From the release:
“Shudder Curator, Sam Zimmerman, here. Welcome to The Bite.
The Bite will be a window to a world of darkness; a tribute, a preview, a diary. From the minds behind Shudder, The Bite is a weekly look at the genre and its culture; on screen, on the page and out in the world. We’ll share what we’re watching, reading and looking forward to… and especially, what keeps us up at night.
Newly returned from Austin’s annual SXSW, I’m thrilled to share a peek at five films you’ll want to look out for in the coming year…
WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE – Colin Minihan (It Stains the Sand Red) reteams with actor Brittany Allen for a mean little movie about a game of cat-and-mouse between married couple, Jackie and Jules. What ensues is taut, surprising, bloody… and inclusive of a Silverchair needle drop?
PERFECT – Kuso producer Eddie Alcazar follows his acclaimed short, Fuckkkyouuu, with this bizarre odyssey that plays like a gorgeous future nightmare ringing in your ear.
DON’T LEAVE HOME – Surprise, Michael Tully (Septien, Ping Pong Summer) has gone to Ireland and returned with a kooky, creepy riff on Hammer, Dan Curtis and José Ramón Larraz.
ELIZABETH HARVEST – Speaking of Hammer riffs, this thriller from Sebastian Gutierrez marries the slick palette of modernist mansions (like those seen in Ex Machina) with the Gothic and mad scientist sensibilities they echo. This one is shiny, stabby and off the wall.
- What’s The Best Horror Movie of 2018 (So Far)? Thrillist is keeping a running look at the best horror films of the year.
- Peter Vincent, illustrated vampire hunter. Tom Holland is bringing the Fright Night comic back
- Freaky, fantastic horror short Your Date is Here, about a highly suspicious board game, is now online
- Catch the ghost with the most on stage. A Beetlejuice musical is headed to Washington, and then New York. What of the orchestra, will they be all gross under there?
- Poison plants. Diseased brains. Radioactive machines. The magazine for curious seekers, Atlas Obscura, has profiled The Most Dangerous Things You Can See in Museums. Of course, they make a stop at Philadelphia’s stunner home of medical oddities, The Mütter
Genre parameters can be tiring. Subgenres, though: inspiring.
A is for Animals Attack: Stories in which fauna turn predator on human. Our relationship with animals is an interesting one. Co-habitants, pets, sustenance. But even the best-case scenario can be precarious, and our status on earth, vulnerable– a fear that the best of these films mine beautifully when animals of all scales turn dangerous.
Highlights include Jaws, Razorback, Cujo, Grizzly and Them!
Personal favorites: Orca, Day of the Animals, Phase IV, Squirm and The Pack
Every month at Shudder we read a new book and discuss it.
We just finished Iain Reid’s acclaimed I’m Thinking of Ending Things, a winding, dark tale of a couple’s road trip that we won’t spoil here. Next up is Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad, a socially sharp horror story about a stitched together corpse on the prowl in Iraq.”
