David Farnor | On 20, Oct 2016

Shudder has officially launched in the UK and Ireland today, offering all-you-can-scream horror on-demand.

The subscription video service, backed by AMC Networks, first launched in the USA last year, growing to become the horror genre’s answer to Netflix.

The site’s catalogue of cult classics, Hollywood blockbusters, hard-to-find world cinema and indie TV series is curated by world-class genre experts TIFF Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes and former Fangoria editor Sam Zimmerman.

The site offers new premieres and exclusives every month with a wide library of 200+ launch titles, 80 per cent of which are not currently available on any of the UK’s major subscription-based streaming platforms (Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Sky Cinema).

Exclusive premiere titles coming soon to the service include Dearest Sister, a spine-tingling and politically-charged chiller from Laos’ first female filmmaker, Mattie Do, which debuted at Fantastic Fest, and Beyond the Walls a French mini-series starring Veerle Baetens and Geraldine Chaplin. Older exclusives include Donald Cammell’s White of the Eye and Jorg Buttgereit’s Nekromantik, as well as classics from the Hammer vaults and, for the first time on a streaming service, Clive Barker’s iconic Hellraiser and Hellraiser 2.

Upcoming premieres include Japanese film-ghoul face-off Sadako vs. Kayako, Rob Zombie’s 31, We Go On and Therapy, from 16 year-old filmmaker Nathan Ambrosioni. A collection of films from the stable of genre master Alex de la Iglesia includes Shrew’s Nest, which he produced, and Witching and Bitching, which he directed. In addition to themed collections, Shudder will also host regular guest curated seasons from respected filmmaking talent.

The service is available through Shudder’s website, mobile apps for iOS and Android, Chromecast, Apple TV, and the Roku platform, with subscriptions costing £4.99 a month or £49.99 a year. A one-week free trial is available for new subscribers.

To sign up or learn more, visit www.shudder.com – or check out our dedicated Shudder channel, complete with reviews, interviews and what’s coming soon.

 

Horror streaming service Shudder heads to the UK

18th September 2016

AMC’s horror streaming service is heading to the UK this autumn – and it’s bringing Sadako and Kayako with it.

The subscription VOD site, which launched in the USA last year, is an all-you-can-scream affair targeted at fans looking for a better selection of spooky cinema than the line-up offered by SVOD giants Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Now, it’s rolling out across the world, with sites launching soon in the UK, Ireland and Canada.

Curation of the catalogue is overseen by Colin Geddes, of Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness, and Sam Zimmerman, former Fangoria editor. The streaming service aims to combine old classics with new talent, with scouts on the ground at London’s recent FrightFest festival, where The-Ring-meets-The-Grudge showdown Sadako vs Kayako had its European Premiere.

The J-horror face-off also had its International Premiere at Toronto last night, as the Closing Night film for this year’s Midnight Madness strand. Starring Mizuki Yamamoto, Tina Tamashiro and Aimi Satsukawa, the film follows Natsumi, who watches the legendary cursed video and discovers she has two days before she is killed. Her solution? Pit Sadako against Kayako, the spirit possessing a haunted house where everyone who enters disappears.

Elly Namami (Sadako) and Runa Endo (Kayako) were both present for photo hijinks at the red carpet premiere, where Shudder confirmed that it has acquired the exclusive streaming rights to the movie in the UK as well as in the US.

The film joins French mini-series Beyond the Walls as part of Shudder’s growing library of exclusive international titles.

The exact launch date and pricing of Shudder UK is not yet confirmed, but US subscriptions cost $4.99 a month, so expect something similar for British streamers, while the site will no doubt be looking to land in our laps in time for Halloween. You can currently register your email for “exclusive, invite-only access” to the site at www.shudder.com.

Watch this space for more – or follow Shudder @Shudder_UK and www.facebook.com/shudderuk.

 
Photos: Sarjoun Faour

 

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