By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The scream streamer has an especially strong lineup on the way.
Among the must-see movies premiering on Shudder next month is ALL THE MOONS (pictured above), perhaps the most deeply moving variation on the vampire genre since LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. A multiple award-winner (Best Director, Best Cinematography and the Audience Award) at last year’s Fantasia International Film Festival, it will be available on Shudder US, Shudder UKI and Shudder ANZ February 10. Directed by Basque filmmaker Igor Legarreta from a script he wrote with Jon Sagalá, it stars Haizea Carneros, Josean Bengoetxea and Itziar Ituño. The synopsis: “North of Spain, at the end of the 19th century, during the final throes of the last Carlist war, a little girl [Carneros] is rescued from an orphanage by a mysterious woman [Ituño] after it’s destroyed by a bomb. Wounded and close to death, the girl believes the woman is an angel coming to take her to Heaven. Soon, however, she discovers that this strange being has given her the gift of eternal life by turning her into a vampire.”
Shudder has also dated writer/director Jeremiah Kipp’s SLAPFACE for February 3 on Shudder US, Shudder UKI and Shudder ANZ. August Maturo (THE NUN), Mike Manning, Libe Barer, Dan Hedaya, Mirabelle Lee, Lukas Hassel, Bianca D’Ambrosio and Chiara D’Ambrosio star; the synopsis: “After the death of his mother, Lucas [Maturo], a loner who lives in a rundown home with his brother Tom, regularly seeks solace in the nearby woods. With his only ‘friends’ being a group of female bullies, he keeps to himself most of the time. But, after a strange encounter with an inhuman monster [Hassel], Lucas begins to withdraw from others. When the two reach a tentative trust, a bizarre friendship is born, and Lucas is swept up in a series of primal adventures.” See our review of SLAPFACE here.
Coming February 17 on Shudder US, Shudder UKI and Shudder ANZ is THEY LIVE IN THE GREY, written and directed by brothers Burlee and Abel Vang. Michelle Krusiec, Ken Kirby, Ellen Wroe and Madelyn Grace (DON’T BREATHE 2) star; the synopsis: “While investigating a child abuse case, a young social worker discovers that a supernatural entity is tormenting the family. To save the parents from losing custody of their child, she must confront her fears and use her clairvoyance to stop the malevolent force.”
Finally, as we previously reported, the Adams family’s HELLBENDER has been given a February 24 debut date on Shudder US, Shudder UKI and Shudder ANZ. Also coming to the streamer next month are new episodes of A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES’ third season, with the series finale February 19; JOE BOB’S HEARTBREAK TRAILER PARK, a Valentine’s Day special premiering February 11; and The Boris Karloff Collection, a group of the horror star’s most iconic movies premiering February 1 as a companion to Shudder’s doc BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER, which debuts January 27.
