In terms of VOD offerings, 2016 is off to a quiet but stellar start as the genre titles arriving in January include a handful of noteworthy indie horror films that should help ease the post-holiday doldrums.

Two movies I enjoyed during the 2015 Los Angeles Film Festival—The Abandoned and Intruders—are both making their VOD debuts this month and Synchronicity, the neo-noir sci-fi thriller from Magnet Releasing, also arrives on January 22nd. The animated horror comedy Hell and Back is also coming to VOD this month and the new distro shingle SyFy Films is releasing 400 Days this January as well.

Condemned (RLJ Entertainment) – January 5th

In CONDEMNED, fed up with her parents’ bickering, poor-little-rich-girl Maya (Dylan Penn) moves in with her boyfriend who is squatting in an old, condemned building on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. With neighbors that are meth heads, junkies and degenerates, this depraved hell hole is even more toxic than it appears: After a virus born from their combined noxious waste and garbage infects the building’s residents, one by one, they succumb to a terrifying pathogen that turns them into bloodthirsty, rampaging killers and transforms their building into a savage slaughterhouse.

Hell and Back (Freestyle Digital Media) – January 5th

Remy, Augie, and Curt have been best friends since birth. When they jokingly take a blood oath and break it, Curt is dragged to Hell to be sacrificed. The guys must risk everything to save their friend – from a slew of misfit demons, Greek legends, and the Devil himself. Are they prepared? No, absolutely not.

The Abandoned (IFC Midnight) – January 8th

Take a terrifying plunge into the warped mind of a disturbed young woman. Desperate to get her life back on track, the unstable Streak (Martha Marcy May Marlene's Louisa Krause) takes a job as a security guard, working the graveyard shift at a once upscale, now abandoned apartment complex. But on her first night on duty, she discovers a horrifying presence lurking deep within the bowels of the decaying building. With her nerves already on edge, Streak must confront demons both real and imagined as she struggles to keep a grip on her sanity. Jason Patric (The Lost Boys) co-stars in this harrowing thrill ride.

Cherry Tree (Dark Sky Films) – January 8th

Faith’s world is turned upside down after she finds out that her beloved father is dying.  When the mysteriously alluring Sissy Young becomes her field hockey coach, Faith finds a compassionate spirit and much-needed mother figure.  Little does she know that Sissy is the head of a centuries-old witches’ coven that uses the fruit of an ancient cherry tree in a secret ritual that restores life to the dead and dying. 

Offering to cure her father in exchange for a child, Sissy strikes a bargain with Faith, who suddenly finds herself pregnant with a baby that’s growing at an alarming rate. But with the clock to the child’s birth ticking down, and the true intention of Sissy’s plans for humanity becoming more apparent, Faith and her father must stand together in order to save both their lives.

Distiller (H.A.M. Studios) – January 8th

Distiller stars Dan Noonan and Amy Ciupek as the heirs to their long-lost Uncle’s estate. The Uncle, a globe-trotting ghost hunter known as a Distiller, spent his life trapping spirits of the dead in liquor bottles until his mysterious disappearance. Now 20 years later the duo inherit his belongings, including the collection of enigmatic bottles which they plan to open and serve at a Fourth of July party, causing ghost and creature mayhem to ensue.

400 Days (SyFy Films) – January 12th

Written and directed by Matt Osterman (Ghost from the Machine), 400 DAYS centers on four astronauts sent on a simulated mission to a distant planet to test the psychological effects of deep space travel. Locked away for 400 days, the crew's mental state begins to deteriorate when they lose all communication with the outside world. The feature film stars Brandon Routh and Caity Lotz (who also star in the upcoming Arrow/Flash spinoff series DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), Emmy® nominee Ben Feldman (Mad Men), comedian Dane Cook (Detention, Mr. Brooks), Tom Cavanaugh (The Flash) and Grant Bowler (Defiance).

Intruders (Momentum Pictures) – January 15th

PANIC ROOM meets YOU'RE NEXT in this gripping home invasion horror-thriller, full of shocks and surprises. After three criminals, including fan favorite Martin Starr, break into a supposedly empty house, they find themselves in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the occupant, a shy young woman with a few nasty tricks of her own to play on the invaders.

Lake Eerie (Gravitas Ventures) – January 15th

Lake Eerie focuses on a young widow, who moves into an old house to recover from the sudden loss of her husband. Little does she know that a dark secret, locked away inside her new home on Lake Erie will soon to be unleashed.

Synchronicity (Magnet Releasing) – January 22nd

SYNCHRONICITY is a mind-bending 'Sci-fi Noir' in the tradition of Blade Runner, Gattaca and Memento. Daring physicist Jim Beale has invented a machine that can fold space-time and ruthless corporate tycoon Klaus Meisner will stop at nothing to get it. When Jim uses the machine to tear open the fabric of the universe, a rare Dahlia appears from the future. But in order to keep the rights to his invention he must prove that it works by finding the flower's identical match in the present. Jim soon discovers that the Dahlia lies in the hands of the mysterious Abby, who seduces him into revealing his secrets. Convinced that she is in league with Klaus to take ownership of his life's work, Jim travels back in time to stop the conspiracy before it can happen. But once in the past, Jim uncovers a surprising truth about Abby, the machine, and his own uncertain future.

  • Heather Wixson
    About the Author - Heather Wixson

    Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.