We’re in for a treat this May.
Shudder is a horror fan’s dream. They curate a stunning selection of movies that span from well-known favorites to undiscovered gems from across horror history. And they also elevate voices in the genre with their original and exclusive productions. Each month Shudder announces a new embarrassment of riches, and May is no exception. From The Sadness to Tetsuo The Iron Man, it’s getting weird on Shudder. And we can’t wait.
Here are the Shudder originals and exclusives premiering May:
The Twin – Premieres May 6
In The Twin, following the aftermath of a tragic accident that claimed the life of one of their twins, Rachel (Teresa Palmer) and husband Anthony (Steven Cree) relocate to the other side of the world with their surviving son in the hopes of building a new life. What begins as a time of healing in the quiet Scandinavian countryside soon takes an ominous turn when Rachel begins to unravel the torturous truth about her son and confronts the malicious forces attempting to take a hold of him. Also available in theaters and on-demand on May 6 from RLJ Films.
The Sadness – Premieres May 12
The city of Taipei suddenly erupts into bloody chaos as ordinary people are compulsively driven to enact the cruelest and ghastly things they can imagine. Murder, torture, and mutilation are only the beginning. A young couple is pushed to the limits of sanity as they try to reunite amid the violence and depravity. The age of civility and order is no more. The film is the feature debut of writer and director Rob Jabbaz. Regina Lei, Berant Zhu, Tzu-Chiang Wang, and In-Ru Chen star in the film.
The Found Footage Phenomenon – Premieres May 19
Directed and produced by Sarah Appleton and Phillip Escott, the documentary tracks the origins of the found footage technique and how it transformed with technological changes throughout the last few decades. The Found Footage Phenomenon features interviews with integral found footage directors whose films impacted the horror genre like no other sub-genre has, around the turn of the millennium. Score by music legend Simon Boswell.
A Banquet – Premieres May 26
Widowed mother Holly is radically tested when her teenage daughter Betsey experiences a
profound enlightenment. She insists that her body is no longer her own, but in service to a higher power. Bound to her newfound faith, Betsey refuses to eat but loses no weight. In an agonizing dilemma, torn between love and fear, Holly is forced to confront the boundaries of her own beliefs. Starring Sienna Guillory, Jessica Alexander, Ruby Stokes, Lindsay Duncan. Directed by Ruth Paxton
Cursed Films II – Season Finale May 5 (Shudder Original Series)
Shudder’s acclaimed documentary series is back to explore the facts and myths surrounding a new batch of famous films some consider cursed. In the season finale, Cursed Films travels to Roma, Italy to discuss the making of what is arguably the most controversial horror film ever made, Cannibal Holocaust. Writer/Director Ruggero Deodato discusses the film from concept through creation, including the famous court case that saw him defending himself for the murder of a performer in the heart of the Amazon. Meanwhile, his cast and crew detail the struggles they faced while trying to meet the expectations of a demanding director, who continually pushed them towards their breaking point.
The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs Season 4 – New Episodes Every Friday (Shudder
Original Series)
The hit series returns with Briggs, the world’s foremost drive-in movie critic, presenting eclectic horror movie double features, interrupting the films to expound upon their merits, histories, and significance to genre cinema. This season features a wide array of fan favorites, obscure cult oddities and surprise guests.
That’s not all! These are also all the new titles coming to Shudder in May:
May 1
Eli Roth’s History of Horror S3
This season of Eli Roth’s History of Horror continues to explore the fun and the fear of scary films – both timeless classics and wildly frightening films that flew under the radar, tackling the topics of Sequels (That Don’t Suck), Infections, Psychics, Apocalyptic Horror, Holiday Horror and Mad Scientists. An all-star lineup of interviewees includes Cate Blanchett, Margaret Cho, Jeffrey Combs, Jamie Lee Curtis, Geena Davis, Lex Scott Davis, Robert Englund, Vanessa Hudgens, Elliott Knight, David Koechner, Christopher Landon, Meat Loaf, Greg Nicotero, Jonah Ray, Giovanni Ribisi, Jessica Rothe, Madeleine Stowe, Quentin Tarantino, Jennifer Tilly, Edgar Wright, Rob Zombie, and many others.
