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NOVEMBER 2020 U.S. HIGHLIGHTS
titles also available on Shudder Canada, UK and ANZ as noted
SHUDDER ORIGINAL/EXCLUSIVE MOVIES
BLOOD VESSEL — November 5
Somewhere in the North Atlantic, late 1945, a life raft adrift at sea, and in it, the survivors of a torpedoed hospital ship. With no food, water, or shelter, all seems lost until a seemingly abandoned German minesweeper drifts ominously towards them, giving them one last chance at survival—if they can survive the bloodthirsty monsters on board. Starring Nathan Phillips (Wolf Creek), Alyssa Sutherland (Vikings), Robert Taylor (Longmire), directed by Justin Dix (Crawlspace). A SHUDDER EXCLUSIVE. (Also available on Shudder Canada and Shudder UK)
Trailer: https://youtu.be/wzLPDkgxRuo
LINGERING — November 12 (a.k.a. Hotel Lake)
Seeking support as the guardian of her younger brother, Yoo-mi returns to a small hotel run by a family friend. As bizarre incidents creep up in her mother’s old room, Yoo-mi will have to unravel the supernatural mystery and discover the truth before it’s too late. Starring Lee Se-young (Memorist), Park ji-young (The Concubine), directed by Yoon Eun-kyoung. A SHUDDER ORIGINAL. (Also available on Shudder Canada, Shudder UK and Shudder ANZ)
Trailer: https://youtu.be/us-_8VpdlLs
LEAP OF FAITH: WILLIAM FRIEDKIN ON THE EXORCIST — November 19
A lyrical and spiritual cinematic essay on The Exorcist, Leap of Faith explores the uncharted depths of William Friedkin’s mind’s eye, the nuances of his filmmaking process, and the mysteries of faith and fate that have shaped his life and filmography. The film marks the sixth feature documentary from Philippe (78/52, Memory: The Origins of Alien), continuing his thoughtful analysis of iconic genre films. Starring William Friedkin. Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe. A SHUDDER ORIGINAL. (Also available on Shudder Canada, Shudder UK and Shudder ANZ) Trailer: https://youtu.be/p5FXjdKxgrA
PORNO — November 24
When five repressed teen employees at a local movie theatre in a small Christian town discover a mysterious old film hidden in its basement, they unleash an alluring demon that is determined to give them a sex education...written in blood. Starring Robbie Tann, Katelyn Pearce, Evan Daves, Larry Saperstein (High School Musical: The Musical series), Jillian Mueller (The Last O.G.), Glen Stott (The Good Fight), directed by Keola Racela (Above the Sea). A SHUDDER EXCLUSIVE. (Also available on Shudder Canada and Shudder UK)
Trailer: https://youtu.be/-JiWnGQgKNk
NEW COLLECTIONS FOR NOVEMBER
THE MARIO BAVA COLLECTION — November 23
A master of Gothic, a genius of giallo and a Godfather of Italian Horror—Shudder celebrates the legacy and influence of Mario Bava with a collection spanning his first foray into fright, Black Sunday to his final gem, Shock.
Featuring: A Bay of Blood, Black Sabbath, Black Sunday, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, KIll Baby Kill, Lisa and the Devil, Shock and The Whip and The Body
(Also available on Shudder Canada)
ALL NEW TITLES FOR NOVEMBER
November 2
EMELIE (Director: Michael Thelin)
As their parents head out for a date in the city, the three young Thompson children – Jacob, Christopher and Sally – immediately take to their new babysitter Anna, who seems like a dream come true: she’s sweet, fun, and lets them do things that break all of their parents’ rules. But as the night creeps along and Anna’s interactions with them take on a more sinister tone, the kids slowly realize that their caretaker may not be who she claims to be. Soon it’s up to big brother Jacob to protect his siblings from the increasingly nefarious intentions of a very disturbed woman whose weapon is trust, and whose target is innocence. Starring Sarah Bolger, Joshua Rush, Carly Adams. (Also available on Shudder Canada)
SALEM’S LOT (Director: Tobe Hooper)
Driven by inner forces even he cannot understand, novelist Ben Mears 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. Starring David Soul, James Mason, Bonnie Bedelia
URBAN LEGEND (Director: Jamie Blanks)
Dr. Wexler, professor of American Folklore, states that urban legends exist only to convey hidden moral lessons for all who hear them. But the students at New England's Pendleton College are finding out just how fatal these stories can really be. When a series of murders occurs at the school, student Natalie begins to notice a bizarre link between the killings. Starring Jared Leto, Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart, Robert Englund
November 5
BLOOD VESSEL (see above for details)
November 9
BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE AND GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON (Director: David Gregory)
