The month of May features a ton of great genre titles coming to VOD and digital platforms, including the highly anticipated zombie drama Maggie, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Abigail Breslin. The Orchard is releasing the Kiwi horror comedy mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows later this month and we also have both Oren Peli’s Area 51 and the sure-to-be-insane The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence) from Tom Six to look forward to as well. The indie spookfest Evangeline is also getting a VOD release from Uncork’d Entertainment and look for the latest from Dark Sky Films, Let Us Prey, which arrives the last week of May.
Private Number (ARC Entertainment) - 5/1
A series of sinister phone calls haunt an ex-alcoholic writer as he struggles to finish a novel. Efforts to trace the calls result in dead ends, leaving the author with no choice but to solve the mystery himself. As he pieces together scant information he discovers the local police are hiding details about a horrific serial killer. In his obsessive search for answers, he loses his grip on reality, and spirals downward into a maelstrom of violence and terror. Private Number was written and directed by LazRael Lison and stars Hal Ozsan, Nicholle Tom, Judd Nelson and Tom Sizemore.
The Badger Game (Stadium Media) - 5/5
Written and directed by Thomas Zambeck and Joshua Wagner (Mimesis), The Badger Game is a twisted tale about infidelity and extortion, taking viewers on a harrowing journey, galvanized by wicked humor, violence, lust, suspense and unprecedented levels of cynicism.
Liam (Sam Boxleitner) is a successful advertising executive with money to burn and a healthy appetite for infidelity. Alex (Augie Duke) is his scorned mistress, hell-bent on revenge against the married man who wronged her. At first, the plan seemed simple: take Liam hostage and threaten to expose his indiscretion, lest he pay a healthy sum of money. But Alex knows she can’t do it alone. Enter her unhinged brother Kip (Patrick Cronen), exotic dancer Jane (Sasha Higgins), and desperate wallflower Shelly (Jillian Leigh). With the table set and the team in place, Liam soon finds himself held against his will - his perfect world about to crumble. Forced to reckon with four mysterious captors and impossible odds, his only hope is to turn the quartet against each other and make it through the night alive.
What We Do in the Shadows (The Orchard) - 5/5
Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords, Men In Black 3) and Academy Award nominee Taika Waititi (Boy, Eagle vs. Shark) co-wrote, co-directed, and co-star in this hilarious send-up in which an endearingly unhip quartet of friends reveal to us or, rather, to the documentary crew that’s filming them, the details of their daily-make that nightly-routine. Ranging in age from 183 to 8,000, and in appearance from adorably youthful to Nosferatu-crusty, they squabble over household chores, struggle to keep up with the latest trends in technology and fashion, antagonize the local werewolves, cruise clubs for lovely ladies, and deal with the rigors of living on a very, very strict diet.
Evangeline (Uncork’d Entertainment) - 5/8
Evangeline Pullman (Kat de Lieva) has just escaped her sheltered upbringing to reinvent herself in college. As she begins to break out of her shell, she attracts the attention of a violent fraternity leader (Richard Harmon) and his two cohorts. Beaten and dumped in the woods to die, Evangeline finds herself trapped in a supernatural nightmare, and she must choose between vengeance and redemption. Directed by Karen Lam.
Maggie (Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate) - 5/8
There's a deadly zombie epidemic threatening humanity, but Wade (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a small-town farmer and family man, refuses to accept defeat even when his daughter Maggie (Abigail Breslin) becomes infected. As Maggie's condition worsens and the authorities seek to eradicate those with the virus, Wade is pushed to the limits in an effort to protect her. Joely Richardson co-stars in this post-apocalyptic thriller.
An Irish Exorcism (Virgil Films) - 5/12
Director Eric Courtney and screenwriter Martin Robinson (Seer) breathe new life - and death - into the found-footage horror genre with the chilling AN IRISH EXORCISM. Newcomer Aislinn Ni Uallachain stars as Lorraine, an anthropology student in her final year of college who decides to film her thesis project - on the subject of exorcism within the Catholic Church. Recording interviews with priests from the local diocese, she stumbles upon Father Byrne (Brian Fortune, Game of Thrones, Vikings), an older priest who is helping a young woman whose 13-year-old daughter is apparently possessed by a demonic force. Lorraine's curiosity leads her and her camera operator, Cathal (Dillon White), down a dark path toward the terrifying truth. Things go from strange to worse as all involved become entangled into a frightful journey to save an innocent girl's life - and maybe their own.