Broadcast Signal Intrusion
In the late 1990s, a video archivist unearths a series of sinister pirate broadcasts and becomes obsessed with uncovering the conspiracy behind them.
Goodnight Mommy
Twin boys who do everything together, from collecting beetles to feeding stray cats, welcome their mother home after her reconstructive surgery. But with her face wrapped in bandages, and her demeanor distant, they grow suspicious of her identity.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
Chainsaw-wielding maniac Leatherface (Bill Johnson) is up to his cannibalistic ways once again, along with the rest of his twisted clan, including the equally disturbed Chop-Top (Bill Moseley). This time, the masked killer has set his sights on pretty disc jockey Vanita “Stretch” Brock (Caroline Williams). She teams up with Texas lawman Lefty Enright (Dennis Hopper) to battle the psychopath and his family deep within their lair, a macabre abandoned amusement park.
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)
Driving through Texas, young yuppie couple Michelle (Kate Hodge) and Ryan (William Butler) stop at the Last Chance Gas Station. But after they witness the owner attacking a hitchhiker named Tex (Viggo Mortensen), they panic and flee. In their hasty departure, they get lost and soon find themselves pursued by the chainsaw-toting maniac known as Leatherface (R.A. Mihailoff). While running, the couple bumps into survivalist Benny (Ken Foree), who they team up with in an effort to escape.
May 2
The Babadook
A single mother, plagued by the violent death of her husband, battles with her son’s fear of a monster lurking in the house. But she soon discovers a sinister presence all around her.
The Midnight Swim
When Dr. Amelia Brooks’ three daughters travel home to settle her affairs after she disappears in Spirit Lake, they find themselves drawn to the mysterious body of water.
May 9
Popcorn
A master of disguise deranged killer begins killing off the college students who are organizing a horror-movie marathon in an abandoned theater.
The Stylist
A lonely hairstylist becomes obsessed with the lives of her clients and descends into murderous madness.
A Ghost Waits
A man’s job requires him to clean a house, which turns out to be haunted. In the course of trying to exorcise the ghost, he falls in love with her.
May 16
Brain Damage
A young man discovers a disgusting parasite has attached itself to his brain stem. He becomes addicted to the psychedelic euphoria it produces, but in return, he must feed it human victims.
May 23
Tetsuo The Iron Man
A businessman accidentally kills The Metal Fetishist, who gets his revenge by slowly turning the man into a grotesque hybrid of flesh and rusty metal.
Tetsuo The Body Hammer
When metal-worshipping fanatics abduct his son, a father unleashes his dormant destructive power, as his naked rage transforms the once-feeble flesh into a grisly symbiosis of metal and tissue.
May 24
The Prowler
An unknown killer, clad in World War II U.S. Army fatigues, stalks a small New Jersey town bent on reliving a 35-year-old double murder by focusing on a group of college kids holding an annual graduation dance.
May 30
The Unseen
A television reporter and her two friends head to Solvang, California to cover a Danish festival. When there is a mix-up at the hotel and they are left without hotel rooms, the girls accept the invitation of a friendly museum owner to board at his large farmhouse because the rest of the motels in and around town are sold out. But unknown to the women, something is living in the basement of the house. Their stay soon becomes a horrific nightmare when, one by one, they encounter the ‘unseen’.
Demon Wind
The strange and brutal deaths of Cory’s grandparents have haunted him for years. Determined to discover the truth, he has returned to the desolate region where they lived, along with a group of friends, to try and uncover the mystery. Ignoring warnings from the locals that the area is cursed, Cory and his friends soon realize that the legend is true, as the Demon Wind, possesses and destroys them, one by one, turning them into monsters from hell.
May 31
Kolobos
Cameras record the violent deaths of several unsuspecting actors on the terrifying set of an experimental film.
