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Shudder Brings Creature Features, Queer Horror, & More in June 2022!

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Shudder June 2022

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but 2022 is halfway over. For real. It’s happening. Fortunately, the year has brought out a host of horror hits across streaming platforms and yes, even on the big screen. Shudder has kept their head in the game all year with their Halfway to Halloween celebration and so much more and they’re bringing even more scary to June 2022.

The streamer is all set to scare you with short films, creature features, classic films, and all points in between. The streamer will also once again feature their queer horror collection with new titles joining their already impressive list of classics. Take a look at the full schedule below!

What’s new on Shudder in June 2022!

June 1st:

Eye of the Cat: Penned by Joseph Stafano, author of the horror classic Psycho, Eye of the Cat tells the macabre and suspenseful tale of a young man who plots murder after his wealthy aunt announces that she intends to leave her fortune to her cats.

In the Mouth of Madness: Imagine a novel so overwhelmingly hypnotic, so tremendously horrifying that it paralyzes its audience with fear and turns its most sensible readers insane. When the author disappears, an insurance investigator hired to find the horror writer discovers far more than he could ever imagine in this spellbinding thriller.

Poltergeist: Late one night, 10 year-old Carol Anne Freeling hears a voice coming from the inside of the television set. At first, the spirits that invade the Freelings’ home seem like playful children. But then they turn angry. And when Carol Anne is pulled from this world into another, Steve and Diane Freeling turn to an exorcist in the horror classic.

Mary, Mary Bloody Mary: Mary (Cristina Ferrare), a beautiful American artist living in Mexico to more easily gratify her growing lust for blood. While her horrific appetites are fueled, her life becomes further fraught with the investigation into the grisly murders, love for a handsome young American ex-patriot (David Young), and by the sudden, terrifying appearance of her like-minded father (John Carradine), intent upon satisfying his own heinous hungers as well as his legacy of compulsion. As Mary continues to cut a bloody swath across the country, investigators and her pursuing parent close in–the suspense and nightmarish drama gather to a final chilling confrontation.”

Cannibal Man: After accidentally killing a man, a poor butcher named Marco embarks on a murderous frenzy to cover up the crime. Marco starts disposing of the bodies in his slaughterhouse, but that alone won’t solve the problem.

El Pico: Paco is the son of a conservative law enforcement officer. His best friend is Urko, whose father is a progressive socialist politician. Both young men are heroin addicts. EL PICO is the intricately woven story of Paco and Urko trekking ever deeper into the seedy world of the illicit drug trade in early-‘80s Spain. It chronicles a period of upheaval in the lives of these unlikely friends, as their addiction leads them to escalating criminal activity, kicking off a chain reaction of bloodshed and tragedy. EL PICO shines an unforgiving light into the dark corners of the drug underworld and explores the complexities of family lives that straddle the line between both sides of the law.

El Pico 2: El Pico 2 continues the criminal saga of Paco, a troubled heroin addict who escaped sordid entanglements of murder and overdose, thanks to the actions of his law enforcement officer father. Under the watchful eyes of his father and grandmother, Paco struggles to free himself from the tightening grip of addiction. But salvation proves as elusive as ever, and he soon finds himself drawn back into his old life. From the dark corners of the illicit drug trade to prison and back again, EL PICO 2 is a glimpse into the hellish depths of heroin addiction and the tragedy it visits upon its victims and their families.

Navajeros: Chronicles the life of Jaro, the leader of a juvenile delinquent gang in late-’70s Spain, depicting his rise from street urchin to outlaw anti-hero on the way to his inevitable end. The child of absentee parents, Jaro has amassed an impressive rap sheet before reaching his 16th birthday, but still finds life unfulfilling. Ambition drives him to take up a sawed-off shotgun and lead his gang on a crime spree that will paint a bloody swathe across the city and drive Jaro closer and closer to violent tragedy. Unflinching and often brutal, the film also treats its subject with genuine humanity.

No One Heard the Scream: One year after his international breakthrough with Cannibal Man, defiant Basque filmmaker Eloy de la Iglesia co-wrote and directed this twisted thriller that instantly made him “the father of Spanish giallo” (Spanish Fear): When a woman spies her neighbor disposing of his wife’s corpse, she will cross the line from witness to accomplice to something far more depraved.

Daughters of Darkness: In this 1971 erotic Euro-horror classic, a pair of newlyweds become the targets of the vampire Countess Bathory and her female lover, who’ve been draining local vixens of their blood for centuries. But the Countess has bigger plans for the couple, and so she begins cleverly pitting them against each other until she can strike.

What Keeps You Alive: On the eve of their one-year wedding anniversary, Jules and Jackie become embroiled in a merciless fight for their lives when they find themselves pitted against the most unexpected of adversaries: each other.

