needful Things.
There are a bevy of Amityville horror flicks coming next month as well as a good dose of Yokai supernatural flicks. Everything you need to know about next month’s releases and release dates is in the gallery below.
Allegoria - Premieres Monday, August 1
A group of artist's lives become unwittingly entangled as their obsessions and insecurities manifest monsters, demons and death. The directorial debut of Powerman 5000 lead singer Spider One, Allegoria stars Krsy Fox, Adam Busch, Bryce Johnson, and Scout Compton. RLJE Flims will release film on SVOD and VOD on Tuesday, August 2. (A Shudder Exclusive)
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What Josiah Saw (Shudder Original)
New Film Premieres Thursday, August 4
Everyone in town knows about the haunted Graham Farm on Willow Road. You'll hear there's a bad history to it. Josiah (Robert Patrick, The Terminator) and his youngest son, Thomas (Scott Haze, Child of God), are all that remain of this estranged family. But after experiencing terrifying visions from beyond, Josiah decides they must change their ways to right a great wrong. After being away for over two decades, Eli (Nick Stahl, Sin City) and Mary (Kelli Garner, Lars and the Real Girl), Josiah's eldest children, are enticed to sell the property and reunite at the old farmhouse in hopes of closing this haunting chapter of their lives for good. Sins of the past will be paid in full. Directed by Vincent Grashaw (Coldwater).
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Glorious (Shudder Exclusive)
New Film Premieres Thursday, August 18
In Glorious, Ryan Kwanten (True Blood, Kindred) plays a young man who is spiraling out of control after a bad breakup. His situation worsens after he finds himself locked inside a rest stop bathroom with a mysterious figure played by Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash, Being the Ricardos) speaking to him from an adjacent stall. As he tries to escape, he realizes he is an unwilling player in a situation bigger and more terrible than he could have imagined. The film is directed by Rebekah McKendry and written by Todd Rigney, Joshua Hull and David Ian McKendry.
The Innocents - Premieres Thursday, August 18
During the bright Nordic summer, a group of children reveal mysterious powers. But what starts out innocent soon takes a dark and violent turn in this gripping supernatural thriller written and directed by Oscar-nominee Eskil Vogt. (A Shudder Exclusive.)
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So Vam - Premieres Tuesday, August 23
Kurt is an outcast in a conservative town who dreams of moving to the city to be a famous drag queen. When he is kidnapped by a predatory old vampire and killed, he is rescued just in time to be resurrected by a gang of rebellious vampires who feed on bigots and abusers. So Vam is the feature film debut of Alice Maio Mackay, a trans teen filmmaker based in Australia. (A Shudder Exclusive.)
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Watcher (Shudder Original)
New Film Premieres Friday, August 26
As a serial killer stalks the city, a young actress who just moved to town with her boyfriend notices a mysterious stranger watching her from across the street in this terrifying thriller. Starring Maika Monroe (It Follows) and directed by Chloe Okuno (V/H/S/94).
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GEORGE A. ROMERO AND STEPHEN KING COLLECTIONS
With the return of the original Creepshow film - directed by George A. Romero and written by and co- starring Stephen King - to our movie library, Shudder will celebrate the iconic duo with curated collections featuring some of their most beloved and fan-favorite films. The collections launch on August 1 and will include Romero's: Land of the Dead, Monkey Shines, The Crazies, Season of the Witch, and King's: Carrie (1976), Misery, Salem's Lot, Firestarter, Firestarter: Rekindled (series), Cat's Eye, and Needful Things. The collections will also include current library titles Night of the Living Dead, Day of the Dead, The Amusement Park, Children of the Corn, and Stephen King-specific segments of Shudder Original Series, Creepshow, including "Gray Matter" and "Survivor Type."
Creepshow
A young boy's horror comic book comes to life in a series of five terrifying tales: A dead father comes back for the piece of Father's Day cake that his murderous daughter never served him. A meteorite turns a hapless yokel into a form of plant life. A cuckolded husband plots a seagoing revenge. Something in a crate under the stairs is eating people. And an obsessively clean billionaire suffers an uncontrollable infestation of cockroaches.
Land of the Dead
Legendary filmmaker George A. Romero's latest undead epic finds humanity's last remnants battling to survive the unspeakable truth: the zombie hordes besieging their city...are evolving.
Monkey Shines
Injected with human brain cells, a super intelligent female monkey is enlisted to help a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic get on with his life.
The Crazies
Ordinary citizens turn into homicidal maniacs after a chemical weapon is released in George Romero's 1973 follow-up to Night of the Living Dead. After a mercifully brief foray into romantic comedy, Romero returned to the subject that made him famous - multiple maniacs attacking unsuspecting townspeople - and the government's misguided response to the chaos.
Season of the Witch
After Night of the Living Dead, master of horror George A. Romero turned his eye to witches. On the surface, Joan Mitchell has it all - family, friends, and a beautiful home equipped with all the latest appliances. But when a neighbor educates her on the practice of witchcraft, Joan believes she's discovered the perfect antidote to her monotonous suburban existence, and embarks upon a dark path that will lead to a shocking conclusion.
Carrie
Based on the best-selling Stephen King novel, Carrie is a high school loner with no confidence, no friends... and no idea about the extent of her secret powers of telekinesis. But when her psychotic mother and sadistic classmates finally go too far, the once-shy teen becomes an unrestrained, vengeance-seeking powerhouse who causes all hell to break loose in a frenzy of blood, fire and brimstone! Piper Laurie, John Travolta, and Amy Irving are terrific in this horror classic.
