Summer may be winding down, but that doesn’t mean digital releases are slowing down at all. In fact, August boasts an eclectic array of films arriving on VOD and various digital platforms, with something that will surely scratch any kind of cinematic itch you might be having.
The month kicks off with the indie thriller Bad Samaritan arriving on the 3rd, with everyone’s favorite naughty Merc in tow when Deadpool 2 hits on August 7th (and there are two versions of the film for fans to enjoy!). The 4K version of Predator also comes home the very same day, with both Elizabeth Harvest and Along Came the Devil making their digital debuts on the 10th, followed by Leigh Whannell's Upgrade on the 14th.
For those who have been clamoring for more killer puppet action, Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich arrives on August 17th, courtesy of RLJE Films, and for those of you who might have missed it during its theatrical run, you can check into Hotel Artemis on the 21st. Both Summer of 84 and What Keeps You Alive come home on August 24th (and I do highly recommend both films), and the month’s VOD and digital releases are capped off by the arrival of Blood Fest and Boarding School on August 31st.
Bad Samaritan (Electric Entertainment) – August 3rd
Life is good for two young car valets who use their business as a front to burglarize houses of their unsuspecting patrons until they target the wrong house, changing their lives forever.
Deadpool 2 (Plus Super Duper Cut) (20th Century Fox Entertainment) – August 7th
The sequel to the first one.
Black Wake (Vision Films) – August 7th
Inspired by the horror fiction of H.P Lovecraft, BLACK WAKE follows specialists who gather in a top secret facility to investigate a series of deaths on the beaches along the Atlantic Ocean. When a determined detective (Tom Sizemore) sends one of the scientists (Nana Guevea) the crazed writings of a mysterious homeless man, she discovers the actual threat may be an ancient force from the sea hell-bent on bringing madness and death to all of humanity. Can she convince her colleagues (led by Eric Roberts) of the true danger before an ancient force rises from the sea to bring madness and death to all of humanity?
Euthanizer (Uncork’d Entertainment) – August 7th
Veijo runs a black-market operation euthanizing people's ailing pets to make extra money. It is clear he has dark secrets, but only after meeting a young nurse and a seedy mechanic (who's mixed up with a vicious gang of neo-Nazis) that Veijo's carefully balanced, albeit deranged, life begins to show cracks. Things turn to the extreme when Veijo does not finish a job he was paid to and his client finds out…in this grungy exploitation throwback.
Predator: 4K (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) – August 7th
Deep in the jungle, several bodies have been discovered skinned and hanging from trees although who or what could have done this is a mystery. Military covert specialist Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his team are called in to eliminate the threat, but once in the heart of the menacing jungle, they discover something far worse than they could ever have imagined, the Predator alien which has come to earth with cloaking technology, extensive combat skills and a desire to hunt humans for sport.
Along Came the Devil (Gravitas Ventures) – August 10th
A troubled teen Ashley is sent to live with her estranged Aunt Tanya. While in her old hometown she has visions of her deceased mom, driving her to try to contact the spirit world putting her soul into grave danger.
Elizabeth Harvest (IFC Films) – August 10th
Nothing is as it seems in this brain-bending plunge into our darkest desires. Elizabeth (Abbey Lee), a beautiful young newlywed, arrives at the palatial estate of her brilliant scientist husband Henry (Ciarán Hinds). Ensconced in modernist luxury with an obedient—if slightly unsettling—house staff (Carla Gugino & Matthew Beard), she has seemingly everything she could want. But one mystery tantalizes her: what is behind the locked door to Henry’s laboratory that he has forbidden her to enter? When an inquisitive Elizabeth dares to find out, everything she thought she knew about her husband—and about herself—will change. Elizabeth Harvest casts a spell of creeping Gothic menace as it unravels a disturbing tale of identity, obsession, and twisted love.
Upgrade (Universal Studios Home Entertainment) - August 14th
UPGRADE is a thrilling and hyper violent vision of the future from the producers of GET OUT and THE PURGE, and the creator of SAW and INSIDIOUS.
After his wife is killed during a brutal mugging that also leaves him paralyzed, Grey Trace (Logan Marshall Green, SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, PROMETHEUS) is approached by a billionaire inventor with an experimental cure that will “upgrade” his body. The cure - an Artificial Intelligence implant called STEM - gives Grey physical abilities beyond anything experienced and the ability to relentlessly claim vengeance against those who murdered his wife and left him for dead.