June 2nd:

Alligator: From director Lewis Teague (Cujo) and screenwriter John Sayles (The Howling) comes an unstoppable thriller with bite. A family returning from Florida decides their pet baby alligator is too much to handle and flushes him down the toilet. Meanwhile, Slade Laboratories is conducting secret experiments with animals and disposing of them in the sewer. The alligator, fending for itself, begins to feed on the dead animals, and grows. Now, twelve years later, after several mysterious murders, David Madison (Robert Forster, Jackie Brown) is on the case to find out who … or what … is killing people.

Alligator 2: The Mutation: Deep in the sewers beneath the city of Regent Park, a baby alligator feeds on the experimental animals discarded by Future Chemicals Corporation. Nourished by the toxic growth hormones and other mutating chemicals, the gator grows immense in size … and voracious in appetite. Now, it must kill to survive! It’s a classic confrontation between man and beast. This sequel stars Joseph Bologna (Transylvania 6-5000), Steve Railsback (Lifeforce), Dee Wallace (The Howling), Richard Lynch (Bad Dreams) and Kane Hodder (Jason X).

June 6th:

Backcountry: An urban couple go camping in the Canadian wilderness – where unimaginable beauty sits alongside our most primal fears. Alex is a seasoned outdoorsman while Jenn, a corporate lawyer, is not. After much convincing, and against her better judgment, she agrees to let him take her deep into a Provincial Park to one of his favorite spots – the secluded Blackfoot Trail.

A Lonely Place to Die: A group of climbers make a grim discovery high up in the mountains: buried amongst the peaks is an eight-year-old girl, terrified, dehydrated and unable to speak a word of English. Alison (Melissa George, TV s Grey’s Anatomy, 30 Days of Night), the group leader, convinces her group to rescue her. But as they attempt to take the girl to safety, they become involved in an elaborate kidnapping plot and soon must fight for their lives as they re pursued by both the girl s kidnappers and a group of hired mercenaries sent to return the girl to her war criminal father. With danger all around them and mountainous terrain to navigate, Alison and her party are in for a grueling ordeal in order to save both the girl and themselves.

The Wild Boys: The debut feature from Bertrand Mandico tells the tale of five adolescent boys (all played by actresses) enamored by the arts, but drawn to crime and transgression. After a brutal crime committed by the group and aided by TREVOR – a deity of chaos they can’t control – they’re punished to board a boat with a captain hell-bent on taming their ferocious appetites. After arriving on a lush island with dangers and pleasures abound the boys start to transform in both mind and body. Shot in gorgeous 16mm and brimming with eroticism, genderfluidity, and humor, The Wild Boys will take you on journey you won’t soon forget.

The Demons of Dorothy: (Short film) Dorothy’s a film director and a bit of a loser. To avoid sinking to the deepest depths of despair, Dorothy seeks comfort in her favorite TV show, Romy the Vampire Slayer. Unfortunately, her own demons show up. From Alexis Langlois, director of Terror Sisters.

June 10th:

Offseason: Upon receiving a mysterious letter that her mother’s grave site has been vandalized, in Offseason, Marie (Jocelin Donahue, Doctor Sleep) quickly returns to the isolated offshore island where her late mother is buried. When she arrives, she discovers that the island is closing for the offseason with the bridges raised until Spring, leaving her stranded. One strange interaction with the local townspeople after another, Marie soon realizes that something is not quite right in this small town. She must unveil the mystery behind her mother’s troubled past in order to make it out alive.

June 13th:

The Clovehitch Killer: Tyler’s a good kid, a boy scout, raised by a poor but happy family in a small, religious town. But when he finds his dad, Don, has disturbing pornography hidden in the shed, he starts to fear that his dad might be Clovehitch, an infamous serial killer that was never caught. Tyler teams up with Kassi, a teenage outcast who’s morbidly obsessed with the Clovehitch legend, to discover the truth in time to save his family.

All About Evil: This over-the-top black comedy is about a mousy librarian who inherits her father’s beloved but failing old movie house, The Victoria. To save the family business, she discovers her inner serial killer – and a legion of rabid gore fans – when she starts turning out a series of gruesome shorts. Unfortunately, her fans don’t realize yet that the murders in the movies are real. The directorial debut of Midnight Movie impresario Joshua Grannell (better known as ‘Peaches Christ’), All About Evil stars Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll), Thomas Dekker (Swimming with Sharks), cult icon Mink Stole (Serial Mom), and Cassandra Peterson (Elvira: Mistress of the Dark).