“Horror Film Director Found Slain, Buried Under Floor,” screamed the 1995 headlines read ‘round the world. But the truth behind the wild life of Al Adamson—including the making of his low budget classics and his grisly death—reveals perhaps the most bizarre career in Hollywood history, as retold in this captivating documentary. Featuring Al Adamson, John 'Bud' Cardos, Robert Dix, Marilyn Joi, Gary Kent (Also available on Shudder Canada)
CHERRY TREE (Director: David Keating)
After learning dad’s leukemia has advanced, Faith is stunned when her teacher approaches her with a devilish deal. If Faith gets pregnant and hands the baby over for a sacrifice, the sorceress will heal poor papa. But there’s always a catch, and when Faith realizes what she’s actually agreed to, the sweet deal goes sour very fast. David Keating’s follow-up to Shudder favorite Wake Wood. Starring Anna Walton, Naomi Battrick, Sam Hazeldine. (Also available on Shudder Canada)
November 12
LINGERING (see above for details)
November 14
SATURDAY THE 14TH (Director: Howard R. Cohen)
In this horror comedy, John and Mary can't believe their good fortune when they inherit the vast estate of John's recently departed uncle. Sure, it's a fixer-upper. But there's nothing that can't be taken care of with a fresh coat of paint, a little dusting ... and maybe an exorcist! Monsters, mayhem, and mirth descend upon the house and only a mysterious book can save this everyday normal family from Saturday's paranormal activity. Starring Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss, Jeffrey Tambor (Also available on Shudder Canada)
November 16
ARE WE NOT CATS? (Director: Xander Robin)
After losing his job, girlfriend, and home in a single day, a desperate thirty-something accepts a delivery job upstate. There he stumbles upon Anya, a beguiling and mysterious young artist who shares his proclivity for eating human hair. While their shared obsession bonds these two loners together, it also takes them on a perverse and disturbing journey in one of the most exciting and singular American indies of recent years. Starring Michael Nicholson, Chelsea Lopez, Michael Godere. (Also available on Shudder Canada)
BLOOD OF WOLVES (Director: Kazuya Shiraishi)
Rookie detective Shuichi Hioka is assigned to the East Kurehara precinct’s Second Investigation Division, which boasts the best arrest rate in the Hiroshima Prefectural Police. He and his new partner Shogo Ogami, a veteran detective rumored to be in cahoots with the mob, are tasked with investigating the disappearance of an employee of Kurehara Finance, a front company for the Kakomura-gumi organized crime group. Starring Koji Yakusho, Tori Matsuzaka. (Also available on Shudder Canada, UK and ANZ)
COHERENCE (Director: James Ward Byrkit)
On the night of an astronomical anomaly, eight friends at a dinner party experience a troubling chain of reality bending events. Part cerebral sci-fi and part relationship drama, Coherence is a tightly focused, intimately shot film that quickly ratchets up with tension and mystery. Starring Emily Baldoni, Maury Sterling, Nicholas Brendon
LET THE CORPSES TAN (Director: Helene Cattet, Bruno Forzani)
Belgian filmmakers Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani trade in the crushed velvet and creeping shadows of their giallo-worshiping first two films (Amer, The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears) for blistering sun, creaking leather and raining bullets in this glorious homage to 1970s Italian crime films. Based on a classic pulp novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette and featuring vintage music cues by Ennio Morricone, Let the Corpses Tan is a deliriously stylish, cinematic fever dream that will slamfire your senses like buckshot to the brain. Starring Elina Lowensohn, Stephane Ferrara, Bernie Bonvoisin (Also available on Shudder Canada)
November 19
LEAP OF FAITH (see above for details)
November 23
THE MARIO BAVA COLLECTION:
A BAY OF BLOOD, BLACK SABBATH, BLACK SUNDAY, THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, KILL BABY KILL, LISA AND THE DEVIL, SHOCK and THE WHIP AND THE BODY
November 24
PORNO (see above for details)
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ABOUT SHUDDER:
AMC Networks’ Shudder is a premium streaming video service, super-serving members with the best selection in genre entertainment, covering horror, thrillers and the supernatural. Shudder’s expanding library of film, TV series, and originals is available on most streaming devices in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. To experience Shudder commitment-free for 7 days, visit www.shudder.com.
Last year, Lindsay Schoolcraft, who among her many past gigs included being the keyboardist for Cradle of Filth, made her solo debut with the awesome Martyrs. This year, with COVID-19 resulting in quarantine, Schoolcraft worked on Worlds Away giving us a powerful album and beautifully haunting record. Returning to work with her is former and the first Evanescence drummer Rocky Gray (who also co-wrote Martyrs with her), as he adds some electronic beats on a couple of songs.