What Still Remains (Strike the Sun Entertainment) – August 14th
Twenty-five years after a viral outbreak decimated the population, the remaining survivors still fear that deadly illness and the feral "Changed" it has created. Against this post-apocalyptic backdrop, a young woman loses her family and struggles to survive on her own in the wilderness. When a lonely traveler offers her a place in his community, she must decide if the promise of a better life is worth the risk of trusting him. But as she ventures out into a world she’s never known, she discovers there are far more dangers than the legends of savage beasts from her childhood. Numerous factions of humanity still endure and she will learn people can become their own kind of monster.
Ahokalypse (Sparrowhawk Pictures) – August 17th
After the boys win the cup, their riotous celebration is interrupted when the Earth is suddenly overrun by a zombie Ahockalypse! Now, these lovable goons have to battle their way back to their home arena for a final showdown with the undead. Can hockey legend Barry Melrose help the guys escape with their lives - or is it sudden death for the Prairie Kings?!
Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (RLJE Entertainment) – August 17th
In PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH, Edgar (Thomas Lennon), recently divorced, returns to his childhood home to where he finds a nefarious looking puppet in his deceased brother’s room. He decides to sell the doll for some quick cash at a small-town convention celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the infamous Toulon Murders. All hell breaks loose when a strange force animates the puppets at the convention, setting them on a bloody killing spree that’s motivated by an evil as old as time.
Hotel Artemis (Global Road Entertainment) – August 21st
Set in riot-torn, near-future Los Angeles, 'Hotel Artemis' follows a Nurse, who runs a secret, members-only emergency room for criminals.
Arizona (RLJE Entertainment) – August 24th
Cassie (Rosemarie DeWitt, La La Land) is a real estate agent and single mom struggling to keep it all together. Things go from bad to worse when a disgruntled client, Sonny (Danny McBride, Pineapple Express), confronts Cassie’s boss and accidentally kills him. Having witnessed the crime, Sonny kidnaps Cassie to keep her quiet until he figures out what to do. But he makes one outrageously bad – and bloody – decision after another, until things completely spiral out of control. This outrageous action comedy also stars Luke Wilson (Idiocracy), Kaitlin Olson (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”), David Alan Grier (“The Carmichael Show”) and Elizabeth Gillies (“Dynasty”).
Summer of 84 (Gunpowder & Sky) – August 24th
Summer, 1984: The perfect time to be 15 years old and care free. But when neighborhood conspiracy theorist Davey Armstrong begins to suspect his police officer neighbor might be the serial killer all over the local news, he and his three best friends begin an investigation that soon turns dangerous.
What Keeps You Alive (IFC Midnight) – August 24th
How much can you really know about another person? The unsettling truth that even those closest to us can harbor hidden dimensions drives this thrillingly unpredictable, blood-stained fear trip. Jackie (Hannah Emily Anderson) and Jules (Brittany Allen) are a couple celebrating their one year anniversary at a secluded cabin in the woods belonging to Jackie’s family. From the moment they arrive, something changes in Jules’ normally loving wife, as Jackie (if that even is her real name) begins to reveal a previously unknown dark side—all building up to a shocking revelation that will pit Jules against the woman she loves most in a terrifying fight to survive. Defying expectations at every turn, Director Colin Minihan delivers a nerve-twisting cat and mouse thriller built around a shattering tale of heartbreak and betrayal.
Blood Fest (Rooster Teeth) – August 31st
Fans flock to a festival celebrating the most iconic horror movies, only to discover that the charismatic showman behind the event has a diabolical agenda. As attendees start dying off, three teenagers with more horror-film wits than real-world knowledge must band together and battle through every madman, monstrosity and terrifying scenario if they have any hope of surviving.
Boarding School (Momentum Pictures) – August 31st
When troubled 12-year-old Jacob Felsen is sent away to boarding school, he enters every kid's worst nightmare: A creepy old mansion deserted except for six other teenage misfits and two menacing and mysterious teachers. As events become increasingly horrific, Jacob must conquer his fears to find the strength to survive.
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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