The clocks have changed and the nights are getting lighter, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a world of new horror content out there to enjoy. Premium horror streamer Shudder has announced all of the titles which will be joining the service across the month of May including some huge new original films.
New joiners in May include writer/director Rob Jabber’s The Sadness. The film comes to Shudder fresh from winning the “Best First Feature” award at the 2021 Fantasia International Film Festival. In our Fantasia review of the film Neil said “The Sadness is not for the faint-hearted. The film pushes boundaries more than any other contemporary “zombie” movie. But make no mistake. It does so in order to tell the best story and not purely to turn the stomach of its viewers.”
Also joining the service in May are The Twin, starring A Discovery of Witches Teresa Palmer, director Ruth Paxton’s A Banquet and a brand new documentary exploring the phenomenon of found footage horror.
Here’s the full list of new original films and series joining in May:
The Twin – A Shudder Original
Streaming May 6th, 2022.
In The Twin, following the aftermath of a tragic accident that claimed the life of one of their twin sons, Rachel (Teresa Palmer, A Discovery of Witches, Warm Bodies, Lights Out) and husband Anthony (Steven Cree, A Discovery of Witches, Outlander) relocate to the other side of the world with their surviving child 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. Written by Aleksi Hyvärinen and Taneli Mustonen and directed by Taneli Mustonen.
The Sadness – A Shudder Original
Streaming May 12th, 2022.
The city of Taipei suddenly erupts into bloody chaos as ordinary people are compulsively driven to enact the most cruel 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 and stars Regina Lei (76 Horror Bookstore), Berant Zhu (We Are Champions, How to Train Our Dragon), Tzu-Chiang Wang (It’s Drizzling) and In-Ru Chen. Official Selection Locarno Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, Frightfest and winner “Best First Feature,” Fantsia International Film Festival. Written and directed by Rob Jabbaz.
The Found Footage Phenomenon – A Shudder Original
Streaming May 19th, 2022.
This documentary tracks the origins of the found footage technique and how it has been 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. Written, directed and produced by Sarah Appleton and Phillip Escott.
A Banquet – A Shudder Exclusive
Streaming May 26th, 2022.
Widowed mother Holly is radically tested when her teenage daughter Betsey experiences a profound enlightenment and 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 agonising dilemma, torn between love and fear, Holly is forced to confront the boundaries of her own beliefs. Starring Sienna Guillory, Jessica Alexander, Ruby Stokes and Lindsay Duncan. Written by Justin Bull and directed by Ruth Paxton.
Cursed Films II – A Shudder Original Series
Season finale streams May 5th, 2022.
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.
Here’s all the catalogue titles also join the service across May:
1st May
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. All-star lineup of interviewees include 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.
2nd May
Dead Snow
A party of eight Norwegian medical students travel to a remote Arctic mountain for an Easter weekend filled with skiing and relaxation. After one of their group disappears while on a solo cross-country hike, a mysterious local resident (Bjørn Sundquist) tells the remaining visitors that, in the waning days of World War II, a battalion of Nazi soldiers disappeared into the nearby woods after the residents turned on them, and that their zombified corpses remain on the prowl in the area.
Dead Snow 2
Martin mistakenly thinks things could not get worse after he kills his girlfriend with an axe, cuts off his arm with a chainsaw, and watches his friends be devoured by Nazi zombies.
9th May
The Stylist
A lonely hair stylist 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 his attempts to exorcise the ghost, he falls in love with her.
Night Fare
After choosing the wrong taxi driver to mess with, two friends find themselves on the wrong side of a manhunt when the driver sets out for revenge.
Cheap Thrills
A series of escalating bets sees recently reunited friends Craig and Vince go head-to-head, with challenges that go further than either of them expected.
16th May
Donnie Darko
During the presidential election of 1988, a teenager named Donnie Darko sleepwalks out of his house one night and sees a giant, demonic-looking rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world will end in 28 days. When Donnie returns home, he finds that a jet engine has crashed into his bedroom. Is Donnie living in a parallel universe, is he suffering from mental illness – or will the world really end?
Errors of the Human Body
When a potentially lethal virus is created within his new lab, Dr. Geoff Burton is shocked to discover he is not only the unwitting cause, but also its first victim.
Husk
Five friends on a road trip crash into a ditch in remote farmland, and on passing through a cornfield to get help at a nearby house blunder into a ghostly trap.
23rd May
Magic Magic
A young woman begins to mentally unravel during a holiday in Chile, but her companions fail to notice the danger until it’s too late.
Seconds Apart
After four high-school students die, Detective Lampkin learns twin brothers possess psychic prowess that they use to force people to harm themselves. When one of the brothers falls in love, jealousy builds to an epic conclusion.
30th May
Zombie Virus on Mulberry Street
A deadly infection breaks out in Manhattan, causing humans to develop into blood-thirsty rat creatures.
The Soul Collector
An old man who is forced to gather souls for all of time, seeks atonement. He tries to trade his own daughter’s soul in a bid to get his own back.
31st May
Kolobos
Cameras record the violent deaths of several unsuspecting actors on the terrifying set of an experimental film.
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 and Germany. Head to Shudder.com to sign up.
