Shudder, the diabolical horror streaming service backed by AMC Networks, continues to expand their offerings for horror fans. As part of Shudder¹s guest curator initiative, director Alexandre Aja (High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes [2006], Piranha 3D) has created a collection of his top five horror films, now live on the Shudder platform.
Aja¹s collection will be the second as part of Shudder¹s guest curator program, which kicked off last month with a collection by director/writer Robert Eggers (The Witch). Each guest curator carefully selects their top five horror films based on personal taste and impact on the genre. Shudder plans to continue the program on a monthly basis with collections from new guest curators.
Shudder houses a variety of films that span all decades and subgenres of horror in detailed collections created by lead curators Colin Geddes and Sam Zimmerman. The full collection by Alexandre Aja, now available on Shudder, is detailed below (with comments from the filmmaker):
AUDITION
“This film is slow burning storytelling, like climbing up the Everest of horror. It¹s the most unnerving Takashi Miike movie, deeply sensual and bloody disturbing. This feminist revenge story is every man’s nightmare and fantasy as well. If you can stomach it, she will move you and stay with you long after the end credits roll, making Fatal Attraction feel like a “Teletubbies” episode.”
TETSUO
“Growing up on Akira, Tetsuo was- for me- the perfect development of man¹s evolution into machine, or how the industrial world we are living in might ultimately consume us. This Cronenbergian hallucination is graphic, fetishist, expressionist, and a beautiful black and white journey. Somehow- it’s like the Japanese Eraserhead. Definitely cult!”
ANTICHRIST
“It’s been a long time since I had to stop watching a movie because it was too intense! The imagery is so haunting, every frame of that forest is a cinematic painting. The darkness of love stories and human relationships challenge the audience by taking them in the most remote and dark places of our own nature. The film is a provocative experience like a question mark burnt on your skin.”
ROOM 237
“Extreme, conspiratorial, funny– most of the crazy theories might be just pure fiction in this ode documentary, but it¹s so exciting to milk the fantasy of the almighty Stanley around the making of The Shining. The idealistic vision of the ultimate filmmaker¹s ability to layer subtext, hidden messages in every frame of one the best movies ever made!”
HENRY – PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER
“The most honest attempt of depicting serial killers. No artifice. Nothing about the deaths themselves. No fear or suspense. Just the casual build up and the cold aftermath. An immersion into the inconceivable mind of killers and the performance by Michael Rooker is unforgettable.”
Alexandre Aja is a French film director who made his directorial debut at the age of eighteen with the short film Over the Rainbow, which received a Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm Award nomination for best short film. Aja is best known for his work on High Tension (2003), Hills Have Eyes (2006), and Mirrors (2008). In 2004, he was listed as one of Variety’s Ten Directors to Watch. He is currently working on The Sentinel and The 9th Life of Louis Drax which stars Jamie Doran (Fifty Shades of Grey, The Fall), Sarah Gadon (Dracula Untold), and Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad, Need for Speed).
The addition of guest curator collections on Shudder follows the recent announcement of Shudder Labs, the service¹s weeklong horror workshop for aspiring filmmakers. Further details on the guest curated collections and the program can be found at www.shudder.com
About Shudder
Shudder is a diabolical premium streaming video service, serving horror fans with curated worldwide programming ranging from hard-to-find independent fare to cult grindhouse classics to Hollywood blockbusters. Shudder has something for everyone, from the casual fan to the hardcore horror devotee. Backed by AMC Networks, Shudder¹s growing library of curated horror is available ad-free and for unlimited viewing on Shudder¹s website, mobile apps for iOS and Android, Chromecast, Apple TV, and the Roku platform with a free 14-day trial or $4.99 monthly/ $49.99 yearly membership. To sign up or learn more about Shudder, visit www.shudder.com