June 16th:

Mad GodA SHUDDER ORIGINAL Mad God marks the feature directorial debut for visionary and Oscar and Emmy Award-winning stop-motion animator and special effects supervisor Phil Tippett, the creative powerhouse involved in such classics as RoboCop, Starship Troopers, Jurassic Park, and Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Mad God is an experimental animated film set in a world of monsters, mad scientists and war pigs. A corroded diving bell descends amidst a ruined city, settling down upon an ominous fortress guarded by zombie-like sentries. The Assassin emerges to explore a labyrinth of bizarre, desolate landscapes inhabited by freakish denizens. Through unexpected twists and turns, he experiences an evolution beyond his wildest comprehension. A labour of love that has taken 30 years to complete, Mad God combines live-action and stop-motion, miniature sets and other innovative techniques to bring Tippett’s wholly unique and grotesquely beautiful vision to life

June 20th:

The Freakmaker: Professor Nolter, a college science professor who believes it is man’s destiny to survive an uncertain future by evolving into a hybrid plant/human mutation. To test his theories, Nolter supervises the abduction of young co-eds and fuses them with mutant plants he has developed in his laboratory, placing his rejects in a neighboring freak show (which stars such real-life oddities as the Alligator Lady, the Frog Boy, the Human Pretzel, the Monkey Woman, the Human Pincushion and the unforgettable “Popeye”.

Grizzly: An enormous grizzly bear embarks on a murderous rampage in a national park, killing campers, hunters, and anyone else who gets in its way. But when rangers push to close the park, craven officials decide to keep it open. Sound familiar? A year after JAWS broke records, director William Girdler set out to cash in with a knockoff – and guess what? It worked. Grizzly became the top independent hit of 1976, grossing nearly $30 million dollars and inspiring many more animal attack thrillers – including Girdler’s semi-sequel Day of the Animals the following year.

Day of the Animals: A group of animal lovers are hunted by killer critters during a camping trip in this over-the-top cult classic from B-movie maestro William Girdler. Leslie Nielsen, Lynda Day George and Ruth Roman are among the campers whose hike turns into a death march when bears, birds, bugs and more start attacking. Though the campy attempts at staging the kills often induce more laughter than fear, especially the scene in which Nielsen fights a bear rug, DOTA still offers jolting thrills for all fans of the animal attack genre.

June 23rd:

Revealer: A SHUDDER ORIGINAL Tensions rise when a stripper and religious protester are trapped together in a peep show booth and must come together to survive the apocalypse in 1980’s Chicago. Starring Caito Aase (Black Mold) and Shaina Schrooten (Scare Package II: Rad Chad’s Revenge), written by popular comic authors Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash, Revival) and Michael Moreci (Barbaric, The Plot) and directed by Luke Boyce.

June 30th:

The Long Night: While searching for the parents she’s never known, New York transplant Grace (Scout Taylor-Compton) returns to her childhood southern stomping grounds with her boyfriend (Nolan Gerard Funk) to investigate a promising lead on her family’s whereabouts. Upon arrival, the couple’s weekend takes a bizarre, terrifying turn as a nightmarish cult and their maniacal leader terrorize the pair to fulfill a twisted ancient apocalyptic prophecy. Starring Scout Taylor-Compton, Nolan Gerard Funk, Deborah Kara Unger and Jeff Fahey, directed by Rich Ragsdale.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

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Editorial

Yay or Nay: What’s Good and Bad in Horror This Week

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Horror Movies

Welcome to Yay or Nay a weekly mini post about what I think is good and bad news in the horror community written in bite-sized chunks. 

Yay:

Mike Flanagan talking about directing the next chapter in the Exorcist trilogy. That might mean he saw the last one and realized there were two left and if he does anything well it’s draw out a story. 

Yay:

To the announcement of a new IP-based film Mickey Vs Winnie. It’s fun to read comical hot takes from people who haven’t even seen the movie yet.

Nay:

The new Faces of Death reboot gets an R rating. It’s not really fair — Gen-Z should get an unrated version like past generations so they can question their mortality the same as the rest of us did. 

Yay:

Russell Crowe is doing another possession movie. He’s quickly becoming another Nic Cage by saying yes to every script, bringing the magic back to B-movies, and more money into VOD. 

Nay:

Putting The Crow back in theaters for its 30th anniversary. Re-releasing classic movies at the cinema to celebrate a milestone is perfectly fine, but doing so when the lead actor in that film was killed on set due to neglect is a cash grab of the worst kind. 

The Crow
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Lists

The Top-Searched Free Horror/Action Movies on Tubi This Week

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The free streaming service Tubi is a great place to scroll when you’re unsure what to watch. They are not sponsored or affiliated with iHorror. Still, we really appreciate their library because it’s so robust and has many obscure horror movies so rare you can’t find them anywhere in the wild except, if you’re lucky, in a moist cardboard box at a yard sale. Other than Tubi, where else are you going to find Nightwish (1990), Spookies (1986), or The Power (1984)?

