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Shudder Heats up August with a Romero/King Celebration and More!

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Shudder

Is it hot in here? It’s definitely hot in here. Of course I live in Texas and it’s been 107 for three days running with no end in sight. I try to stay motivated. Try to do things. But all I really wanna do is lie on the couch and watch movies. Luckily, AMC’s Shudder never fails to grab my attention.

As August comes barreling at me like a freight train on fire, I’m looking forward to binging their all new curated list of George A. Romero and Stephen King titles, including the return of the original Creepshow to the streaming platform.

Take a look at the full calendar of releases, and let us know what you’ll be watching on Shudder!

What’s on Shudder in August 2022?

August 1st:

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: 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.

Allegoria: 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 onTuesday, August 2. (A Shudder Exclusive)

August 3rd:

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.

What Josiah Saw: Everyone in town knows about the haunted Graham Farm on Willow Road. You’ll hear there’s a bad history to it. Josiah (Robert PatrickThe Terminator) and his youngest son, Thomas (Scott HazeChild 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 StahlSin City) and Mary (Kelli GarnerLars 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).(A Shudder Original)

August 8th:

The Oracle: Shudder dusted off the cobwebs on this one. 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 9th:

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 16th:

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 18th:

The Innocents: 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.)

Glorious: In Glorious, Ryan Kwanten (True BloodKindred) 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 (WhiplashBeing 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. (Shudder Exclusive.)

August 22nd:

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?

August 23rd:

So Vam: 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.)

August 26th:

Watcher: 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). (A Shudder Exclusive.)

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Movies

PG-13 Rated ‘Tarot’ Underperforms at the Box Office

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Tarot starts off the summer horror box office season with a whimper. Scary movies like these are usually a fall offering so why Sony decided to make Tarot a summer contender is questionable. Since Sony uses Netflix as their VOD platform now maybe people are waiting to stream it for free even though both critic and audience scores were very low, a death sentence to a theatrical release. 

Although it was a fast death — the movie brought in $6.5 million domestically and an additional $3.7 million globally, enough to recoup its budget — word of mouth might have been enough to convince moviegoers to make their popcorn at home for this one. 

Tarot

Another factor in its demise might be its MPAA rating; PG-13. Moderate fans of horror can handle fare that falls under this rating, but hardcore viewers who fuel the box office in this genre, prefer an R. Anything less rarely does well unless James Wan is at the helm or that infrequent occurrence like The Ring. It might be because the PG-13 viewer will wait for streaming while an R generates enough interest to open a weekend.

And let’s not forget that Tarot might just be bad. Nothing offends a horror fan quicker than a shopworn trope unless it’s a new take. But some genre YouTube critics say Tarot suffers from boilerplate syndrome; taking a basic premise and recycling it hoping people won’t notice.

But all is not lost, 2024 has a lot more horror movie offerings coming this summer. In the coming months, we will get Cuckoo (April 8), Longlegs (July 12), A Quiet Place: Part One (June 28), and the new M. Night Shyamalan thriller Trap (August 9).

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Movies

‘Abigail’ Dances Her Way To Digital This Week

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Abigail is sinking her teeth into digital rental this week. Starting on May 7, you can own this, the latest movie from Radio Silence. Directors Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillet elevate the vampire genre challenging expectations at every blood-stained corner.

The film stars Melissa Barrera (Scream VIIn The Heights), Kathryn Newton (Ant-Man and the Wasp: QuantumaniaFreakyLisa Frankenstein), and Alisha Weir as the titular character.

The film currently sits at number nine at the domestic box office and has an audience score of 85%. Many have compared the film thematically to Radio Silence’s 2019 home invasion movie Ready or Not: A heist team is hired by a mysterious fixer to kidnap the daughter of a powerful underworld figure. They must guard the 12-year-old ballerina for one night to net a $50 million ransom. As the captors start to dwindle one by one, they discover to their mounting terror that they’re locked inside an isolated mansion with no ordinary little girl.”

Radio Silence is said to be switching gears from horror to comedy in their next project. Deadline reports that the team will be helming an Andy Samberg comedy about robots.

Abigail will be available to rent or own on digital starting May 7.

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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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