Director Courtney says of the film's genesis, "Ireland's identity as being a country steeped in Catholicism and religion" made it the ideal setting for a story about exorcism. AN IRISH EXORCISM, which also stars Paddy C. Courtney (of the original British series Shameless), Elaine Hearty and Anna Davis, had its premiere at the New Mexico Fright Fest. Fans of Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project can add this nerve-shattering tale to their list of must-see movies.
Area 51 (Blumhouse) - 5/15
Witness a new vision of terror from director Oren Peli. Three young conspiracy theorists attempt to uncover the mysteries of Area 51, the government’s top secret location rumored to have hosted encounters with alien beings. What they find at this hidden facility exposes horrifying, unimaginable secrets. Now you can experience their harrowing adventure in this footage pieced together from documentation of these chilling events.
Time Lapse (XLRator Media) - 5/15
TIME LAPSE explores the possibilities of time travel through a machine that is capable of taking pictures 24 hours into the future. When three friends discover this mysterious machine in their neighbor’s apartment, they encounter a number of pressing questions, not least of which is the whereabouts of their neighbor. Realizing the potential impact of the machine, Finn (Matt O’Leary), Jasper (George Finn), and Callie (Danielle Panabaker) attempt to cash in on their discovery. But when a dangerous criminal learns their secret, the friends must set aside their differences and confront the paradox of a future that was once predetermined and entirely uncertain.
Using an engaging blend of action, humor, and philosophy, TIME LAPSE is an original thriller that not only keeps the audience guessing but also explores questions of pre-determination, free will, and destiny. Directed by Bradley King.
Cowboys vs Dinosaurs (MarVista Digital Entertainment) - 5/19
After a mining explosion in Livingston, Montana, formerly believed extinct breeds of dinosaurs suddenly emerge from the rubble. Now, a disgraced cowboy, who recently returned home to make amends for his past wrongdoings towards his ex-girlfriend, must team up with her new boyfriend, the sheriff, to defend their town against the rampaging beasts. With the help of a few local gunslingers, the posse must band together in order to survive the deadly attack and take back their town.
Directed by Ari Novak, known for his visual effects work on Live Free or Die Hard, the inconceivable creature/disaster mash-up stars Oscar® and Golden Globe® nominee Eric Roberts (The Dark Night, The Expendables), Vernon Wells (Throwback, Commando), Rib Hillis (Groom’s Cake, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”), Casey Fitzgerald (The Shift, Sorority Party Massacre), John Freeman (Luna, The Strange Curse of Love), Kelcey Watson (Boots, A Meeting of the Minds) and Sara Malukul Lane (Sharktopus, Belly of the Beast).
The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence) (IFC Midnight) - 5/22
Bully prison warden Bill Boss (Dieter Laser), leading a big state prison in the US of A, has a lot of problems; his prison statistically has the highest amount of prison riots, medical costs and staff turnover in the country. But foremost he is unable to get the respect he thinks he deserves from his inmates and the state Governor (Eric Roberts). He constantly fails in experimenting with different ideas for the ideal punishment to get the inmates in line, which drives him, together with the sizzling heat, completely insane.
Under threats of termination by the Governor, his loyal right hand man Dwight (Laurence R Harvey) comes up with a brilliant idea. A revolutionary idea which could change the American prison system for good and save billions of dollars. An idea based on the notorious Human Centipede movies, that will literally and figuratively get the inmates on their knees, creating the ultimate punishment and deterrent for anyone considering a life of crime. Having nothing to lose, Bill and Dwight create a jaw-dropping 500-person prison centipede.
Let Us Prey (Dark Sky Films) - 5/26
Rachel (Pollyanna McIntosh, The Woman, Filth), a rookie cop, is about to begin her first night shift in a neglected police station in a backwater town. Surrounded by both disgruntled officers and irate petty offenders, her job becomes all the more difficult and terrifying when a mysterious man (Liam Cunningham, Game of Thrones' Davos Seaworth) is brought in and strange things start happening to everyone in the station.
As it becomes clear that the enigmatic stranger, known simply as Six, has something to do with the supernatural, terrifying events, Rachel finds herself in a fight for her life against cop and criminal alike as one by one they turn on each other. Now she must survive the night and uncover the stranger's true plans for the station's hapless denizens before she too falls prey to the unholy power that seeks to destroy them all.
Also starring in the film are Hanna Stanbridge (Outcast) and Bryan Larkin (TV's Outlander).
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.
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