We take a look at the most searched horror titles on the platform this week, hopefully, to save you some time in your endeavor to find something free to watch on Tubi.

Interestingly at the top of the list is one of the most polarizing sequels ever made, the female-led Ghostbusters reboot from 2016. Perhaps viewers have seen the latest sequel Frozen Empire and are curious about this franchise anomaly. They will be happy to know it’s not as bad as some think and is genuinely funny in spots.

So take a look at the list below and tell us if you are interested in any of them this weekend.

1. Ghostbusters (2016)

Ghostbusters (2016)

An otherworldly invasion of New York City assembles a pair of proton-packed paranormal enthusiasts, a nuclear engineer and a subway worker for battle.An otherworldly invasion of New York City assembles a pair of proton-packed paranormal enthusiasts, a nuclear engineer and a subway worker for battle.

2. Rampage

When a group of animals becomes vicious after a genetic experiment goes awry, a primatologist must find an antidote to avert a global catastrophe.

3. The Conjuring The Devil Made Me Do It

Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren uncover an occult conspiracy as they help a defendant argue that a demon forced him to commit murder.

4. Terrifier 2

After being resurrected by a sinister entity, Art the Clown returns to Miles County, where his next victims, a teenage girl and her brother, await.

5. Don’t Breathe

A group of teens breaks into a blind man’s home, thinking they’ll get away with the perfect crime but get more than they bargained for once inside.

6. The Conjuring 2

In one of their most terrifying paranormal investigations, Lorraine and Ed Warren help a single mother of four in a house plagued by sinister spirits.

7. Child’s Play (1988)

A dying serial killer uses voodoo to transfer his soul into a Chucky doll which winds up in the hands of a boy who may be the doll’s next victim.

8. Jeepers Creepers 2

When their bus breaks down on a deserted road, a team of high school athletes discovers an opponent they cannot defeat and may not survive.

9. Jeepers Creepers

After making a horrific discovery in the basement of an old church, a pair of siblings find themselves the chosen prey of an indestructible force.

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Movie Reviews

Panic Fest 2024 Review: ‘Haunted Ulster Live’

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Everything old is new again.

On Halloween 1998, the local news of Northern Ireland decide to do a special live report from an allegedly haunted house in Belfast. Hosted by local personality Gerry Burns (Mark Claney) and popular children’s presenter Michelle Kelly (Aimee Richardson) they intend to look at the supernatural forces disturbing the current family living there. With legends and folklore abound, is there an actual spirit curse in the building or something far more insidious at work?

Presented as a series of found footage from a long forgotten broadcast, Haunted Ulster Live follows similar formats and premises as Ghostwatch and The WNUF Halloween Special with a news crew investigating the supernatural for big ratings only to get in over their heads. And while the plot has certainly been done before, director Dominic O’Neill’s 90’s set tale of local access horror manages to stand out on its own ghastly feet. The dynamic between Gerry and Michelle is most prominent, with him being an experienced broadcaster who thinks this production is beneath him and Michelle being fresh blood who is considerably annoyed at being presented as costumed eye candy. This builds as the events within and around the domicile becomes too much to ignore as anything less than the real deal.

The cast of characters is rounded out by the McKillen family who have been dealing with the haunting for some time and how it’s had an effect on them. Experts are brought in to help explain the situation including the paranormal investigator Robert (Dave Fleming) and the psychic Sarah (Antoinette Morelli) who bring their own perspectives and angles to the haunting. A long and colorful history is established about the house, with Robert discussing how it used to be the site of an ancient ceremonial stone, the center of leylines, and how it was possibly possessed by the ghost of a former owner named Mr. Newell. And local legends abound about a nefarious spirit named Blackfoot Jack that would leave trails of dark footprints in his wake. It’s a fun twist having multiple potential explanations for the site’s strange occurrences instead of one end-all be-all source. Especially as the events unfold and the investigators try to discover the truth.

At its 79 minute timelength, and the encompassing broadcast, it’s a bit of a slow burn as the characters and lore is established. Between some news interruptions and behind the scenes footage, the action is mostly focused on Gerry and Michelle and the build up to their actual encounters with forces beyond their comprehension. I will give kudos that it went places I didn’t expect, leading to a surprisingly poignant and spiritually horrifying third act.

So, while Haunted Ulster Live isn’t exactly trendsetting, it definitely follows in the footsteps of similar found footage and broadcast horror films to walk its own path. Making for an entertaining and compact piece of mockumentary. If you’re a fan of the sub-genres, Haunted Ulster Live is well worth a watch.

3 eyes out of 5
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