Hard to believe it, but the summer season is officially upon us! And if you’re like us and are looking for a reason (or two) to escape the sun and unforgiving heat in the coming weeks, June has some excellent films arriving on various digital and VOD platforms that should keep you entertained while at home (and away from all that pesky sunlight and those bloodthirsty mosquitoes).
June’s VOD releases kick off on the 1st with IFC Films' Mary Shelley, a look at the life of the author behind one of the greatest novels ever written, and just a few days later, Pacific Rim Uprising, The Rake, and The Nursery make their digital arrivals. June 12th features a trifecta of terror—Night of the Virgin, The Mimic, and The Jurassic Games (which might be more fun than terrifying, actually), and June 15th sees the release of the psychological thriller Inheritance, which debuted last year at 2017's Dances with Films. June’s digital releases wrap up with John Krasinski's A Quiet Place and the absolutely brilliant The Endless from directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead on the 26th, and then we get both Escape Plan 2 (Sly and Dave Bautista!) and The Domestics on the 29th.
Mary Shelley (IFC Films) – June 1st
The torrid true-life tale of how a passionate love affair fueled the creation of trailblazing writer Mary Shelley’s Gothic masterwork, Frankenstein.
The Nursery (Uncork’d Entertainment) – June 5th
When Ranae, a college student babysits for a family with a tragic history, she finds herself stalked by a sinister presence and haunted by ghosts from her own past. Soon, she and her friends must confront the angry, evil spirit hunting them down one-by-one on a deliberate march towards its ultimate prey.
Pacific Rim Uprising (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment) – June 5th
In Pacific Rim Uprising directed by Steven S. DeKnight, John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) stars as the rebellious Jake Pentecost, a once-promising Jaeger pilot whose legendary father gave his life to secure humanity’s victory against the monstrous Kaiju. Jake has since abandoned his training only to become caught up in a criminal underworld. But when an even more unstoppable threat is unleashed to tear through our cities and bring the world to its knees, he is given one last chance to live up to his father’s legacy. Jake is joined by gifted rival pilot Lambert (The Fate of the Furious’ Scott Eastwood), 15-year-old Jaeger hacker Amara (newcomer Cailee Spaeny), returning veterans Charlie Day (“It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia”), Rinko Kikuchi (Pacific Rim), Burn Gorman (The Dark Knight Rises) and a talented crew of fiercely young cadets. The international cast also includes Tian Jing (Kong: Skull Island) and Adria Arjona (“Emerald City”). Rising up to become the most powerful defense force to ever walk the earth, they set course for a spectacular all-new adventure on a towering scale.
The Rake (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) – June 5th
At a young age, Ashley and Ben witnessed the brutal murder of their parents. Years later, Ashley is still convinced it wasn’t someone, but something, that killed her parents and now she’s tormented by the thought of THE RAKE returning for her and her family. Is Ashley traumatized, or is the creature inside her real?
Monochrome (Gravitas Ventures) – June 6th
Featuring BAFTA winner James Cosmo (TV’s Game of Thrones, Braveheart), the killer-thriller focuses on a disillusioned young woman who becomes a serial killer targeting wealthy land-owners, forcing a brilliant detective to use his unusual neurological condition to track her down.
The Jurassic Games (Uncork’d Entertainment) – June 12th
Every year, 10 of the world’s most lethal death row criminals are chosen to compete for their freedom in The Jurassic Games, a television show where contestants must survive against a variety of ferocious dinosaurs. The players all die gruesomely in the game zone except for one, the last one standing, the winner, who is granted not only his freedom, but fame and fortune. Survive the dinosaurs. Survive each other. Survive…The Jurassic Games.
The Mimic (Well Go USA) – June 12th
A classic Korean ghost story gets a horrifying new spin in THE MIMIC, as the mother of a missing child takes in a lost girl she finds in the woods and soon begins to wonder if she is even human.
Night of the Virgin (Cleopatra Entertainment) – June 12th
Nico, a naive twenty-year-old, is determined to lose his virginity at a New Year’s Eve party. When he finds Medea, a cunning and attractive mature woman, he follows her home with the promise of finally losing his virginity. There’s only one problem. Instead of celebratory sex, he receives an intense lecture about the Nepalese goddess Naoshi and finds a cup of menstrual blood in the bathroom. Things go from perverse to worse when Medea’s jealous boyfriend arrives, trapping Nico in the apartment with the steadily growing suspicion that Naoshi is no myth.
Inheritance (Portola Pictures) – June 15th
Ryan Bowman has just inherited a $2.5 million beach house on the central California coast from his biological father, a man he's never known and thought long dead. Arriving in the charming town with his pregnant fiancée, Ryan's curiosity about his father soon leads him into an introspective investigation. As a looming family presence tightens its grip on him, Ryan pushes away his adoptive family and expectant fiancée. When he finally discovers the horrifying truth about his birth parents, he might be too late to stop himself from repeating a similar pattern...
Distorted (Mind’s Eye Entertainment) – June 22nd
Lauren (Christina Ricci) and Russel Curran (Brendan Fletcher) decide to move away from the bustle of the city and into the peaceful oasis of The Pinnacle, a coveted luxury condo boasting ultra-modern design, state-of-the-art features, and security systems. Lauren begins to suspect the building has a dark side and seeks the help of Vernon (John Cusack), an investigative journalist with an interest in a cyber conspiracy. Together, they come to believe that The Pinnacle may be brainwashing unsuspecting residents.
A Quiet Place (Paramount Home Media) – June 26th
A true cultural phenomenon that transformed the film-going experience for millions of viewers, A QUIET PLACE is a taut and original thriller that follows a family who must navigate their lives in silence to avoid mysterious creatures that hunt by sound. Knowing that even the slightest whisper or footstep can bring death, Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and Lee (John Krasinski) are determined to find a way to protect their children at all costs while they desperately search for a way to fight back.
The Endless (Well Go USA) – June 26th
Following their Lovecraftian modern cult classic Spring, acclaimed filmmakers Moorhead and Benson return with this mind-bending thriller that follows two brothers who receive a cryptic video message inspiring them to revisit the UFO death cult they escaped a decade earlier. Hoping to find the closure that they couldn't as young men, they’re forced to reconsider the cult's beliefs when confronted with unexplainable phenomena surrounding the camp. As the members prepare for the coming of a mysterious event, the brothers race to unravel the seemingly impossible truth before their lives become permanently entangled with the cult.
The Domestics (Orion Classics) – June 29th
In a terrifying post-apocalyptic world inhabited by murderous gangs divided into deadly factions, Nina (Kate Bosworth) and Mark (Tyler Hoechlin) race desperately across the lawless countryside in search of safety. As one depraved group narrows their search for the couple, they must work together as they are pushed to the breaking point in order to survive.
Escape Plan 2 (Lionsgate) – June 29th
Years after he fought his way out of prison, Ray Breslin must return to the hell he once escaped from to save his friend from the prison's brutal human battleground, known as Hades.
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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