The result is one of the most emotionally captivating records of the year, one that also happens to get better with each and every listening. In these difficult times, I have found peace and beauty in it. There is this welcoming embrace to it, that invites the listener and heals the soul. I connected to it on an spiritual level that is hard to achieve or even truly explain. This is the perfect record to relax to, as it calms the inner and deepest part of one.
Most of the songs presented here are reworkings of her earlier tracks. Only two (the title track and "Dance On The Strings") are new. Regardless all of the songs are ethereally haunting works of music. That aforementioned title has a gorgeous and stunning string intro to it. It is complimented by Schoolcraft's beautiful and soothing voice. "Saviour", one of my absolute favorite off of Martyrs, is given a new life here. The intro to this one is haunting and, yet, with her gorgeous vocals there this new tragic and pained feel to it. It makes the song that much more powerful and effective. "Fading Star" is another stunner of a track. Her voice sounds amazing and works so wonderfully against here string work giving it an otherworldly and sorrowful feel. I would call it my favorite but, the truth is each listening gives me a new song that I connect more and more to.
Lindsay Schoolcraft's Worlds Apart is one of the year's most beautiful, stunning, and powerful surprises. It touched the inner me in a way I wasn't expecting. In these trying times, it is an album that will soothe and calm the heart and the soul. Mixing elements of Evanescence, Within Temptation, and Sarah Brightman, it provides the perfect answer to those of who have a taste for the beautiful, tragic, and gothic. With Schoolcraft's gorgeous vocals and string arrangements, I have a found a release that has hit me in away like nothing else in 2020. And, without a doubt it cements her as one of the artists whose new work I will most anxiously await.
4.5 out of 5
This film opens with a 1972 prologue, involving two kids getting the shit scared out of them by a creepy old lady. The story then jumps to the time period the rest of it takes place in: 1976. The Olmedo family have left their simple village life to move into a bargain priced but spacious, and fully furnished (!), apartment in Madrid. They have plucked down the last bit of cash that they have into this place, so there is no going back for them. The problem is that this is the same place we saw at the beginning of the flick. Of course, you know what that means! Yup, weird and creepy shit begins to happen. This includes marbles that roll on their own, their older son seeing a mysterious a lady across the window, a TV that talks to their youngest son Rafeal (Iván Renedo), and more. The female ghost that is haunting soon ups her terror tactics on the family, as she determined to get what she wants from them.
32 Malasana Street is a Spanish ghost/ haunted house movie that is reportedly based on a true story. While, I don't know how close this film is to the actual events depicted, it is an enjoyable ride either way. This movie is the second feature length movie from Albert Pintó having directed and co-written the 2017 film Killing God.
Director and co-writer Pintó really know how to handle and pile on the creepy atmosphere, as he ratchets up the fear factor and pile on the scares with his pretty intense and suspenseful directing. The film even manages to have jump scares that actually work! As a matter of fact, there is at least one or two jump scares that are among the best that I have seen in a very long time. His style makes for a very good looking movie, with a couple of cool and, even, beautiful shots that really stick out in mind. And, speaking of things that are cool, I love the creepy, old lady puppet on the TV, She fucking rules!
To me, ghost stories, most of the time, work best when the spirits remain unseen. And, for the most part, this movie adheres to this. Thankfully whenever we can actually see the ghost, she remains extremely creepy. This is thanks to the lighting and editing which manage to chill the viewer. Said editing feels nice and tight and works excellently with the solid camera-work to help enhance the scares and tension. Long time horror fans will probably not find this movie to be terrifying, but they will appreciate the highly entertaining creep factor. Those more easily frightened will probably be scared shitless, though.
The acting from the whole cast is excellent, and their characters come off as believable and likable. It makes the viewer care about what is happening and adds to the terror. You don't want anything bad to happen to this family. This all results in giving you that white knuckle feel that will keep your fist clenched whenever any of them are menaced.
On the negative side, the movie heavily borrows from Poltergeist and the Insidious franchise. This makes the story beats not feel wholly original. But, thankfully the movie is such a fun and well made affair, that I didn't ultimately really mind this. Whereas, had I been watching a lesser film, it would've bugged me to no end. That being said when the plot and the ghost's true nature/ origin are revealed, it's really quite good. I won't give out any spoilers, but I will say that the movie feels very timely and has an important message. This, in turn, makes the ghost a sympathetic monster, something, that when done right (like here), I love.
I find that ghost/ haunted house films are among the hardest to pull off successfully in horror. However, 32 Malasana Street hits most of the right notes. Sure, it doesn't add much, if anything new, to the genre, but it is still a frighteningly fun, rollercoaster flick. The directing, editing, and camera-work enhance the creepiness and tension. Most of the jump scares work, with one or two ranking among the best I've seen, in a long time. The acting and likable characters helps to add to the tension and fright. And, while the film borrows from others in the sub-genre, it also manages to add a ghostly origin that is timely, respectful, and makes us sympathizing with the spirit. That it accomplishes this while still keeping her menacing and scary, is quite the achievement. The movie is overall a tense and fun time, that some might find legit scary. The flick starts streaming on Shudder this Thursday, October 22, 2020.