Misery
After his car crashes in the mountains during a blinding snowstorm, famous novelist Paul Sheldon is "rescued" from a car crash by Annie Wilkes, a fan obsessed with the main character in his series of novels. But when Wilkes reads his latest book--and learns he has killed her favorite character--she teaches Sheldon the real meaning of Misery.
Salem's Lot
Driven by inner forces even he cannot understand, novelist Ben Mears (David Soul) returns to his hometown to write about a mysterious mansion that has intrigued him since childhood. But he discovers a horrifying secret: The community is slowly becoming a village of vampires.
Firestarter
Based on the Stephen King novel, this supernatural thriller stars Drew Barrymore as Charlie McGee, a young girl whose ability to start fires with her mind has dire consequences for everyone around her.
Firestarter: Rekindled (Series)
A maniacal agent has a personal score to settle with a woman who can start fires with her mind.
Cat's Eye
Drew Barrymore, James Woods, Alan King, and Robert Hays star in this three-part anthology of Stephen King short stories connected by a stray cat who wanders through each tale. Chain smoker Morrison (Woods) joins a stop-smoking group run by sadistic Dr. Monatti (Alan King). A gambler named Cressner (Kenneth McMillan) makes a bet with his wife's lover. And a young girl (Barrymore) is terrorized by a tiny troll.
Needful Things
Sheriff Alan Pangborn is baffled -- and a bit scared. Almost overnight, the residents of Castle Rock, Maine, the normally peaceful seaside community he serves, seem to have gone mad
NEW ADDITIONS TO SHUDDER'S MOVIE LIBRARY
August 3
Amityville: The Evil Escapes
The demonic forces that were lurking in the infamous Amityville house for over 300 years escape to a remote California mansion by inhabiting a lamp. The evil latches onto a little girl living in the home by taking on the form of her dead father. When it completely possesses her, it's up to a young priest to perform an exorcism and attempt to lift the curse from the desperate family.
Amityville: A New Generation
Photographer Keyes Terry is given an old mirror from a homeless person. He gifts the mirror to a friend, but what he doesn't know is that demonic forces project grisly deaths upon the mirror's surface. Soon, these projections begin transpiring in the real world, proving to be portrayals of the real fates of Keyes's loved ones.
Amityville: Dollhouse
A dollhouse that is a replica of the infamous Amityville haunted house is given to a little girl. Soon after, all sorts of horrible unexplained accidents start to happen. The family must work together to fight off the terrifying evil that has inhabited their lives. The house might be miniature, but the evil is full-sized.
August 8
The Oracle
Young Jenny Jorgens begins communicating with the ghost of a murdered embezzler named William Graham. Her disbelieving husband Ray thinks that she's gone insane. Jenny is eventually enlisted by Graham's spirit to avenge his asphyxiation.
Freeway
Vanessa Lutz (Reese Witherspoon), a teenage delinquent, runs away from her prostitute mother and perverted stepfather to go live with her grandmother. While on her way, she meets Bob Wolverton (Kiefer Sutherland), a charming yet sadistic serial killer. Fearing for her life, she attempts to kill Bob, but Bob makes himself appear the victim and Vanessa is sent to jail. Now she must escape and clear her name before he can strike again.
August 9
Motherly
When a vengeful couple invades her home, a single mother is forced to do whatever it takes to defend her daughter.
Marionette
A therapist loses her grip on reality when a ten-year-old boy claims he can control her future.
August 16
Alone With You
As a young woman painstakingly prepares a romantic homecoming for her girlfriend, their apartment begins to feel more like a tomb when voices, shadows, and hallucinations reveal a truth she has been unwilling to face.
Achoura
Four childhood friends are reunited when one of them surfaces after twenty years, forcing them to confront a creature straight out of a spine-chilling Morrocan legend.
Bloody Oranges
A retired couple entera a dance contest, a corrupt politician, a girl eager to lose her virginity, and a young lawer obsessed with social status - a seemingly benign look into the daily livfes goes haywire in this shocking black comedy.
August 22
100 Monsters
In the first of a trilogy of yokai (Japanese supernatural spirits) films written by Tetsuro Yoshia and released in the late 60s, a greedy slumlord's attempts to forcefully evict his tenants invite the wrath of the titular yokai when a cleansing ritual is botched, with terrifying results.
Spook Warfare
In the second Yokai film, an evil Babylonian vampire is inadvertently awoke by treasure hunters, and a brave samurai teams with the yokai to defeat the bloodthirsty demon.
Along with Ghosts
In the last of the trilogy, the yokai are roused to defend a young girl on the run from deadly yakuza
Snake Girl and the Silver Haired Witch
Noriaki Yuasa, director of the much-beloved Gamera series, adapts the works of horror manga pioneer Kazuo Umezu. A young girl named Sayuri is reunited with her estranged family after years in an orphanage - but trouble lurks within the walls of the large family home. Her mother is an amnesiac after a car accident six months earlier, her sullen sister is confined to the attic and a young housemaid dies inexplicably of a heart attack just before Sayuri arrives... is it all connected to her father's work studying venomous snakes? And is the fanged, serpentine figure that haunts Sayuri's dreams the same one spying on her through holes in the wall?