3 out of 4
Director: Damien LeVeck 
1987 marked another stellar year for the genre. There is a great variety of sub-genres represented here, as well as the most amount of sequels, we have yet had ranked. In fact, this year is so fucking good that, I had to put more honorable mentions, than any other year, I have covered so far.
Honorable Mentions:
Prince of Darkness
Dolls
The Lost Boys
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive
The Kindred
Creepshow 2
The Gate
Angel Heart
Nekromantik
Now, I would love to know what your favorite horror films of 1987 are. Tell me, in the comments section below. Also be sure to look at the preceding years, by clicking on the links below.
The 10 Best Horror Movies of 1980
The 10 Best Horror Movies of 1981
The 10 Best Horror Movies of 1982
The 10 Best Horror Movies of 1983
The 10 Best Horror Movies of 1984
The 10 Best Horror Movies of 1985
The 10 Best Horror Movies of 1986
Official Trailer: https://youtu.be/V6HBxFg45eQ
NEW YORK, NY – October 2, 2020 – Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, has debuted this year’s “Ghoul Log,” a 24/7 streaming jack-o’lantern, created by Trick ‘r Treat director Michael Dougherty (Godzilla: King of the Monsters). The Ghoul Log Trick ‘r Treat Sam O’Lantern is inspired by his beloved film from Legendary Entertainment and its iconic star, Sam, the mischievous spirit of Halloween who enforces the holiday’s ancient traditions. It is available to stream on Shudder now, both on-demand and soon 24/7 via the in-app Shudder TV feed.
Log line: On a dark, autumnal street, the Sam O’Lantern blazes to life. While the pumpkin burns, keep your eyes peeled for the surprises it summons.
“Thanks to the ongoing dumpster fire that is 2020, Halloween is going to be yet another stay-at-home activity for a lot of people, so I hope the Sam O’Lantern brings a bit of light and magick to all those in need of some holiday spirit,“ said Michael Dougherty
“When we thought about what would get Shudder subscribers most excited for the 2020 version of our annual Ghoul Log, our wish-list idea was to team up with Michael Dougherty for something inspired by his iconic Halloween movie Trick ‘r Treat. When we reached out to Mike, we were delighted to find out that he was not only interested in the idea, but he already had an amazing concept in mind,” said Craig Engler, Shudder’s General Manager.
The Ghoul Log Trick ‘r Treat Sam O’Lantern is the third in Shudder’s annual Halloween series. The Ghoul Log premiered in 2018, doing for Halloween what the famed Yule Log has long done for Christmas. Its long, unbroken feed of a candle-lit jack-o’lantern accompanied by spooky night sounds was an immediate hit. 2019 saw Return of the Ghoul Log, an animated creation courtesy of famed horror director Larry Fessenden (Depraved) and animator Beck Underwood. This year’s Ghoul Log is the first to be directly inspired by an iconic horror film. Trick ‘r Treat, released in 2009, has amassed a ravenous cult following and the Sam character has become a perennial Halloween icon inspiring a still growing line of toys, comic books, costumes, holiday décor, and theme park attractions.
The Ghoul Log Trick ‘r Treat Sam O’Lantern was conceived, designed and executive produced by Dougherty and directed by Evan Gorski and Michael Babyak. It was produced by Ava Yazdani and features special effects by AtmosFX (AtmosFX.com). Trick ‘r Treat © Legendary 2007. All rights reserved.
ABOUT SHUDDER
AMC Networks’ Shudder is a premium streaming video service, super-serving members with the best selection in genre entertainment, covering horror, thrillers and the supernatural. Shudder’s expanding library of film, TV series, and originals is available on most streaming devices in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. For a 7-day, risk-free trial, visit www.shudder.com.
ABOUT MICHAEL DOUGHERTY
Michael Dougherty is a writer, director, and producer best known for the cult horror comedies Trick ‘r Treat (2009), Krampus (2015), and the summer blockbuster Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019). Beginning his career as an animator and illustrator, Dougherty’s animated work was featured on MTV, Nickelodeon, and a line of twisted greeting cards published by Nobleworks. He then became a screenwriter on X-Men 2 before making his directorial debut with Trick ‘r Treat, which starred Anna Paquin, Dylan Baker, and Brian Cox. Dougherty’s films have spawned a long and successful line of toys, comics, and other merchandise, along with theme park attractions at Universal Studios. Dougherty’s next project is a Hellraiser TV series with HBO, based on the classic Clive Barker horror film.
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